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I just watched the successful landing of the Perseverance Rover!
Cue the Starfleet March!
Cue the Starfleet March!
SPACE/MAPS: HYGMap.space
Jan. 13th, 2021 08:57 amJed Whitten's updated and revised and rebranded what used to be "Starmap", a Star Trek-inspired mapping utility, to better reflect the source data he's been using to make the site a reality as HYGMap.
The "HYG" in "HYGMap" stands for:
Hipparcos
Yale (Bright Star Catalogue)
Gliese
As you might have already deduced, those are the three primary star catalogues Jed's been working from.
And he's added some spreadsheet functionality here. Whichever star you select to focus the map "window" upon, the website will note distances of the other stars in that "window" from your chosen target star as well as distance-from-Sol. You can check links to SIMBAD - a global cross-referencing site for the world's star catalogues - as well as the Internet Stellar DataBase.
Star Trek-specific system names are included as an option, based upon the work in Star Trek: Star Charts and Stellar Cartography.
The "HYG" in "HYGMap" stands for:
Hipparcos
Yale (Bright Star Catalogue)
Gliese
As you might have already deduced, those are the three primary star catalogues Jed's been working from.
And he's added some spreadsheet functionality here. Whichever star you select to focus the map "window" upon, the website will note distances of the other stars in that "window" from your chosen target star as well as distance-from-Sol. You can check links to SIMBAD - a global cross-referencing site for the world's star catalogues - as well as the Internet Stellar DataBase.
Star Trek-specific system names are included as an option, based upon the work in Star Trek: Star Charts and Stellar Cartography.
This stuff catches my attention.
http://www.sci-news.com/astronomy/radio-burst-proxima-centauri-09139.html
And then there's this other thing from Tau Boötis:
http://www.sci-news.com/astronomy/lofar-radio-emission-tau-bootis-planetary-system-09161.html
http://www.sci-news.com/astronomy/radio-burst-proxima-centauri-09139.html
And then there's this other thing from Tau Boötis:
http://www.sci-news.com/astronomy/lofar-radio-emission-tau-bootis-planetary-system-09161.html
More good stuff from Kevin Jardine.
Stars with planets are green-circled with numbers of known planets where known. And some extra stuff thrown in that we didn't know we needed to chart...
https://twitter.com/galaxy_map/status/1337901467160743939
Stars with planets are green-circled with numbers of known planets where known. And some extra stuff thrown in that we didn't know we needed to chart...
https://twitter.com/galaxy_map/status/1337901467160743939
SPACE/MAPS: Gaia Sky 3.0.1
Dec. 10th, 2020 05:56 pmApparently, there was an OpenGL issue that kept crashing Gaia Sky on my computers every time I tried to launch the program.
That problem is now history with version 3.0.1. It's fixed. It ran slow on my current iMac the first time I used it, but I am inclined to chalk that up to my choosing to download the EDR3 "medium" dataset for use with Gaia Sky. 4 GB to download, it self-extracts into a 14 GB file once it gets to your machine! I think I want to install more RAM to run such a thing with, right?
Lots and lots of stars with only 16-digit GAIA DR#-prefixed catalogue numbers instead of names so far to run around to. Hoping the search function allows for a lot of fun. I would really like for the Gaia Sky and Celestia programming teams to network a bit.
That problem is now history with version 3.0.1. It's fixed. It ran slow on my current iMac the first time I used it, but I am inclined to chalk that up to my choosing to download the EDR3 "medium" dataset for use with Gaia Sky. 4 GB to download, it self-extracts into a 14 GB file once it gets to your machine! I think I want to install more RAM to run such a thing with, right?
Lots and lots of stars with only 16-digit GAIA DR#-prefixed catalogue numbers instead of names so far to run around to. Hoping the search function allows for a lot of fun. I would really like for the Gaia Sky and Celestia programming teams to network a bit.
JOB SEARCH/ASTRONOMY: A Sidebar Question
Jan. 13th, 2020 09:38 amI have no hope of qualifying for the job, I suspect, but as someone interested in astronomy in general the National Research Council advert caught my attention anyway. NRC is looking for a "Radio Astronomy Signal Chain Engineer" for their Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Centre as I write this. Does anyone in my friendlist know what goes into that job?
