Feasting on the weeks feed:
- Jordon Cooper on losing his religion and re-discovering community.
- Geoff Brown finds a great video showing how improv exercises improve communication
This amazing video is significant on a couple of fronts. First it shows how much other stuff we share our solar system with. Second it is a lovely visualization of seeing, learning and becoming aware. It is the sum total of what humans know about asteroids in our solar system, and like all good learning it gets better over time as we perfect patterns and then ways of seeing and understanding. And like all good learning, it takes and becomes memory, knowledge and then part of our everyday experience.
Over 30 years of constant and repeated practice with constant improvement and inquiry, this is the kind of discovery tat can be wrought. The purest form of discovery: finding things that have always been there.
And here is a more technical explanation of what you are seeing here:
Notice now the pattern of discovery follows the Earth around its orbit, most discoveries are made in the region directly opposite the Sun. You’ll also notice some clusters of discoveries on the line between Earth and Jupiter, these are the result of surveys looking for Jovian moons. Similar clusters of discoveries can be tied to the other outer planets, but those are not visible in this video.
As the video moves into the mid 1990’s we see much higher discovery rates as automated sky scanning systems come online. Most of the surveys are imaging the sky directly opposite the sun and you’ll see a region of high discovery rates aligned in this manner.
At the beginning of 2010 a new discovery pattern becomes evident, with discovery zones in a line perpendicular to the Sun-Earth vector. These new observations are the result of the WISE (Widefield Infrared Survey Explorer) which is a space mission that’s tasked with imaging the entire sky in infrared wavelengths.
Currently we have observed over half a million minor planets, and the discovery rates snow no sign that we’re running out of undiscovered objects.
- Pouring rain in Toronto this early morning. Was really heavy last night. Up at sparrow fart today to head all the way to Anchorage. #
- Travel blows my mind: from a humid rainy early morning in Toronto to a calm afternoon by the glassy waters of Cook Inlet, Alaska. #
- Layers upon layers of stillness. The smooth grey of Cook Inlet beneath the smooth grey blanket of morning cloud. #
- Art of Hosting on Bowen Island, BC, Canada Oct 3-6, 2010. Join us and pass on the invite…you don't want to miss it! http://bit.ly/dd7VQo #
- Stunning moonset this morning. Pink full moon dipping into the sea. It's a clear morning in Anchorage. Off to Dutch Harbor this afternoon. #
- About to board a little Saab turbo prop for Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands. Cross another item off the bucket list! #
- Low clouds and fog soften the sharp peaks of Unalaska . Soft rain on the waters of Dutch Harbor and cool midnight air through my window. #
- A long dark grey dawn breaking in the Aleutians. Low cloud is thinking about lifting and revealing the breathtaking beauty of these islands. #
- Back in Anchorage for the night. The Aleutians already seem like a dream to me now. #
- Nuthatches, juncos, crickets and the sound of the wake of the 630 ferry washing on Pebbly Beach. I must be finally back home. #
- My fingers are sore…practicing for a little set of songs at BowFest tomorrow:, our annual Bowen Island festival. See you there! #