GS Watches Sci-Fi

Yes, my insistence on a season being complete before watching it means I'm a little late to the party. Sorry, Netflix spoiled me.

Wasn't Star Trek: Strange New Worlds simply lovely? It didn't change the world (in fact, one of the plot threads is about not changing the world) of Star Trek or the nature of entertainment. But it was excellent viewing - and most of all, it was fundamentally STAR TREK, representing the best of everything the IP has stood for. I would call it "classic Star Trek with modern sensibilities." Tons of cool space wonders and dangers, with a dynamic captain full of personality and verve.

*Spoilers for the season finale follow.*

That finale was a bit of a gut punch, though, wasn't it? I confess, I initially flinched at the message it conveyed - that taking the high road of diplomacy is the wrong choice that can cost millions of lives. I'm sure they weren't trying to say that's always true, but in this case....

I found the final conversation between Pike and Kirk to be quite enlightening, though. I think Miriam would have liked to have joined them in that discussion, as those are the difficult choices she gets to make for the world.

***

Obi-Wan Kenobi! It was better than I'd been led to believe (I know opinions are wildly divided; this is mine). Solidly very good, and at times great.* Ewan McGregor was of course incredible; he always is. And Vivien Lyra Blair as Leia was somehow even better than advertised.

Where I found it most interesting was as a story of living under an oppressive, powerful empire; as a story of refugees simply trying to survive and fighters (of all kinds) refusing to give up hope. I think the smaller scope gave it an opportunity to tell this story that grand, sweeping space opera doesn't have.

Yes, it was absolutely hemmed in on all sides by canon (and violated canon a few times anyway); I feel like much of the criticism stems from people wanting a show that it simply could not be.

*One quibble. Did Episode 5 have to rip-off the final act of The Last Jedi so blatantly? I cringed.

Favorite line: "Leia, I'm not giving you a blaster - you're 10 years old. But you won't always be."

Originally posted on Facebook.

Trillions and Trillions

"Forget billions and billions. When it comes to the number of galaxies in the Universe, both theorists' and observers' estimates are too low."

- OR -

"Why the science in my books will inevitably become dated by increased knowledge with the passage of time, and there's nothing I can do about it."

Alex uses the "approximately two hundred billion galaxies" in the books, because that's been the best estimate available to us. Now we're talking about 6 trillion? TWENTY trillion???

I can imagine a lot - I'm paid to imagine a lot! - but I think we've found my limit here. What is the universe, even?

P.S.: I'm thinking I can use this number going forward, the justification being that the Kats have a better estimate than we did. But chasing the advance of science is probably a game I can't win - which is fine; I'm just glad it's advancing!

“There are more galaxies in the Universe than even Carl Sagan ever imagined”: https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/galaxies-in-universe/

(As an aside, I am amused that this article uses as its header image a “simulated galaxy catalog providing a snippet of sky that might correspond, statistically, with what James Webb expects to see.” I’d say Webb outperformed expectations by a wide margin!)

Originally posted on Facebook.

Behold the Power of This Fully Operational Webb Telescope

This first image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe to date. Known as Webb’s First Deep Field, this image of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 is overflowing with detail. Thousands of galaxies – including the faintest objects ever observed in the infrared – have appeared in Webb’s view for the first time. This slice of the vast universe covers a patch of sky approximately the size of a grain of sand held at arm’s length by someone on the ground.

The other images released are as follows:

1. The Cosmic Cliffs of Carina (oh, you lovely, wondrous spectacle of a creation!)

2. Stephen's Quintet

3. Southern Ring Nebula

4. Wasp-96 b atmospheric composition

If I posted all their details here this post would get quite long. But, you can go here: https://www.nasa.gov/webbfirstimages to download the high-res images and more. Just click on each image, and you’ll be taken to a page full of details about the target, what the image shows and how Webb captured it. Highly recommended!

Originally posted on Facebook, (2).

Saturn's Rings

Well this is just insanely beautiful. Cassini was an absolute legend.

From Jason Major on Twitter: “Here's a view of Saturn's rings made from images captured by #Cassini on July 4, 2008. Prometheus is visible inside the F ring at the bottom, as is Atlas at left along the outer edge of the A ring. Spoke structures can be seen within the B ring. Saturn's shadow is at upper right.”

https://twitter.com/JPMajor/status/1411694496010719235

Originally posted on Twitter.

Webb Images Coming Soon, and They're Tearjerkers

Get the tissues ready on July 12, guys. NASA is ramping up the anticipation of the first real Webb images to 11, and we've still got a week to go!