Lunar Gateway Question
May. 2nd, 2019 10:56 amIs Lunar Gateway meant to co-exist alongside ISS?
https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/05/facing-2024-deadline-nasa-issues-a-report-defending-the-lunar-gateway/
https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/05/facing-2024-deadline-nasa-issues-a-report-defending-the-lunar-gateway/
...and then I go back to work tomorrow morning.
Meantime, I'm puzzling over a question of star system placement for Trekkish purposes. Specifically, Hobus.
Noticed in the process of mulling it over, this Memory Beta page. Players of that game are expected to believe that planets orbiting any given star could remain mostly intact (habitability issues notwithstanding) after their host star went supernova?
Courtesy of Jed Whitten's StarMap site, the general neighbourhood of Hobus, reaching 600 lightyears above and below Arbitrary Galactic Equatorial:
http://whitten.org/index.php?x_c=30&y_c=-30&z_c=0&xy_zoom=15&z_zoom=600&m_limit=&select_star=2411&image_type=normal&image_size=2000&max_line=0&trek_names=1
I expect the GAIA DR2 data might make this both easier and harder.
Meantime, I'm puzzling over a question of star system placement for Trekkish purposes. Specifically, Hobus.
Noticed in the process of mulling it over, this Memory Beta page. Players of that game are expected to believe that planets orbiting any given star could remain mostly intact (habitability issues notwithstanding) after their host star went supernova?
Courtesy of Jed Whitten's StarMap site, the general neighbourhood of Hobus, reaching 600 lightyears above and below Arbitrary Galactic Equatorial:
http://whitten.org/index.php?x_c=30&y_c=-30&z_c=0&xy_zoom=15&z_zoom=600&m_limit=&select_star=2411&image_type=normal&image_size=2000&max_line=0&trek_names=1
I expect the GAIA DR2 data might make this both easier and harder.
Tech Art Addiction: Another Installment
Nov. 4th, 2013 05:49 pmTwo things I came across recently:
1. A little thing on the Robot 6 blog on comicbookresources.com about architectural drawings tied to the series Locke and Key. The series isn't exactly my cuppa, but I know some of you out there have a love for it. So.
2. I'd heard that a Haynes-issue book on the Death Star and related space hardware from Star Wars was in the works for a couple of months. It's on my own "want list". Spotted it recently at a couple of local booksellers. If you want a sense of why I'd like to have it in my genre tech art reading collection, here you go, courtesy of io9.com.
3. One more thing I'd like to see done?
A SHIELD Agents' Orientation Manual. Preferred candidates to contribute material, be it text or artwork to include the following:
Complete with a history of known Helicarrier classes to date, details of the old SHIELD NYC HQ bases(the first one under the barber shop, and the skyscraper that formed one of the key venues of Nick Fury vs. SHIELD), and an assortment of the other gadgetry in the arsenal. And if they want to throw in the Urbis Immortalis under Rome as designed by Dustin Weaver, go for it.
Just saying.
1. A little thing on the Robot 6 blog on comicbookresources.com about architectural drawings tied to the series Locke and Key. The series isn't exactly my cuppa, but I know some of you out there have a love for it. So.
2. I'd heard that a Haynes-issue book on the Death Star and related space hardware from Star Wars was in the works for a couple of months. It's on my own "want list". Spotted it recently at a couple of local booksellers. If you want a sense of why I'd like to have it in my genre tech art reading collection, here you go, courtesy of io9.com.
3. One more thing I'd like to see done?
A SHIELD Agents' Orientation Manual. Preferred candidates to contribute material, be it text or artwork to include the following:
Complete with a history of known Helicarrier classes to date, details of the old SHIELD NYC HQ bases(the first one under the barber shop, and the skyscraper that formed one of the key venues of Nick Fury vs. SHIELD), and an assortment of the other gadgetry in the arsenal. And if they want to throw in the Urbis Immortalis under Rome as designed by Dustin Weaver, go for it.
