This is True®
by Randy Cassingham

Randy Cassingham's Bonzer Web Sites of the Week: Recognizing Interesting Sites that are Beyond the Microsoft/AOL-Time Warner/Media Megalith

Cosmotions

The site consists of pretty much nothing but photos -- time-lapse photos "of the Real Cosmos". Thumbnails show you the basics; click on them to get a bigger (sometimes much bigger, measured in MBs) version.

From This is True for 6 August 2006

Suggestions for further reading:

Universe
By: Robert DinwiddiePhilip EalesDavid HughesIan NicholsonIan RidpathGiles SparrowPam SpenceCarole StottKevin TildsleyMartin Rees
List Price: $50.00
Amazon Price: $31.50
Editorial Review:
Unparalleled look at the Universe and all its wonder! -- Setting off from the heart of the Solar System to the outer limits of the known cosmos, this comprehensive visual guide by Robert Dinwiddie takes an unparalleled look at the Universe and all its wonders. -- You'll learn about the forces and processes that underpin the cosmos, and consider such fundamental questions as when and how the Universe began and what the future may hold. -- Universe boasts spectacular star charts that provide the clearest possible reference to the planets, stars and other heavenly bodies that can be seen from Earth. -- Hardcover, 512 pages.
 
America In Space: NASA's First Fifty Years (Nasa)
By: Steven DickRobert JacobsConstance MooreBertram Ulrich
List Price: $50.00
Amazon Price: $31.50
Editorial Review:
NASA launches a yearlong celebration of its 50th anniversary in the fall of 2007, and Abrams is privileged to publish this visual history of its many achievements in manned and unmanned space travel. Written and edited by a team of experienced NASA staffers, and illustrated with many unpublished and rare photographs from the voluminous NASA archives scattered across the country, America in Space offers an unparalleled vision of half a century of exploration and discovery.

The story of America’s space age is told with more than 400 carefully selected images. The story begins in the 1950s with intrepid test pilots venturing ever faster and higher, and opens out into the now-legendary Mercury and Apollo missions of the 1960s that made astronauts into national heroes. The space shuttle era shows us what everyday space travel might look like, while grand vistas of the universe expand our sense of wonder. The large format of the book captures both the human drama and the vast scale of NASA’s projects. America in Space is a photographic record of the greatest adventure of our time.
 
Sacred Earth: Places of Peace and Power
By: Martin Gray
List Price: $35.00
Amazon Price: $23.10
Editorial Review:
Acclaimed photographer and anthropologist Martin Gray spent the last 20 years on an amazing pilgrimage: he visited 1,000 sacred sites in 80 countries around the world. His journey unfolds in a remarkable compilation of images that reveals just how devoutly pre-industrial cultures everywhere worshipped and respected our Earth. From the Western Wall to the Great Mosque of Damascus, Mt. Olympus to Assisi, Tibet’s Potala Palace to Hawaii’s Mauna Kea, Teotihuacán in Mexico to the Golden Temple in Amritsar, these are the awe-inspiring places from which all the world’s great religions sprang, along with our finest culture, art, and architecture. Gray’s stunning photographs and fascinating text provide unique insight into why these powerful holy places are the most venerated and visited sites on the entire planet. Maps adapted from the National Geographic Society show the locations of all the sites presented, and a thorough appendix includes a comprehensive list of over 500 of the world’s sacred sites.
 
Digital SLR Astrophotography (Practical Amateur Astronomy)
By: Michael A. Covington
List Price: $45.00
Amazon Price: $45.00
Editorial Review:
In the last few years, digital SLR cameras have taken the astrophotography world by storm. It is now easier to photograph the stars than ever before! They are compact and portable, flexible to adapt with different lenses and for telescope use, and above all DSLR cameras are easy and enjoyable to use. In this concise guide, experienced astrophotography expert Michael Covington outlines the simple, enduring basics that will enable you to get started, and help you get the most from your equipment. He covers a wide selection of equipment, simple and advanced projects, technical considerations and image processing techniques. Unlike other astrophotography books, this one focuses specifically on DSLR cameras, not astronomical CCDs, non-DSLR digital cameras, or film. This guide is ideal for astrophotographers who wish to develop their skills using DSLR cameras and as a friendly introduction to amateur astronomers or photographers curious about photographing the night sky.
 
Postcards from Mars: The First Photographer on the Red Planet
By: Jim Bell
List Price: $50.00
Amazon Price: $31.50
Editorial Review:
The first photographic tour of the surface of another planet has now been accomplished. Those who thrilled to the lunar beauty of Full Moon and the IMAX smash Roving Mars will marvel at this awesome, vivid, beautiful portrait of what it is like to take a stroll on Mars.

The most fantastic of all journeys—the Spirit and Opportunity mobile robot missions to the surface of Mars—produced over 150,000 astonishing photographs. While the images were made available on low-resolution computer screens as they were sent back across millions of space miles, no one until now has done the painstaking work of editing, cropping, and processing these massive (often larger than 100 megabytes) images.

The person to do it is Jim Bell, the scientist and photographer who led the photography team on this historic expedition. With his unique perspective, these photographs take us from the brave launches of these robots, to the alien landscape they discovered and the mysteries of the planet that they have helped to solve.

Over 150 lavish full-color-process prints bring the colors and textures of Mars to vivid life on the page. Four of the most impressive pictures are presented in their entirety as gatefold images— which extend over three feet in width—providing a view of the surface of another planet unprecedented in its detail and clarity. Postcards from Mars is the perfect gift to give readers who have their feet on the ground and their eyes on the heavens.


 
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