Monday, August 30, 2010

33 Incredible Astrophotography Pictures








 




via Photography Blogger by Nate Kay on
7/20/10


The night sky above us has an unimaginable beauty stretching light years into
the universe. Although it’s a place in which we may never experience, we can
still document a fraction of that beauty through a camera. Here are 33
incredible astrophotography pictures to gaze in wonder at.


astrophotography

The Emu at Miramar by Luis Argerich


astrophotography

Look South by Luis Argerich


astrophotography

Corona Australis by Luis Argerich


astrophotography

You looking at me? by Michael Semensohn


astrophotography

wish upon a star and you will have many wishes here by World's Saddest
Man


astrophotography

The Flaming Star Nebula by Don McCrady


astrophotography

The Aggie Milky Way by Doug Klembara


astrophotography

Milky Way and Zodiacal Light by jessi.bryan


astrophotography

Smoking Stonehenge by Bala


astrophotography

Altar of the Milky Way by Bala


astrophotography

Star Trek by Kevin Lau


astrophotography

anza borrego starscape by Anthony Citrano


astrophotography

Astrophotography in Joshua Tree by Kolby


astrophotography

Joshua Tree Orion by Kolby


astrophotography

Star Trails by Eric Gorski


astrophotography

15 Minute Exposure by Dennis Barnes


astrophotography

Time is Passing by DonkerDink


astrophotography

Full Moon at Perigee by kukkurovaca


astrophotography

image by Phillip Chee


astrophotography

Winter Constellations and Zodiac Light by Phillip Chee


astrophotography

Mt. Teide under the stars by Michael Bolognesi


astrophotography

Polar Rotation by Luca Argalia


astrophotography

B33 - Horsehead Nebula by Luca Argalia


astrophotography

NGC-2264 Christmas - Tree Cluster by Luca Argalia


astrophotography

Gamma Cygni by Luca Argalia


astrophotography

Copernico e Eratostene by Luca Argalia


astrophotography

Nebulosa Cuore - IC1805 by Luca Argalia


astrophotography

Milky Way from Apollo Bay by Cain Doherty


astrophotography

Andromeda by makelessnoise


astrophotography

Gibbous is a funny word by makelessnoise


astrophotography

2009 Leonid Meteor by Ed Sweeney


astrophotography

Black hole Sun by betelgeux



astrophotography

Waning Crescent Moon by Mark Kilner





Related posts:


  1. 42 Incredible Hot Air Balloon Pictures
  2. 25 Incredible Seascape Photos by Garry Schlatter
  3. Pictures of
    the Moon



 

 


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Hawking: Humanity Faces Extinction If We Don’t Explore Outer Space








 




via Slice of SciFi by Michael Hickerson on
8/10/10

First he was warning us about potentially
hostile aliens. Now it's a warning that if we don't start making a move off
Earth, humanity is doomed to extinction. Dr. Stephen Hawking warns that if
humanity doesn't make moves toward colonizing and inhabiting outer space in the
next two centuries, we're doomed to extinction.



 

 


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Pink Floyd's David Gilmour guests on The Orb's new album








 




via MusicRadar - News by Joe Bosso on
8/18/10



David Gilmour, performing in Poland. © Barbara Ostrowska/PAP/Corbis


Former Pink Floyd guitarist and vocalist David Gilmour is one of the
featured guest contributors on The Orb's upcoming album Metallic
Spheres.


Due out 4 October, the new record from the Brihish electronic pioneers will
also see famed producer and ex-Killing Joke member Martin 'Youth' Glover playing
bass and keyboards.


The follow-up to The Orb's 2009 release Baghdad Batteries and their 10th
album in all, certain sections of Metallic Spheres were recorded in 3D60,
allowing listeners to experience hearing some tracks in three-dimensional sound.
The album will be available for digital download, double LP and double CD.


