Last Rendezvous
I was updating some of the applications to my phone this morning, when it occurred to me I had not downloaded the latest Hubble pics. What was I thinking??? Oh, yeah…. life intruded. So, I thought I would share some of my favorites here, since I can. Heh!
This nebula is known as NGC 6302. The result of gases released by a dying star, it earns the nickname “Butterfly Nebula”. Much more poetic, in my opinion.
A different view of the Crab Nebula. One of my personal favorites, this pic shows the utter havok a dead star can wreak, spewing forth gases in all directions. But then you see this, and wonder:
The Helix Nebula, a dying star wrapped in an orderly pocket of gas. This is also known as The Eye of God. Truly a wonder.
And for those wondering about the title:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtGG1WLP1pk
“And notes of busy life in distant worlds
Beat like a far wave on my anxious ear.”
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
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Hey, another Jean Michel Jarre fan! Thanks for the pics Aggie. I like the Butterfly Nebula particularly. I haven’t seen that one before.
WHOA!!!
I found another fan of Jarre’s?? WHOO HOO!!!
Don’t know if you are familiar, but I also like Mike Oldfield of Tubular Bells fame. I think we have all 2400 of his albums….
Wow, awesome pics, Aggie.
Thanks for sharing these. This is the first time I’d seen or heard of the Helix Nebula, actually. I’m going to show the pic here, as well as look up some more plus info, for my son for homeschool science. He got a telescope for Christmas, and stuff like this will get him excited and probably wanting to go out and set it up.
Beautiful picture. Absolutely beautiful.
As for Jarre and Oldfield? Music of the spheres, y’all. Pure ethereal.
Those Hubble pics are endlessly fascinating. Probably one of the best uses of taxpayer funds evah.
Of course private companies could have had 3 Hubble’s in orbit by now, and streaming live in HD to your home on pay per view.
Oldfield & Jarre? Yeah, not bad, but I’m more of a Tim Story guy myself.
http://www.lala.com/#album/72339069014786250/Tim_Story/Glass_Green
“Oil On Wood” is my fav.
Have all of Oldfield, cmblake
Will have to check out Tim Story, Woody. Thanks!
CF, check out http://www.hubblesite.org
Lovely pics and tons of info right there!
Tubular Bells – those songs pop up in my Pandora rotation and I’ve been thinking about getting the album. Or albums. I seem to recall there are two of them. Guess I’ll go fire up iTunes, because I haven’t spent enough money today.
Enas, there are several:
Tubular Bells- 1973
The Orchestral Tubular Bells- 1974*
Tubular Bells II- 1992
Tubular Bells III- 1998
The Millenium Bell- 1999
Technically, Orchestral was arranged by David Bedford with the Royal Philharmonic, but Oldfield played the guitar in it, so I count it.
Also, he re-recorded the first album in 2003 for its 30th anniversary, and then re-leased that album with bonus material in 2009.
Here’s one of my all-time favorite shots from Hubble— The Deep Field.
They have full-screen, hi-res views of it, but I didn’t want to link them here in case someone has a slow connection. The vastness of the universe never fails to amaze and awe me. If there’s an afterlife, I’m gonna go visit ever nook and cranny before I get sent back as the shower head in the multi-Bunny bathroom in the Playboy mansion.
Images like that make you realise just how utterly insignificant and small we are in the universe.
The chaos around those dead stars, the utterly incomprehensible power of star nurseries and the like – this world, this planet is just so insignificant in comparative stature that even labelling it “nothing in comparison to” raises it to a higher level than it belongs.
We are less than “A Mote in God’s Eye”. Have downloaded 12 of the images, one of which is now my wallpaper on the puter. Thanks for the heads up Aggie!
The hub has been geeking over those for awhile.
He downloaded a huge rez one as his desktop. Pretty amazing stuff out there in the cosmos.
Things change. I had listened to TB countless times back in the 70′s, then didn’t listen to it again until recently. Not the same, somehow.
Haven’t listened to Jarre since the late 80′s(?).
“Spanish guitar and introducing acoustic guitar!”
I went looking for that online and all I found was the Exorcist theme. Imbeciles.
Now I’m having flashbacks to Tomita’s “Snowflakes are Dancing” and Alan Parson’s “I Robot.”
Hubble is da bomb! Some of the deep space flicks coming back since the last maintainance mission defy words.
One of my faves is this one from the Deep Field camera.
http://hubblesite.org/gallery/album/the_universe/pr2004007a/web_print/
The Butterfly Nebula and the Ultra-Deep Field just blow my mind. The energies, the distances, the *scale*. You begin to appreciate just how deadly most of the universe is to us little meatbags.
Nice posting Aggie!
Also how utterly insignificant we are, LK.
We.
Are.
Nothing.