Comments on: Ring in the new year with a vote on Saturn http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2007/12/05/ring-in-the-new-year-with-a-vote-on-saturn/ I am an astronomer, writer, and skeptic. I likes reality the way it is, and I aims to keep it that way. My real name is Phil Plait, and I run the Bad Astronomy blog. Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:32:22 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: StevoR http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2007/12/05/ring-in-the-new-year-with-a-vote-on-saturn/comment-page-1/#comment-58322 StevoR Sat, 08 Dec 2007 02:10:04 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2007/12/05/ring-in-the-new-year-with-a-vote-on-saturn/#comment-58322 Hmnn .. We're NOT at the New Year yet either. Altho' the moder nequivalent of the Saturnalia festival is at hand. Hmmn .. Saturn~alia! I can do that too ... Seriously Xmas is pretty much a redo of that old Roman solstice celebration plus a mix of pagan and Christian and other things.. Saturn was their God of the Harvest I believe. & yeah, maybe I'm justgrumpy coz I'm just on dial-up too & using a next-to-useless, frustrating old computer .. Noprizes for guessingwhat I'd like for Satrnalia /Xmas /Hanujkkah . SolsticeCeleberation /Insert religious-social festival ofchoice here .. Mind you looking forward to 2008 - & even more so to 2015 when 'New Horizons' reaches Pluto - all being well. Hmnn .. We’re NOT at the New Year yet either.

Altho’ the moder nequivalent of the Saturnalia festival is at hand.

Hmmn .. Saturn~alia!

I can do that too …

Seriously Xmas is pretty much a redo of that old Roman solstice celebration plus a mix of pagan and Christian and other things.. Saturn was their God of the Harvest I believe.

& yeah, maybe I’m justgrumpy coz I’m just on dial-up too & using a next-to-useless, frustrating old computer .. Noprizes for guessingwhat I’d like for Satrnalia /Xmas /Hanujkkah . SolsticeCeleberation /Insert religious-social festival ofchoice here ..

Mind you looking forward to 2008 – & even more so to 2015 when ‘New Horizons’ reaches Pluto – all being well.

]]> By: StevoR http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2007/12/05/ring-in-the-new-year-with-a-vote-on-saturn/comment-page-1/#comment-58321 StevoR Sat, 08 Dec 2007 02:03:49 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2007/12/05/ring-in-the-new-year-with-a-vote-on-saturn/#comment-58321 Um .. What was the joke with the title there? Afraid I don't get it .. Oh wait - *ring* in the new year vote on *Saturn* Groan. Now I get it I wish I didn't ... Um .. What was the joke with the title there? Afraid I don’t get it ..

Oh wait – *ring* in the new year vote on *Saturn*

Groan.

Now I get it I wish I didn’t …

]]> By: Nigel Depledge http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2007/12/05/ring-in-the-new-year-with-a-vote-on-saturn/comment-page-1/#comment-58320 Nigel Depledge Thu, 06 Dec 2007 12:26:24 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2007/12/05/ring-in-the-new-year-with-a-vote-on-saturn/#comment-58320 I especially liked the video of a very close encounter with Iapetus - that encompassing ridge was intriguing from close up (oh, and it totally puts paid to Hoagland's claim that it's a wall!). Centipede, I agree that the image of Titan all fuzzy with the rings and one of the small, irregular moons in sharp focus was awesome (but I voted for In Saturn's Shadow, cos that pic has the Earth in it too). Maybe Titan really would look fuzzy because of the clouds? Oh, no, hang on - Earth does not look fuzzy from the Moon, and it has clouds. I guess it was a focal length issue then. Jim Ortner said: "The blazing ring image was my vote. This was one of the final images Carolyn showed at her presentation at Spacefest 2007 in Mesa, Arizona." Now that would be one hell of a finale to a presentation! My only disappointment was that (of course) the Huygens images were not eligible to compete (I know, different vehicle, different team etc.). They may not be as beautiful, but the import of the first images of Titan's surface is just mind-blowing. I especially liked the video of a very close encounter with Iapetus – that encompassing ridge was intriguing from close up (oh, and it totally puts paid to Hoagland’s claim that it’s a wall!).