According to DavidGilmourBlog.com, all of the
royalties from Metallic Spheres will go to support the campaign against the
extradition of Gary McKinnon, the Glasgow-born computer systems administer who
is accused of hacking into US Defense Department computers.


For longtime fans of The Orb, their involvement with Gilmour should come as
no surprise - the group have remixed various Pink Floyd songs over the years
such as Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Obscured By Clouds and Echoes.











 

 


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New Syd Barrett Album "An Introduction to Syd Barrett" due October 2010








 




via All Pink Floyd Fan Network by RSS feed
on 8/13/10


Links - Pre-order
An Introduction to Syd Barrett album now
| Get our Newsletter |
Facebook | Twitter | Pink Floyd



A
new compilation album called “An Introduction to Syd Barrett” will be
released by EMI on 4th October 2010 in the UK and Europe.

The
album features 18 songs by Syd Barrett from his solo albums as well as Pink
Floyd.

5 of the songs have been re-mixed and added to by the album’s
producer Pink Floyd’s guitarist David Gilmour as well as Damon Iddins and
Andy Jackson at Astoria Studios.

The album features brand new artwork by
long term album artwork provider Storm Thorgerson.

Feel free to post
this news on your Facebook Page
, or discuss
it on our NPF Forum
.

Order Your CD

To ensure
that you get your copy of the CD, feel free to pre-order
from the excellent Play.com today
.


Stay
Informed...



As more news becomes available about the album,
it will be posted on this website, featured in the NPF Newsletter and will
appear on our Facebook and Twitter pages. All terribly modern I am sure you will
agree!

Get
our Newsletter
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Related
Resources


Syd
Barrett photos
| Syd Barrett
Albums/Discography
| News > Syd
Barrett Movie
? | Rob
Chapman Q&A On Syd Barrett Very Irregular Head
Book






An Introduction to Syd Barrett CD Album
Track Listing


01. Arnold Layne (2010 Digital Remaster)
02. See
Emily Play (2010 Digital Remaster)
03. Apples And Oranges (2010 Digital
Remaster)
04. Matilda Mother (Alternative Version) (2010 Mix)
05. Chapter
24 (2010 Digital Remaster)
06. Bike (2010 Digital Remaster)
07. Terrapin
(2010 Digital Remaster)
08. Love You (2010 Digital Remaster)
09. Dark
Globe (2010 Digital Remaster)
10. Here I Go (2010 Remix)
11. Octopus (2010
Mix)
12. She Took A Long Cool Look (2010 Mix)
13. If It's In You (2010
Digital Remaster)
14. Baby Lemonade (2010 Digital Remaster)
15. Dominoes
(2010 Mix)
16. Gigolo Aunt (2010 Digital Remaster)
17. Effervescing
Elephant (2010 Digital Remaster)
18. Bob Dylan Blues (2010 Digital
Remaster)

Source - [ Brain Damage, Play and Other sites
]




DISCLAIMER: Please notice that the
article above is syndicated from Neptune Pink Floyd and was
originally published on 08-12-2010 03:58 PM. As such, APFFN is not responsible for its
content. Read the original article here.

 

 


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The 2010 Anti-Virus league tables are out!








 


 




via gHacks Technology News by Mike Halsey on
8/20/10


AV
Test
have now released the results of their 2010 best anti-virus for Windows 7.  The tests put
each anti-virus package through a rigorous set of tests to determine not only
how good they are at detecting and removing malware and viruses, but also how
usable the software is…




During the 2nd quarter of 2010 we have tested 19 security products in the
areas protection, repair and usability. The “Protection” covers static and
dynamic malware detection, including real-world 0-Day attack testing. In case
of “Repair”, we check the system disinfection and rootkit removal in detail.
The “Usability” testing includes the system slow-down caused by the tools and
the number of false positives. A product has to reach at least 12 points total
in order to receive a certification. 13 products have fulfilled our
requirements and received an AV-Test certificate.


The following, in order from best score to worst, are the packages that have
received certification, the top four also scored highest for anti-virus and
malware protection.