Just saying.
Despite the phrasing of the opening headline of this particular CBC news article, I notice this particular detail about Radarsat-1: it lasted twelve years longer than planned or expected.
The people who built this satellite did Very Good Work.
Thank you all.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2013/04/09/technology-radarsat-1-problem.html
Happy Gagarin Day!
Happy Yuri's Night!
The people who built this satellite did Very Good Work.
Thank you all.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2013/04/09/technology-radarsat-1-problem.html
Happy Gagarin Day!
Happy Yuri's Night!
In Memory of the Challenger Seven: 2013
Jan. 28th, 2013 08:33 pm![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif){kind=small}
james_nicoll just reminded me of the Anniversary. Thankfully, the work of exploration continues, as the Seven would have hoped.
So...about Krypton's homestar?
Nov. 5th, 2012 01:48 pmSeems Neil DeGrasse Tyson's been asked to weigh in for DC's current editorial purposes which star and where in our sky we can find it.
I remember back in the late 1980's that John Byrne referred to an unidentified red dwarf located "50 light-years away", partly out of respect for the 50th anniversary of the Superman franchise's founding. I don't think the star in question was ever specifically nailed down by name or catalogue number, although a number of amateur and professional astronomers have come up with usable maps and lists and posted or otherwise published them so that the public - science-fiction, fantasy and super-hero writers among them - could have their own fun with the material.
Before Byrne, there was Elliot S! Maggin with his statement about Antares in either Miracle Monday or Last Son of Krypton. Not sure which novel it was.
And did Mark Waid say something in Birthright about the Andromeda Galaxy?
I remember back in the late 1980's that John Byrne referred to an unidentified red dwarf located "50 light-years away", partly out of respect for the 50th anniversary of the Superman franchise's founding. I don't think the star in question was ever specifically nailed down by name or catalogue number, although a number of amateur and professional astronomers have come up with usable maps and lists and posted or otherwise published them so that the public - science-fiction, fantasy and super-hero writers among them - could have their own fun with the material.
Before Byrne, there was Elliot S! Maggin with his statement about Antares in either Miracle Monday or Last Son of Krypton. Not sure which novel it was.
And did Mark Waid say something in Birthright about the Andromeda Galaxy?
Some space-related news this morning
Nov. 22nd, 2011 10:45 amDid anyone else notice that the exoplanet.eu database just blew past the 700 confirmed exoplanets mark this month?
Also, three of humanity's explorers in the deep black just got home today:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2011/11/22/science-soyuz-astronauts-return.html
That first comment about space travel being "routine" now...strikes me as Not Quite True Yet.
Also, three of humanity's explorers in the deep black just got home today:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2011/11/22/science-soyuz-astronauts-return.html
That first comment about space travel being "routine" now...strikes me as Not Quite True Yet.
Dribs and Drabs Before Hallowe'en
Oct. 23rd, 2010 03:33 pmLots of little things here and there:
Another installment of Street Names under my byline is up at Spacing Ottawa. At this rate, there should be enough material for a smallish book in...oh, about ten years. Maybe a little sooner.
james_nicoll asks how nerdy it is to...."crack out a 3d map of the local stars to chart the movement of space fleets in an SF novel?" I answered "one" on a scale of one to ten. Your light-distance will vary, of course.
For fans of the Legion of Super-Heroes, there's a leadership election in progress. Deadline for your e-ballots is November 10th. One hopes that DC will keep the domain name of "legionelection.com", as I hope that Paul Levitz will want to try his hand at writing after-the-fact coverage of any debates between the candidates...which ranks include all active members as of the declaration of the election. (And can we have text features again, please?)
Planning to do some photography at WritersFest again tomorrow. Events of particular interest involve William Gibson and Ottawa Citizen columnist Dan Gardner.
Cognitive dissonance abounds re: US infrastructure funding, apparently.
