Copernicus

Cool Copernicus




Reconstruct.

What's left of him.




Computer reconstruction of Copernicus from skull discovered in the cathedral in Frombork, Poland. Read BBC version here.

International Space Station - 10 Years

International Space Station 10 Years



Credit: NASA

In the beginning.Zarya control module was the first element of the International Space Station. 1998.




Credit: NASA

The International Space Station 2008. On this image is the ATV Jules Verne still attached to the station. It was removed and it committed a successful 'suicide' in our atmosphere this fall.




On November 20th ten years ago, the first International Space Station module was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The launch of the Russian-built Zarya module marked the start of on-orbit assembly of the most extraordinary space complex. ISS is a truly international space cooperation shown in particular by the modules built by different nations.

The Monster in Sagittarius

Sagittarius Blues



Credit: ESO/APEX/2MASS/A. Eckart et al.

I thought I'd calm down with a little blue stuff. This nice and blue image of Sagittarius should do the work I thought. Only, it is in fact a portrait of a monstrous black hole in Sagittarius. I AM a Sagittarius (and that is all you get to know about the event of my birth...) so is this article telling me I am monstrous then, you astrology people out there? Wait, I forgot I am a declared astrologist myself...:-)

Oh well, as long as it is blue!

Acoustics in Space

Music on Planets



Bach on Mars, here represented by the Hellas basin.


Please, listen to this audio article. It is very interesting. If you only are interested in hearing what Bach sounds like on Mars, go appx 2 min into the 'show' and start listening. If you continue to 3 min you'll get the Bach a la Venus and finally a mash of planetary Bachs towards the end.

I found it highly entertaining and fascinating. :-)

Sven Hedin

Adventurous Swede



Credit: Norwegian National Library, B L Bye
Sven Hedin traveled trans himalaya and improved our geographical knowledge by making more precise maps.


Aloke is perfectly right; I am an admirer of the 'horrible reactionary man', the adventurer and geographer and SWEDE Sven Hedin. He is more famous in Asia than in the Nordic countries. I only learn about him because of my expedition to Tibet and the totally fascinating mapping history of that region. Get a taste of Hedin by reading Alokes biography of him. :-)

On Norway and Fish

Norway and Fish



A Love Story


...Norway, resolutely and proudly outside the European Union, is widely praised for its fishing policy by, among others, environmental groups like the WWF....This is a rather good description of the Norwegian 'soul'. :-) It makes me smile, the fact that BBC picked up this element of Norwegian culture. Not all Norwegians are happy being outside the EU, but generally we like to be 'a little different' and do things our way.




fish+norwegians=love ~ fish+norwegians=love ~ fish+norwegians=love ~ fish+norwegians=love





Edit: MBMC was kind enough to send me this sign:












Remember links are hidden in images here at PlanetBye. ;-)

Earth Rise

The Last - The Famous - The First

Astrophysicists like and are trained to see the big picture. That is why I think Earth rises are so beautiful and fulfilling. It feels good looking at the Earth from a distance. I have collected three versions of a distant view of Earth; the last, the most famous and the first that was ever taken of an Earth rise seen from the Moon. They all stem from extraordinary efforts in our space history. The first images of the Earth rise ever taken was done by the Lunar Orbiter program (NASA) and the most famous image is a product of the Apollo program (NASA). We can thank Kaguya (JAXA) for the last Earth rise image.

Personally I can't tell which one is my favorite. They each have their own qualities. I'd love to hear from you all what you think. Which photo of our planet do you prefer or find most appealing? Feel free to comment. :-)

The Last



Credit: JAXA/NHK
Earth rise on the Moon as seen by Kaguya/Selene 5. April 2008


See all the images from the JAXA's Kaguya mission here.


The Famous



Credit: NASA, Apollo 8
This photograph was taken during the Apollo 8 mission in December 1968, seven months before the first lunar landing.



The First



Credit: NASA/LOIRP
The Lunar Orbiter 1 spacecraft took this iconic photograph of Earth rising above the lunar surface in 1966. The resolution and quality of the image have been worked on by a team at NASA so it looks better than it did some 42 years ago.


By clicking on the images you get to the original source of the image and can find larger versions if you like.