“NASA scientists say images from the Webb telescope nearly brought them to tears”: https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/06/nasa-teases-extraordinary-images-captured-by-its-webb-telescope/

Originally posted on Facebook.

Hello, Mercury!

The ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission captured this beautiful view of Mercury’s rich geological landscape on June 23, 2022 as the spacecraft flew past the planet for a gravity assist maneuver. 

The image was taken by the Mercury Transfer Module’s Monitoring Camera 2, when the spacecraft was within about 920 km from the surface of Mercury. Closest approach of about 200 km took place shortly before.

Read all about the details of the image here: https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2022/06/BepiColombo_surveys_Mercury_s_rich_geology

Originally posted on Twitter.

The Beating Heart of the Milky Way

Say hello to Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the beating heart of our very own galaxy!

For a long time, we've *assumed* there must be a SMBH at the center of the Milky Way, collecting a plethora of evidence that supported this theory. But we've never been able to see it, BECAUSE it's at the center of the galaxy, which is obviously a very, very busy, noisy place.

After the Event Horizon Telescope revealed the first ever direct imaging of a black hole in 2019, it turned its attention inward, and has been working diligently ever since to finally snap this picture. And it got it done.

Learn more about the image and all the science it has revealed here: https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=305148

Originally posted on Facebook.

Cover Art Wall, Redux

It's back!!!

After almost a year in storage, my beloved cover art posters once again hang in a place of honor. Also, bonus cozy reading nook with fireplace! And plenty of empty space for many more books...

For those curious, this is the far wall of our library-in-the-making, so the posters are right at home with a plethora of books.

Originally posted on Facebook and Instagram.

A More Innocent Time

So I'm working on the DISSONANCE hardback formatting, and I am finding myself just awash in nostalgia. It was such a simpler, more innocent time for our friends (comparatively speaking, lol).

Alex and Caleb didn't know what or who these mysterious 'Anadens' were, and they were barely beginning to figure out what "Amaranthe' was while desperately seeking the purpose behind the Mosaic. The IDCC was being created completely on the fly, Olivia was terrorizing the galaxy as a Prevo, and Miriam was forced into becoming a rebel against her own government (and what a clever rebel she was).

...Okay, maybe not innocent. But they have no *idea* what the future holds for them. Good times.

Originally posted on Facebook.

Catching A Rocket

Rocket Lab has just joined SpaceX in the club of space companies that can launch an orbital-class rocket booster and bring it back alive.

In a sense, the California-based company one-upped SpaceX by having a helicopter snag the first-stage booster of its Electron rocket with a cable and a hook as it floated past on the end of a parachute, 6,500 feet above the Pacific Ocean.

Read more about it here: https://www.universetoday.com/155706/they-did-it-rocket-lab-uses-copter-to-catch-and-release-a-rocket/

Originally posted on Twitter.

Office Renovations Complete

My new (does 8 months count as new?) office just might be perfect now. Never underestimate the difference new carpet makes, because wow. And matching bookcases.

I've got a bit more shelf space now, so the fiction selection has expanded a little. And I am SO HAPPY to get to properly display my logo art! All the not-sexy stuff is hidden away in the cabinets or behind the bookcases, where it won't trouble me.

As of today, I have zero items on the wishlist of how I might improve it.

....why, no, I'm not procrastinating starting the Chaotica ebook formatting. Why would ask that?

Originally posted on Facebook.

Keep Exploring

NASA has extended the planetary science missions of eight of its spacecraft due to their scientific productivity and potential to deepen our knowledge and understanding of the solar system and beyond.

The missions – Mars Odyssey, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, MAVEN, Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity rover), InSight lander, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, OSIRIS-REx, and New Horizons – have been selected for continuation

Check that out! Curiosity is such a champ, showing no signs of slowing down on Mars after a decade of exploring the Red Planet. OSIRIS-REx is going to visit * another * asteroid, and New Horizons - can you believe it made its extraordinary visit to Pluto SEVEN years ago - will continue to probe the far outer reaches of our solar system.

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-extends-exploration-for-8-planetary-science-missions

Originally posted on Twitter.

Happy 32nd Birthday to Hubble

Happy 32nd Birthday to the best telescope ever! Look at all this amazing activity going on in one tiny little sliver of our universe.

JWST will soon be bringing us even more astonishing images, but Hubble continues to carry the torch in spectacular fashion. Hubble has inspired 3 decades of space lovers, and we will forever be so grateful.

https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/happy-32nd-birthday-to-hubble

Originally posted on Facebook and Twitter.