Another installment of Street Names under my byline is up at Spacing Ottawa. At this rate, there should be enough material for a smallish book in...oh, about ten years. Maybe a little sooner.
james_nicoll asks how nerdy it is to...."crack out a 3d map of the local stars to chart the movement of space fleets in an SF novel?" I answered "one" on a scale of one to ten. Your light-distance will vary, of course.For fans of the Legion of Super-Heroes, there's a leadership election in progress. Deadline for your e-ballots is November 10th. One hopes that DC will keep the domain name of "legionelection.com", as I hope that Paul Levitz will want to try his hand at writing after-the-fact coverage of any debates between the candidates...which ranks include all active members as of the declaration of the election. (And can we have text features again, please?)
Planning to do some photography at WritersFest again tomorrow. Events of particular interest involve William Gibson and Ottawa Citizen columnist Dan Gardner.
Cognitive dissonance abounds re: US infrastructure funding, apparently.
Canada Wants a Moon Rover?
Sep. 17th, 2010 11:14 amApparently so.
Details here:
http://spaceref.ca/missions-and-programs/canadian-space-agency/moon-rover/canadian-space-agency-issues-rfp-for-a-moon-rover.html
Background on some of the reasons here:
http://spaceref.ca/event/leag2010/exploring-the-moons-south-pole-a-canadian-objective.html
Details here:
http://spaceref.ca/missions-and-programs/canadian-space-agency/moon-rover/canadian-space-agency-issues-rfp-for-a-moon-rover.html
Background on some of the reasons here:
http://spaceref.ca/event/leag2010/exploring-the-moons-south-pole-a-canadian-objective.html
Starmap: A Bit of Good News
Nov. 21st, 2009 04:37 pmFor those of you who like a little interstellar cartography with your space opera and superheroics:
Jed Whitten's Starmap site is back online.
Go. Enjoy. Learn. Preferably both of the last two at the same time.
Jed Whitten's Starmap site is back online.
Go. Enjoy. Learn. Preferably both of the last two at the same time.
Astronomy 101 for Comics Creators
Dec. 15th, 2005 10:40 pmI'm thinking that we need to put a seminar for comics writers, editors, artists, etc. together. It ought to deal with nothing but space science-related issues. C-ACE could host it next year, here in Ottawa. I'd attend, just for a refresher.
Example of the sort of thing that's got me thinking of the need for such a gathering? Lately in the DCU titles, in the wake of the chaos of the Infinite Crisis, we've had Polaris referred to as a "galaxy" rather than a star system.
I don't know. Maybe it sounds cooler these days to refer to galaxies rather than individual star systems within any one galaxy. Maybe, there's a sound-alike in certain other DCU-specific cultures' languages for "Polaris", as was established for there being more than one "Rigel" in Star Trek's specific ficton back when Enterprise started up. If so, say so, and I, continuity-attentive soul that I am, will likely move on happily. Certainly, it would explain away the discrepancy between the DCU's Polaris -- which has at least one habitable world orbiting it with its own star nation, the Thanagarian nation, keeping its capital there -- and the real Polaris, which given its status as a supergiant, might be somewhat less than likely to be hosting life similar to what we know to be possible.
Anyway...I could probably recommend a few books and websites for the course curriculum. The partial list will likely appear in a future posting...
Example of the sort of thing that's got me thinking of the need for such a gathering? Lately in the DCU titles, in the wake of the chaos of the Infinite Crisis, we've had Polaris referred to as a "galaxy" rather than a star system.
I don't know. Maybe it sounds cooler these days to refer to galaxies rather than individual star systems within any one galaxy. Maybe, there's a sound-alike in certain other DCU-specific cultures' languages for "Polaris", as was established for there being more than one "Rigel" in Star Trek's specific ficton back when Enterprise started up. If so, say so, and I, continuity-attentive soul that I am, will likely move on happily. Certainly, it would explain away the discrepancy between the DCU's Polaris -- which has at least one habitable world orbiting it with its own star nation, the Thanagarian nation, keeping its capital there -- and the real Polaris, which given its status as a supergiant, might be somewhat less than likely to be hosting life similar to what we know to be possible.
Anyway...I could probably recommend a few books and websites for the course curriculum. The partial list will likely appear in a future posting...
