Breaking News & Random Musings on Space, Technology, Sci-Fi & the View From A Writer’s Window
Master “plan” of the universe revealed in new galaxy maps. In the renderings, our Milky Way galaxy is a tiny speck in the midst of other galaxies and colossal voids.
It’s a compelling reminder - however big I go in my books, the scope is still just a tiny speck of dust compared to the entire universe.
https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/master-plan-universe-revealed-new-galaxy-maps-ncna1040936
This new Hubble Space Telescope view of Jupiter, taken on June 27, 2019, reveals the giant planet's trademark Great Red Spot, and a more intense color palette in the clouds swirling in Jupiter's turbulent atmosphere than seen in previous years. The colors, and their changes, provide important clues to ongoing processes in Jupiter's atmosphere. More info: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/hubble-new-portrait-of-jupiter
Originally posted on Twitter.
A total solar eclipse reflected in an Argentine lake called La Cuesta Del Viento (The Slope of the Wind). By astrophotographer Thierry Legault. Via NASA’s Astonomy Picture of the Day.
Originally posted on Twitter.
An update from the indomnitable Mars rover Curiosity: “Can't stop. Won't stop. I've been exploring #Mars for seven years, traveled 13 miles (21 km), climbed 1,207 feet (368 m), found conditions on ancient Mars were favorable for life as we know it, and I'm not done yet. Here's what's new (plus a 360 view): https://go.nasa.gov/2YtGgMg”
Originally posted on Twitter.
The Beresheet lunar lander scattered tardigrades all over the moon when it crashed: https://www.wired.com/story/a-crashed-israeli-lunar-lander-spilled-tardigrades-on-the-moon/
As Shannon Stirone said on Twitter, "And thus began the story of how the tardigrades took over the moon."
If you don't know about the incredible creatures that are tardigrades, you can start your rabbit hole adventure here: https://www.americanscientist.org/article/tardigrades
Originally posted on Facebook.
Email I received from Pyper Down today.😎 I'm sharing it here for 2 reasons:
(1) ⭐️Audiobook listeners⭐️: this means she only has 7 more chapters to record. ALMOST DONE! [UPDATE: 2 more chapters to go ;).]
(2) If you've read TSLG, you may instinctively know to what chapter she's referring. I'll just say that it's from "Nika's" POV and takes place on a certain space platform.
I'm not trying to humble-brag (though I probably am anyway, aren't I?), but I'm more proud of this chapter than I am of just about anything I've written - and it makes me giddy with happiness whenever anyone suggests that pride might be well placed.☺️
Originally posted on Facebook.
"The galaxy is not flat, researchers show in new 3D model of the Milky Way": https://techcrunch.com/2019/08/01/the-galaxy-is-not-flat-researchers-show-in-new-3d-model-of-the-milky-way/
Yay for sensationalistic headlines. 😏 No, no one was asserting the Milky Way is "flat" flat; there's no "Flat Galaxy Society" out there posting YouTube videos where they make their case (at least, I don't THINK there is).
The question, rather, was whether the Milky Way was essentially a pancake. Unfortunately, we can't "see" the Milky Way the way we can other galaxies, because we're IN it, and it's going to be a little while before wen can send a probe out at superluminal speeds to snap a pic from beyond the galaxy's edge.
So scientists used Cepheid variable stars to map out a fairly direct series of measurements of the shape of the galaxy. And it turns out, it's shaped like a sombrero that got warped. Possibly because someone sat on it, or stuffed it in the overhead bin of a plane, or left it out in the blazing summer heat for several days.
Originally posted on Facebook. (The comments to this post have been fantastic.)
Whenever I see an image like this ("Cyberpunk Chick" by Mike Paolilli: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/QX043), my writer brain instantly goes into New Character Overdrive. Oh, the tales she and I will weave!
...except as we've covered, the LAST thing I need is new characters.🙄 So what to do?
Appearance-wise, this could almost be Perrin. But why is she sneaking around in a hood? What sort of trouble has she gotten into?
