APODs 4.1-4.4

APOD 4.4
The APOD from today (April 30), shows a brightly lit Mars, the star cluster M44, and the constellation Cancer. This picture was taken over a one minute exposure of Mars, which is 600 light seconds away, and M44, which is about 600 light years away. It interested me because due to the tree illuminated by the headlights, it is very similar to the conditions I usually observe with.

APOD 4.3
April 19
This image of the eruption of the Icelandic volcano is truly stunning. It shows volcanic lightning coming out of the cloud of ash that shut down European air travel for weeks. The contrast between the bluish lightning on the left and the reddish on the right almost creates a feeling of an epic battle, a la Highlander or Lord of the Rings, and truly shows the awesomeness (and I mean that in the old sense of the word) of nature.

APOD 4.2
April 17
The image of the service module of Apollo 13 struck me in many ways. The first of which was because Apollo 13 had been my favorite movie until I saw Children of Men, a solid 14 years (It is still in my top 10, and if it is on HBO I am there, even though I can probably go line for line dialog wise). Secondly, it was the first time I had seen the real image of the crippled space craft, outside of the movie. What I assumed were Hollywood special effects were clearly not, and the fact that they were able to make it back home is truly an example of human ingenuity and the ability for nerds to save the day.

APOD 4.1
April 9
I chose the APOD from April 9th for several reasons. First, is because as I saw the shuttle launch on my way to school, it is interesting to see it from another, fairly closer, position. Second, I recognize the rockets in frame from my multiple viewings of The Right Stuff, and Tom Hank’s miniseries From the Earth to the Moon, and I always like looking at the real version of something that I have seen in movies or TV shows. Lastly, the contrast between the fading shuttles exhaust trails hovering over the now obsolete rockets from the Mercury, Gemini and Atlas programs seems to show how the shuttle will be joining them in the not too distant future.