  1. AVG : Internet Security 9
  2. G Data : Internet Security 2010/2011
  3. Panda : Internet Security 2010
  4. Symantec : Norton Internet Security 2010
  5. F-Secure : Internet Security 2010
  6. Kaspersky : Internet Security 2010
  7. PC Tools : Spyware Doctor with AntiVirus 7.0
  8. BitDefender : Internet Security Suite 2010
  9. Avira : Premium Security Suite 10.0
  10. Microsoft : Security Essentials 1.0
  11. Avast : Internet Security 5.0
  12. Eset : Smart Security 4.0
  13. Webroot : Internet Security Essentials 6.1

Old favourite McAfee failed to gain certification this year.


My personal recommendations are, as always, AVG and Microsoft Security
Essentials.  Partly because they’re both free (AVG also has paid-for
options). but also because they’re simple to set-up and easy to use. 
Neither impact on your system resources very much either.


I will always recommend that you make sure you have anti-virus and
anti-malware software installed and that you keep it up to date.





© Mike Halsey for gHacks Technology
News
, 2010. | Permalink
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Michael Moorcock, Hippie Prince and science fiction writer








 


 




via Wired: Beyond the Beyond by
Bruce Sterling on 8/20/10


*I dunno why the layout on these webpages is so lousy, but that article’s
awesome.


http://newstaging.spectator.widearea.co.uk/books/6215098/hero-of-the-counterculture.thtml


(…)


…he was sent first to a Steiner school, where he acquired ‘a morbid terror of
vegetarianism’ and was the first pupil to be expelled, then to a prep school in
Norbury, and finally and somewhat inexplicably to a Pitman’s College, which he
left at 15, to earn his living by his leaky Osmiroid.


The Final Programme made him a star of the counterculture, and he performed
with Hawkwind, and with his own band the Deep Fix: ‘I was a hippy prince. I had
an entourage … We did drugs and sex and blew our minds.’


He can remember when LSD was available over the counter at John Bell and
Croydon in Wigmore Street, but his ‘true liking’, he confesses, is ‘for
killer-narcotics, mainlined’.


He acknowledges, though, that they ‘can become a bit of a risk’, and in 1975
he


returned to a rather reactive and overdone sobriety … From being a glamorous
bore I turned into a totally dull bore … I gave myself monkish rather than
roguish airs.


He is very funny about his stint as a script writer in Hollywood, and
interestingly prefers LA to San Francisco. (‘Only Geneva and Amsterdam are
neater.’)


These days he lives with his American wife in Lost Pines, a liberal enclave
of Texas, and deplores the way in which England




seems to be shedding her virtues as fast as she can, celebrating her vices
… as class-bound as ever, and in some ways far more repressive than similar
Oriental cultures.


Moorcock is elegant and aggressive (‘badly educated people are suspicious of
ambiguity’), consistently entertaining, and frequently wise and generous. He is
generally sound on religion and politics, despising Blair more than Thatcher,
for example.


And however heartily one may join him in deploring science fiction, one can
only applaud this, written in 1991, on ‘Cyberspace’ (an SF coinage): ‘It is,
perhaps, the year 2011 … You float at ease in the centre of a vast library …
Brilliantly coloured books radiate towards infinity.’ One applauds the louder
when he adds:


Our scientific advances will be merely obscene unless they help the large
part of our world’s population emerge from miserable uncertainty and
debilitating terror.


John Davey, his editor, is surely right to hail Moorcock as the epitome of
‘the post-War culture ruffian’….







 

 


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Focusing on Dark Energy With Cosmic Lens








 




via Wired: Wired Science by Lisa
Grossman on 8/19/10



Our view of dark energy, the mysterious force that is shoving the universe
apart, just got a little clearer. By observing the way large clumps of mass
distort their local space-time into enormous cosmological lenses, astronomers
have zoomed in on a quantity that describes how dark energy works.


