This image was taken by the Cassini mission recently, and was brought to my attention by Asymptotia and today's APOD-
I always find people odd who accuse scientists of having no artistic sense. Someone without artistic skill would never take images like this!
I miss my telescope. Actually nix that: I miss rounding up people who have never looked through a telescope before, and watching their faces as they get their first glimpse of Saturn or Jupiter. You either understand that, or we have some observing to do when I get home...
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Astronomical Vistas
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2 comments:
In my experience, the best reactions are not from Jupiter itself but rather pointing out its moons. People see pictures of Saturn and are slightly disappointed by the non-Hubble-ness of what they see through the 'scope. But rarely do they see Jupiter with those four little pin-points of light in a straight line with it. That always gets 'em from what I've seen.
It's arguably a pretty even split, I think. People get a hell of a lot more excited when they realize it's Saturn they're seeing!
Btw, I always thought that the best thing scientists could do when it comes to funding is take politicians up to look through, say, the 61" telescope on Mt. Lemmon at something like the Saturn Nebula (which gets an electric blue color under that magnification!). We'd never again have funding problems. :)
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