Of course, characters change their appearance all the time, and attitude/behavior-wise, this could also be another character who isn't *new* exactly...and that's all I'll say about that.
#storybunnies
Originally posted on Facebook.
Star Forming Region Without Stars: By digitally removing the stars, this image showcases dense knots of dark interstellar dust, fields of glowing hydrogen gas ionized by these stars, and great loops of gas expelled by dying stars.
Allegedly some people think this region resembles a weeping angle, but…no. Just no. #shudder
Via APOD: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190730.html
Originally posted on Twitter.
NASA Unveils Amazing Cosmic Views as Chandra X-Ray Observatory Turns 20: https://www.space.com/chandra-xray-telescope-turns-20.html.
Originally posted on Twitter.
LightSail 2 Unfurls, Takes Next Step Toward Space Travel by Solar Sail: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/23/science/lightsail-solar-sail.html. The Planetary Society crowd-funded and deployed LightSail 2 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, aiming to further demonstrate the potential of the technology for space propulsion.
“The ability to sail across the cosmos, powered by the energy of the sun, is finally becoming a reality.
Engineers in California pressed a button on Tuesday that unfurled the sails on a satellite that can be steered around Earth, advancing long held hopes for an inexhaustible form of spaceflight and expanding the possibilities for navigating the voids between worlds.”
Originally posted on Twitter.
Set expectations to Ludicrously High! With an all-star cast and a director in Denis Villeneuve who's demonstrated his finesse with both Big Ideas and Big Settings, what could possibly go wrong this time?
https://movieweb.com/dune-remake-2020-production-wrap-denis-villeneuve/
Originally posted on Facebook.
It's the return of the word count meter! Sorry it was a bit delayed in appearing - I've had a lot going on.🙄
Where you can follow the book's progress? On the main page of my website, right-hand column, below the "New Releases" section. https://www.gsjennsen.com/
Originally posted on Facebook.
Crowdfunded spacecraft LightSail 2 snaps amazing photos ahead of solar sail deployment: https://techcrunch.com/2019/07/17/crowdfunded-spacecraft-lightsail-2-snaps-amazing-photos-ahead-of-solar-sail-deployment/.
LightSail 2’s development was funded in part via a successful crowdfunding campaign run by the Bill Nye-led Planetary Society. Its goal is to test a spacecraft’s ability to fly powered only by the force of photons from the Sun striking a solar sail constructed of Mylar. This method of space-based transportation is extremely slow to get started, but thanks to the inertia-free medium of outer space, it could be an extremely energy-efficient way for research craft to travel long distances.
It launched on June 25 as part of the shared payload of SpaceX’s most recent Falcon Heavy launch.
Originally posted on Twitter.
The Space Station Crosses a Spotless Sun (by Rainee Colacurcio): https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190715.html
I saw this image yesterday morning, and I continue to be transfixed by it. Obviously, there is one heck of a visual illusion going on here, as the ISS is in low Earth orbit and the sun is 93 million miles away, but it's powerful nonetheless.😯
NASA has dropped an insane map of 4,000 planets outside our solar system: https://www.cnet.com/…/nasa-drops-insane-map-of-4000-plane…/
The video is absolutely worth watching: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=8&v=aiFD_LBx2nM. It's only a minute long and is a great visualization of how exoplanet discovery just exploded in the last decade (go Kepler!📡✨).
Voyagers 1 and 2 have the distinction of being in space for 42 years and still operating. And even though they’re 18 billion km (11 billion miles) from the Sun, they’re still valuable scientifically. But they’re running out of energy, and NASA has been working on how to stretch their remaining power for as long as possible.
Originally posted on Twitter.
Stunning visual of the center of the Milky Way in the radio band, courtesy of MeerKAT radio telescope array.
Originally posted on Twitter.
4th of July fireworks courtesy of Hubble and the future supernova Eta Carinae: https://www.universetoday.com/142734/hubble-has-a-brand-new-picture-of-the-massive-star-eta-carinae-it-could-detonate-as-a-supernova-any-day-now/
Originally posted on Facebook.
