August 22, 2017
Total Eclipse Of My Heart
The total eclipse was without a doubt one of the coolest experiences I have ever had. I feel a conflict of emotions when describing just how awesome the experience was to folks who watched from outside the zone of totality. One one hand: I want them to know how cool it was to experience it in person. On the other hand: I don't want to make them feel sad for being so close to seeing a total eclipse and just barely missing out on the experience. It truly was a surreal, and magical and extraordinary experience that no photo or second hand account can explain.
I tagged along with some friends down to Eastover SC, and fortunately they were able to acquire some official eclipse viewing glasses. We also used a colander and a piece of cardboard with a pinhole to create a visualization of the eclipse.
Unless you're a professional photographer you just can't take a decent photo of the moon or sun, and especially when they are combined in a glorious ring of fire in the night sky. Leave that to the pros. I did take this kinda neat panoramic photo of the area where we were standing under the eclipse.
The Washington Post has a really great interactive map experience that allows you to use your scroll wheel to follow the path of the eclipse across the country. As as web designer/developer, and a map enthusiast, I have to say this takes the cake as one of the coolest web experiences I've ever had!
Labels: astronomy, maps, science, space
August 20, 2017
Eclipse Playlist
Tomorrow is the must awaited total solar eclipse that will pass close by over South Carolina. Sadly I am one of those who were duped by bogus eclipse glasses on Amazon, so I will be resorting to the old-fashioned pin-hole-in-a-thin-piece-of-cardboard-and-projecting-on-a-second-piece-of-cardboard-technique.
If you are planning to watch, please make absolutly sure you are using the proper eye projection!
Anyways, I figued such an important event deserved it's own special playlist, see below...
Labels: astronomy, science, space
August 30, 2016
The Whole World In Your Hands
I stumbled upon this on Twitter earlier this week and it has really captured my attention. This photo by Astronaut Jeff Williams (who is currently residing in the International Space Station) is astonishing. It displays the entire west coast of the United States, from Washington State all the way down to the Baja Peninsula in Mexico.
I thought it might be a good idea to label some of the more distinguishable landmarks visible in the photo, see below...
Here is the high-resolution version of the photo with labels. You can also download the original photo from NASA's website.
It's cool that you can see so much of our country in such detail in one image.
Labels: space
January 29, 2009
Everything is expanding
I was looking up what are the biggest stars on-line and what were the closest stars to earth and so forth (Biggest star: VY Canis Major, is a couple thousand times bigger than the sun – closest star: Proxima Centuri, is only a little more than 4 light years away.) when the question came into my mind? Where did it all start? If I look up, is there a place where I can look and think to myself, that was where the Big Bang happened. We came from there. I was surprised to read that there is no such place!Everything is where it always was. Sure things have changed shape and exploded and formed clouds and stars and planets. But the stuff thats around you is the stuff that would have been around you at the moment when the whole universe began. And while the universe appears to be expanding, there is no edge of the universe. Well there isn't anything outside of the universe, so how could there be an edge to nothing? So while the universe may not be getting any bigger everything is getting farther apart. Now I know that if I ever find the love of my life I'll know that each day I'm just getting farther and farther away from her, and everything else. That gives me an enhanced sort of lonely feeling.
Labels: space