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Ceres stereo

SCOOP ! My pal Claudia Manzoni put together the first close-up stereo of dwarf planet Ceres EVER !!!! From the brand new pictures from NASA Dawn – published today. Enjoy !

Until the NASA’s Dawn spaceship drew close to Ceres this week, the best pictures we had of this, the largest minor planet (590 miles across) were from the Hubble Space Telescope, in orbit around the Earth. They showed little more than an indistinct blob with a noticeable bright spot, which highlighted the rotation period of the object (about 9 hours). There have been many speculations about what that bright spot could be … but no firm conclusions. These spectacular new pictures show that the bright spot is very compact, not just the floor of a crater, but much smaller and more intense, and … double ! Fascinating ! And still there is no firm conclusion as to what is causing this very bright feature. It looks temptingly like an intelligent signal, doesn’t it ?

Ceres stereo – detail

This is Astronomy as it happens !

Cheers

Bri

A lovely review of “The Cosmic Tourist” the wonderful astronomy book published by Brian, Patrick Moore and Chris Lintott, two years ago this month (11 Oct 2012).  Includes stunning pictures…

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BOING BOING
20 October 2014 

REVIEW: The Cosmic Tourist: Visit the 100 Most Awe-Inspiring Destinations in the Universe

Open the pages of Cosmic Tourist and journey across the universe with 100 thrilling pit stops along the way.

Your itinerary starts with Planet Earth, makes stops on the moon, the sun, a comet, Mercury, resting spots through the asteroid belt, and many other cosmic sites until you end up 13,700,000,000 light years away at “Infinity and Beyond.”

Each stop offers spectacular photography and fascinating outer space facts that are written by the BBC’s “Sky at Night” astronomers Patrick Moore, Chris Lintott, and Brian May (who also happens to be the guitarist and founding member of Queen).

If you’ve often sat under the black twinkling canopy of the night sky and wondered…

– What is that mysterious glow on the night side of Venus? Or… 
– Why is the Delta Cephei, which is 887 light years away from Earth, one of the most important stars in the sky? 
– Or… What are those beautifully bright beaded interlocking rings that are floating 167,000 light-years away from us?

… then it’s time to buy your passenger ticket, er, this visually stunning book, which will captivate you with space travel for many moons to come.

Still avaiable: The Cosmic Tourist: Visit the 100 Most Awe-Inspiring Destinations
in the Universe 
by Brian May, Patrick Moore, and Chris Lintott

REMINDERS – 2014:
22-28 Sep – Starmus Tenerife and premiere of “51 Degrees” movie with music by Brian May and concert with Rick Wakeman and more. BOOK
20 October – Publication date “A Poor Man’s Picture Gallery” – PRE-ORDER

Oct-Nov – Brian May/Denis Pellerin Book Talks 2014 – SEE HERE
Oct – Publication “Brian May’s Red Special” – PRE-ORDER
Oct – April 2015 Nov – Stereoscopic Cards Exhibition Tate Gallery

**Sun 07 Sep 14**
PRESS RELEASE: STARMUS FESTIVAL AND STEPHEN HAWKING LAUNCH THE BOOK
“STARMUS, 50 YEARS OF MAN IN SPACE”
Direct link

Stephen Hawking and Garik Israelian presenting the Starmus Book

PRESS RELEASE: TENERIFE, Spain, September 7, 2014 /PRNewswire/ —

Garik Israelian presents the first copy to Stephen Hawking, the author of the foreword, who later today sets out from Southampton to Tenerife to headline Starmus 2014

The organisation also releases unpublished material from the first festival: the video 108 minutes of the round table discussions and a video interview with the cosmonaut Alexei Leonov.

A book signing will be organized at the festival; the book will be available for sale at the festival and on the Starmus official website.

Just two weeks before the Starmus Festival 2014, the organisers launch Starmus, 50 Years Of Man In Space, a book about the first Starmus festival. During the launch, held in the British city of Southampton, Garik Israelian, the festival’s founder, had introduced Stephen Hawking, the author of the foreword, presenting the first book copy, before Hawking set sail to Tenerife.