Centipede, I agree that the image of Titan all fuzzy with the rings and one of the small, irregular moons in sharp focus was awesome (but I voted for In Saturn’s Shadow, cos that pic has the Earth in it too). Maybe Titan really would look fuzzy because of the clouds? Oh, no, hang on – Earth does not look fuzzy from the Moon, and it has clouds. I guess it was a focal length issue then.

Jim Ortner said:
“The blazing ring image was my vote. This was one of the final images Carolyn showed at her presentation at Spacefest 2007 in Mesa, Arizona.”

Now that would be one hell of a finale to a presentation!

My only disappointment was that (of course) the Huygens images were not eligible to compete (I know, different vehicle, different team etc.). They may not be as beautiful, but the import of the first images of Titan’s surface is just mind-blowing.

]]> By: Agent_Bers http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2007/12/05/ring-in-the-new-year-with-a-vote-on-saturn/comment-page-1/#comment-58319 Agent_Bers Thu, 06 Dec 2007 06:15:00 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2007/12/05/ring-in-the-new-year-with-a-vote-on-saturn/#comment-58319 I hear the view from Iapetus is paranoid and jingoistic. I hear the view from Iapetus is paranoid and jingoistic.

]]> By: Grand Lunar http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2007/12/05/ring-in-the-new-year-with-a-vote-on-saturn/comment-page-1/#comment-58318 Grand Lunar Thu, 06 Dec 2007 00:05:28 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2007/12/05/ring-in-the-new-year-with-a-vote-on-saturn/#comment-58318 This wasn't easy! Some images I've never seen before. They ALL looked awesome! Well, I narrowed it down. Hope to see the winner! This wasn’t easy! Some images I’ve never seen before. They ALL looked awesome!

Well, I narrowed it down. Hope to see the winner!

]]> By: Jim Ortner http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2007/12/05/ring-in-the-new-year-with-a-vote-on-saturn/comment-page-1/#comment-58317 Jim Ortner Wed, 05 Dec 2007 21:23:43 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2007/12/05/ring-in-the-new-year-with-a-vote-on-saturn/#comment-58317 The blazing ring image was my vote. This was one of the final images Carolyn showed at her presentation at Spacefest 2007 in Mesa, Arizona. This image had the women around me crying! Jim The blazing ring image was my vote. This was one of the final images Carolyn showed at her presentation at Spacefest 2007 in Mesa, Arizona. This image had the women around me crying!

Jim

]]> By: The Centipede http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2007/12/05/ring-in-the-new-year-with-a-vote-on-saturn/comment-page-1/#comment-58316 The Centipede Wed, 05 Dec 2007 20:36:31 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2007/12/05/ring-in-the-new-year-with-a-vote-on-saturn/#comment-58316 Sorry, Doctor, but Titan's always held a special place for me and so I have to vote with the picture with Titan past the rings, even if the color's artificial. I've also always loved astronomical pictures with limited focus distances; I <i>like</i> it when one thing nearby is really sharp and something off in the distance is fuzzy. It adds, to me, a sense of scale that one simply doesn't get in two-dimensional images that are all in focus (never mind if that's what it would look like in real life as the human eye attempts to focus to infinity; the clearly three dimensional and possibly vertiginous aspect of that would make up for it then). 'Course, I'm also voting for "New Titan Territory" (it has a sort of nice oldschool Schiaparelli Mars look to it), and "Exploring the Wetlands of Titan" so maybe it's all because of Titan. Admittedly, though, being an unenhanced image "In Saturn's Shadow" looks like it's been passed through a Photoshop Glow Edges filter... and this is a good thing. 'Tis beautiful. Sorry, Doctor, but Titan’s always held a special place for me and so I have to vote with the picture with Titan past the rings, even if the color’s artificial. I’ve also always loved astronomical pictures with limited focus distances; I like it when one thing nearby is really sharp and something off in the distance is fuzzy. It adds, to me, a sense of scale that one simply doesn’t get in two-dimensional images that are all in focus (never mind if that’s what it would look like in real life as the human eye attempts to focus to infinity; the clearly three dimensional and possibly vertiginous aspect of that would make up for it then).

‘Course, I’m also voting for “New Titan Territory” (it has a sort of nice oldschool Schiaparelli Mars look to it), and “Exploring the Wetlands of Titan” so maybe it’s all because of Titan. Admittedly, though, being an unenhanced image “In Saturn’s Shadow” looks like it’s been passed through a Photoshop Glow Edges filter… and this is a good thing. ‘Tis beautiful.

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