Considering that NASA just released the highest resolution image of Earth that the world has ever seen, it’s kind of hard to imagine that once upon a time we had to rely on artists to show us what the planets might look like. While these early illustrations were based on astronomical observations, and in many cases, are surprisingly detailed given how crude the available technology, we think they function even better as works of art. Click through to check out a selection of recently-digitized drawings by 19th-century artist (and Harvard College Observatory employee) E.L. Trouvelot, and head over to LiveScience to view the full gallery.
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We’ve been having warm and fuzzy feelings about Stephin Merritt ever since the Magnetic Fields’ ’90s revival track “Andrew in Drag” hit the internet, but turns out the oddball frontman just as keen on the future as he is on the past. In collaboration with D.I.Y. video arcade collective Babycastles, the Museum of Natural History is presenting Space Cruiser, a 200-person video game starring Merritt, available to play next Thursday only.
As The Observer explains, the planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space has been re-imagined as a spaceship, which you will be able to control (with a bunch of other music and video game nerds). Babycastles co-founder Syed Salahuddin elucidated further: “A multi-player control deck at the center of the theater will offer a small crew the chance to navigate the spacecraft together, piloting through treacherous asteroid belts. The crew is an unassigned, free-form team that works together to pilot the spaceship, with various parts of the ship spread out over the theater while being guided by a on-board computer system that is voiced by Stephin Merritt of the Magnetic Fields.” This may be crazy, or this may be totally awesome. The only way to find out is to buy a ticket (try the discount code “BEYOND”) and let us know. [via Stereogum]
Spotted by Coudal, this series of posters by Netherlands-based designer Vincent Vermeij has us contemplating a future vacation to Gliese 581D. Inspired by the idea that life beyond the Earth is increasingly likely, and the hope that these distant planets remain as pristine as ours was before we left our ecological footprint, Kong started mulling over the idea of exoplanetary travel. “It would be like the time that each holiday was a trip to the unknown,” he writes. “A discovery. As on these posters from the 1930s, countries and cities that you knew only of images and hearsay. The images were innocent and exotic. Pure.” And perhaps, even more importantly: “Maybe the beauty of those exoplanets make us realize that our own Earth is just as them, a floating oasis in time and space. We should treasure this paradise called Earth.” Click through to check out the collection, and if you like over to see, grab a print of your favorite poster at Society6. Read More »
The crew from several expeditions on-board the International Space Station shot a series of stunning images that have been edited into a mesmerizing time-lapse video by Michael König. The progression shows the crew’s surreal orbit over earth at approximately 350 kilometers, and it’s truly breathtaking. The night flight takes you across Eastern Europe to Southeastern Asia, above Central Africa and the Middle East, and beyond. Music from Jan Jelinek (“Do Dekor”) helps set the mood, but the photographs definitely speak for themselves. Drop into sweet infinity below. Read More »
If you’re feeling anything less than completely overwhelmed by the beauty of the world we live in, boy, have got the cure for what ails you. This gorgeous five-minute-long HD time lapse of the earth was created from a sequence of photographs taken with a special low-light 4K-camera by the crew onboard the International Space Station between August to October, 2011, and it really is phenomenal. Watch it in full screen and you’ll feel as though you’re floating over our big blue planet, each flash of light a beautiful hint of humanity. For more information, check out the video’s Vimeo page. Read More »
We don’t know about you, but these phenomenal time-lapse videos, each of a single night at 5000 meters altitude at the ALMA observatory on the Chajnantor plateau, in the II Region of Chile, remind us of our impossible tininess in the universe. Created by José Francisco Salgado, the short films allow the viewer to experience the earth’s movement as well as catch a glimpse of the Milky Way in all its glory. The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is “the world’s largest astronomical project in existence,” an international partnership between the scientific communities of East Asia, Europe, North America and Chile that seeks to study the origins of the universe. Click through to watch the videos — we suggest fullscreen.
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We’ll admit that ever since Wes Anderson used “Starálfur” in the background of that scene from The Life Aquatic, just hearing a few seconds of the beautiful track instantly transports us to another world. So, it’s only fitting that Gizmodo chose the same Sigur Rós song for this never-before-seen clip, which features a series of time-lapse videos captured over the course of 14 years by the Hubble Space Telescope. No, there’s no jaguar shark to be found here, just some protostellar jets blasting away as stars are created 1,350 light-years from Earth. Check out the stunning footage here, and if you’re like us, try to keep reminding yourself that what you’re watching is real and not a movie.
Happy World Cosmonautics Day, comrades! On the 50th anniversary of the first manned space flight by astro-gent Yuri Gagarin, we’d like to share with you fantastical vintage illustrations from a sixties tome The Stars Are Awaiting Us by A. Sokolov and first Soviet space-walker A. Leonov. The book began with an account of Leonov’s actual mission and illustrations of his cosmic showboating and then spins off into the captivating “future.”
Minimalist space stations are constructed by astronauts in micro-rockets! Humans settle down and get industrious and increasingly cozy on the Moon! The illustrator’s flights of fancy get increasingly intergalactic and psychedelic with abstract physics, gaseous alien predators and anti-matter, oh my! Until, finally the narrator asks, “Why don’t we space-jump into the anti-world?” Why not, indeed. Check out our gallery of paintings that defined a trend in Soviet space-art, topped stamps in Cuba, and still deserve their cult following.
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We landed on the moon way back in 1969, but our obsession with space didn’t end as soon as we shoved an American flag into a celestial body. No, our cultural curiosity about all things silver or jumpsuited or tentacled has worked its way into our hearts, closets, and aesthetic (probably in that order, too) and camped out there for almost half a decade. From Ziggy Stardust to Lady Gaga, the cosmos have driven what’s equal parts edgy and out there in the fashion world in a very consistent way. Check out our chronology of space fashion in pop culture after the jump.
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Yesterday, we were a little shocked when we heard about the zodiac shakeup and more than a little upset that we had to throw away our cheeky “LEO PRIDE” pins. But the debate hasn’t exactly died now that the powers that be (read: the science world and those 800-number TV psychics) are arguing whether or not the Earth’s wobbling actually changes anyone’s sign. After the jump, check out our rundown of the latest developments in Zodiac-Gate, especially if you’re one of those Aries who won’t stop posting angry tweets about surrendering your sign.
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