“I’m bringing with me the first copies of the Starmus book about the first Starmus Festival that took place in 2011. This is a historical document, because it contains the last lecture by Neil Armstrong and talks by the Soviet and Apollo astronauts, as well as the rest of the festival material. I wrote the foreword of the first Starmus book and I’m really looking forward to participating in the second edition,” stated Professor Stephen Hawking.

The publication’s editors in chief are Garik Israelian and Brian May, and the executive editor is David Eicher, the editor-in-chief of the Astronomy magazine. With a foreword by Hawking, the book is dedicated to Yuri Gagarin and Neil Armstrong and contains their published papers.

“The history of Starmus seems as improbable as the Apollo 11 mission and the phenomenon of Stephen Hawking. This inspired us to publish the book in which we captured the incredible experience of Starmus for scientific dissemination,” stated Garik Israelian.

Together with the book the organisation has released unpublished material from the first festival: a video entitled 108 minutes about the round table discussion in the La Palma Observatory with a prestigious panel of speakers such as Neil Armstrong, Alexei Leonov, Brian May and Buzz Aldrin, among many others, as well as an interview with the cosmonaut Alexei Leonov.

Driven by Garik Israelian and sponsored by the Government of the Canary Islands and the Council of Tenerife, the second festival entitled Beginnings. The Making of the Modern Cosmos, to be held from the 22nd to 27th of September, will bring together a line-up of internationally renowned participants. According to its director: “Having Stephen Hawking, Brian May, Richard Dawkins and many other leading lights in Tenerife at the same time is like having an extremely unique supernova explode – a supernova that creates a black hole attracting enthusiasts from all over the world.”

As a model astro-touristic destination, demonstrated by the EU Sky Route project, Tenerife will be an exceptional festival venue.
http://www.starmus.com

“108 minutes” video – GTC La Palma round table Starmus 2011 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fc-qEsyW_Q

Event Date: Fri 9th Oct, 2014

ROYAL PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY
LECTURE AND BOOK SIGNING: STEREOSCOPY AND VICTORIAN PAINTING

Talk & Book signing

– Website

09 October 2014
18:30 – 21:30
Royal Institute of British Architects
66 Portland Place
London W1B 1AD – View map

RPS Member £15.00
Non RPS Member £18.00
Book online

Denis Pellerin and Dr Brian May CBE

Photohistorians Dr Brian May CBE and Denis Pellerin are presenting an exclusive lecture on behalf of The Royal Photographic Society. May and Pellerin have researched the little known connections between Victorian art and stereo-photography. For the first time they examine the art behind many popular stereocards of the time. The lecture accompanies the publication of a new book The Poor Man’s Picture Gallery and a display at Tate Britain.

Brian and Denis will be signing copies of the book after the lecture. Copies will be available for purchase.

The Poor Man’s Picture Gallery, is a 208-page book, the second to be published under the imprint of the London Stereoscopic Company, and comes with Dr Brian May’s specially designed Owl stereo-viewer.

The six-month exhibition at Tate Britain, London, runs from October 2014 to April 2015 where twelve paintings from the Tate collections will be displayed side by side with the stereo-photographs they inspired. Stereoscopic cabinets, also designed by Dr May, will make it possible for visitors to experience 3D viewing the Victorian way and to compare the three dimensional rendition of the painting with its original version hanging on the wall.

Please note: your payment confirmation is your ticket.

Jo Macdonald
Email the event organiser: jo@rps.org
01225 325721

PRESS RELEASE: A Group of Legendary Russian Cosmonauts led by Alexei Leonov join the Starmus Festival

The Starmus International Festival dedicated to astronomy, space science, art and music returns to the Abama Golf & Spa resort in Tenerife from 22 to 27 September to address “Beginnings: the making of the modern cosmos.” It is a festival that is open to everyone, whether you are a beginner, amateur or professional.

We are very pleased to announce that our three Apollo “Moonwalkers” will now be joined by five legendary Cosmonauts including the first man to walk in space Alexei Leonov, together with Vladimir Dzhanibekov, Sergei Krikalev, Viktor Savinykh and Yuri Baturin.

