An Awesome Space Slideshow

Posted by Ethan on October 23, 2009
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Seed Magazine (which I’ve written for) has just put out a space slideshow: Traveling Through Time and Stars.

Michael Benson gives an account — in words and pictures — of a journey outwards, from nearby stars to nebulae to other galaxies to clusters of galaxies. The pictures alone are worth having a look at.

Beautiful? I don’t know that that even begins to describe it, but it certainly helps give me a great perspective on what these different regions look like.

The idea of zooming out and looking at things on larger and larger scales really appeals to me. In fact, I think the slideshow fills in a lot of gaps for something like this video… (and if you’re impatient, you may just want to start at the 3:30 mark or so)

In any case, enjoy the slideshow, enjoy the video, and I hope you enjoy the feeling of smallness that I feel when I look on these grand scales.

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Comments

  1. #1 MadScientist
    October 23, 2009

    I never feel small because it’s all too big for me to imagine. I can’t even imagine how big Jupiter is or how far away it is – to me, Jupiter is small.

  2. #2 Dianna
    October 24, 2009

    Breathtaking.
    It makes me a bit sad when I think about how many people have no opportunities to – or no interest in- contemplating how vast and beautiful the universe actually is.
    As for me, when I’m having a rough day, I usually picture the pull back from Earth in my mind. It definitely gives me perspective and a moment of joy, as well.

  3. #3 Hank Roberts
    October 24, 2009

    Reminiscent of the Eames’ work from long, long ago:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2cmlhfdxuY
    (but they started from Chicago, gave a meter scale, and bounced back)