“We have established the potency of a brand new technique to address this
very fundamental problem,” said astrophysicist Priyamvada Natarajan of Yale
University, co-author of a paper in the Aug. 20 Science describing the
new results. Combined with earlier experiments, the new results lead to
significantly more accurate measurements of dark energy’s properties, and could
ultimately help explain what the bizarre stuff really is.


Dark energy was first proposed in 1998 to explain why the universe is
expanding at an ever-increasing rate. Astronomers suggested that some kind of
force, dubbed “dark energy” because of the shroud of mystery it hides in, works
against gravity to push matter apart.


Although earlier experiments convinced astronomers the enigmatic stuff
exists, not much else is known about it. Dark energy makes up the majority of
the mass and energy in the universe, about 72 percent. Another 24 percent is
thought to be dark matter, which is easier to study than dark energy because of
its gravitational tugs on normal matter. The regular matter that makes up
everything we can see, including atoms, stars, planets and people, comprises
just 4 percent of the universe.


Dark energy also helps explain the geometry of the
universe
, and how the shape of the universe has changed over time. In the
new study, Natarajan and her colleagues used Hubble Space Telescope images of a massive
cluster of galaxies called Abell 1689 to get a clear view of the way space-time
is shaped behind the cluster.



This galaxy cluster contains so much matter — both dark matter and the
regular type — that light passing through it is distorted into long, stringy
arcs. The cluster acts as a gigantic magnifying glass called a gravitational
lens
, and produces multiple, distorted images of the galaxies behind it.


For the first time, Natarajan said, “we were able to exploit this beautiful,
clean phenomenon to characterize this lens so well that we could then map dark
energy.”


Natarajan and her colleagues carefully measured the way each image was
distorted to determine how far the background galaxies were from the lens. They
then combined that information with data on how far the galaxies are from Earth
to come up with a parameter that describes the density of dark energy in the
universe, and how the density changes with time.


“Knowing exactly where the object is, and knowing about the big lump that is
causing the bumps in space-time, allows us to accurately calculate the light
path,” Natarajan said. “The light path depends on geometry of space-time, and
dark energy manifests itself there. That’s how we get at it.”


This technique had been attempted before with a different cluster, but
without much success. But because Abell 1689 is one of the most massive lenses
around, it made more than 100 images of the galaxies behind it. “You want the
oomphiest lens, the most massive, dramatic, extreme lens,” Natarajan said. Abell
1689’s extreme mass allowed the team to measure many more galaxies than ever
before, and gave them a better picture of the cluster itself.


Natarajan hopes to apply the same technique to other massive clusters in the
future. “What is fantastic about this technique is it’s really rich,” she said.
“With just one cluster we can get a lot of stuff out. The prospects of applying
this technique to many clusters, and to add to the statistical power, is very
tantalizing.”


“This method looks to be quite a promising addition to the cosmography
toolkit,” commented Stanford astrophysicist Phil Marshall, who was not involved
in the new study. “It’s impressive how well they do with just one cluster.”


The results confirm what astronomers already thought they knew about dark
energy, but with much greater accuracy, said study co-author Eric Jullo of NASA’s Jet
Propulsion Lab. The new measurements suggest that dark energy has had the same
density for the entire history of the universe.


“That’s weird,” Jullo said. Imagine the universe as a balloon full of gas, he
suggests. When the balloon gets bigger, the gas inside should spread out and get
less dense. But dark energy seems to stay the same no matter how big the balloon
is. “We don’t know why this happens,” he said. “That’s why there is this race
now, with many techniques and this one in particular, in trying to measure how
dark energy density evolves with time.”


Ultimately, astronomers will have to throw the kitchen sink at dark energy to
figure out what it’s made of. Every technique to measure dark energy has its own
set of problems and errors. Using many different techniques can make each
technique’s shortcomings less important.


“The power is in combination,” Natarajan said.


Image: NASA/ESA/Jullo/Natarajan/Kneib


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