The intriguing image above was uploaded to Fine Art America by an astrophotographer, Jason Guenzel, on January 16, 2021. The image is titled— “Magnetic Sun: A stylized rendition of a solar close-up. According to the artist, "the image highlights the turbulent magnetic field on the visible surface of our star.” The picture was processed using software to enhance the solar chromosphere or gaseous layer above the sun. Treading the line between art and science, the viral image allows the viewer to conceptualize the sun in new and intriguing ways. Once the overwhelming radiance of the star is drawn down, the resulting image challenges the preconceived notions we have of our closest star, instilling a new sense of wonder at the turbulent force that gives life to planet Earth. This heavily software-processed image of the solar chromosphere reveals the complex nature of the magnetic field within our star.Walking the thin line between science and art ... perhaps blurring it a bit. #Astrophotography #space #solar #star #power pic.twitter.com/DaG3xjEiZd— Jason Guenzel … [Read more...] about Magnetic Sun: Art vs Science
Don’t Panic! SpaceX Falcon Heavy Launches to Cheers!
The SpaceX Falcon Heavy, also known as the BFR which stands for "Big F**ing Rocket, successfully launched into space today, to the excited cheers of engineers and scientists. The BFR is the most powerful operational rocket in the world. Only the Saturn V moon rocket, last flown in 1973, has ever delivered a comparable payload into orbit. With a total of 27 Merlin engines, Falcon Heavy is capable of 5 million pounds of thrust. Three cores made up the first stage of Falcon Heavy's test launch. The duo side cores, or boosters flanking the center core, returned to earth in perfect unison, landing on target in a dazzling display of technical prowess. SpaceX CEO/Lead Designer Elon Musk made the mission personal, by changing out the usual steel or concrete block payload, for his own midnight-cherry Tesla Roadster, in honor of the red planet. The Falcon Heavy will attempt to place the Roadster, with its space-suited mannikin, into a continual precession, Earth-Mars elliptical orbit around the sun. And in a tribute to David Bowie, the song "Space Oddity," … [Read more...] about Don’t Panic! SpaceX Falcon Heavy Launches to Cheers!
Space Craziness with Astronaut Chris Hadfield
I am going to miss the amazing videos from Commander Chris Hadfield, the Canadian astronaut who streamed his odd missives from the International Space Station with an earthiness that was both hilarious and informative. Many of his videos are practical demonstrations about the reality of our physical bodies meeting a gravity-free environment like space. Watching these videos will change your perspective of gravity. Hadfield's experiments create a visceral understanding of the fact that everything we do from moving to eating and everything we experience around us is in a complex dance with gravity. Our very existence depends on gravity. What better way to show it than to wring out a wash cloth in space? Hadfield demonstrates crying in space: Chris carries out student experiment by wringing out a wash cloth in space then waxes philosphical: Chris talks about "space vision" and testing eyeballs in space: Hadfield talks to William Shatner AKA Captain James T. Kirk: … [Read more...] about Space Craziness with Astronaut Chris Hadfield