Alexei Leonov who would have been the first man to walk on the moon had the Soviet Union gone ahead with their planned moon mission before the USA, will be giving a talk at Starmus entitled: Why did the Soviet Union not send a man to the moon? Arthur C. Clarke’s book 2010: Odyssey Two was dedicated to Leonov and Andrei Sakharov; the fictional spaceship Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov was named after him. He was also put in command of the Soyuz 19 mission, the first joint Soviet-U.S. space project Soyuz-Apollo in 1975.

Alexei Leonov, Russian Cosmonaut, on 18 March, 1965, became the first human to conduct a space walk. This historic event occurred on the Voskhod 2 flight. He was outside the spacecraft for 12 minutes and nine seconds connected to the craft by a 5.35 meter tether. At the end of the spacewalk, his spacesuit had inflated in the vacuum of space to the point where he could not re-enter the airlock. He opened a valve to allow some of the suit’s pressure to bleed off and was barely able to get back inside the capsule. From 1976 to 1982, Leonov was the commander of the cosmonaut team (“Chief Cosmonaut”) and deputy director of the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center. Leonov is an accomplished artist whose published books include albums of his artistic works.

Vladimir Dzhanibekov, Russian Cosmonaut, has spent over 146 days in space aboard five spaceflights. He is one of the most experienced cosmonauts in history. His first was aboard Soyuz 27 in 1978. The spacecraft docked with the Salyut 6 space station for 8 days. He spent another week aboard Salyut 6 in 1981. In 1982, he commanded Soyuz T-6. He made his fourth flight in 1984 aboard Salyut 7. He took a spacewalk during this mission to repair a power system. In 1985, he took part in a dangerous mission to revive the dead Salyut 7 space station. The crew made a five-hour spacewalk to restore solar panels and repair power systems to the station.

Sergei Krikalev, Russian Cosmonaut, became a cosmonaut in 1987 and has spent over 461 days in space. In 1988, he flew aboard the Mir space station. In 1991, he flew a second time on Mir and made an unprecedented 6 spacewalks where he did space construction. Space Missions include: Mir EO-4 (Soyuz TM-7), Mir LD-3 (Soyuz TM-12, Soyuz TM-13), STS-60, STS-88, Expedition 1 (Soyuz TM-031, STS-102, Expedition 11 (Soyuz TMA-6

Viktor Savinykh, Russian Cosmonaut, became a cosmonaut in 1978 and has spent over 253 days in space on three spaceflights. In 1981, he spent 74 days aboard the Salyut 6 space station. Space Missions include: Soyuz T-4, Soyuz T13, Mir EP-2 (Soyuz TM-5/ Soyuz TM-4). In 2005, minor planet 6890 was named after Savinykh.

Yuri Baturin, Russian Cosmonaut, in 1973 he graduated at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. In 1980 he also graduated at the Law Institute of Moscow State University, where he also obtained a doctorate in laws. A former politician, he has been Head of National Security and has served on the National Defence Council. In 1997 he was selected as a cosmonaut. In 1998 he flew on Soyuz TM-28/Soyuz TM-27 as a research cosmonaut and in 2001 on Soyuz TM-32/Soyuz TM-31 as flight engineer.

The founders of the Starmus Festival have worked hard to create another unique event for everyone, at an affordable price of 300 Euros. Please note we have also introduced a special discounted rate of 200 Euros for Canarian Residents and Students. For more information on the festival please go to our website at www.starmus.com.

Starmus 2014 includes an opening cocktail reception, a three-day conference, an astrophotography and space art exhibition, a live broadcast of a roundtable discussion from the GTC Telescope in La Palma, a “Space legends” event and the “Sonic Universe” music concert. There are also optional extras such as a “Star Party” in the Teide National Park, a dinner banquet, and excursions to visit the observatories of Tenerife and La Palma.

The event is driven by its developer Garik Israelian, an astrophysicist researcher at IAC (Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands) and a scientific advisory board including Dr Brian May, astrophysicist and guitarist for the legendary rock band “Queen” and Alexei Leonov, the legendary Russian cosmonaut who made the first space walk in 1965.

The Festival is supported by the Canary Islands Government through PROMOTUR Turismo de Canarias, the Cabildo of Tenerife, the Cabildo of La Palma, International Astronomical Union and Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC).

The official media partner is Astronomy magazine.