Hi, all.

I'm wondering if anyone has seen something created already like this,
and can point me in the right direction...

The task is to illustrate the Earth's magnetic field; how it is
generated from the molten material sloshing around as it rotates
around the core, then pulling back showing the lines of force
extending through the Earth's surface and atmosphere into space,
forming the magnetosphere.

The project is a video podcast, one of the series of "Space Weather
FX" we are producing for MIT's Haystack Observatory. The first episode
can be seen here:

  http://www.haystack.mit.edu/swfx/

Thanks!

>> Mark

  ____________________________________________________
  Mark C. Petersen, Loch Ness Productions
  http://www.lochnessproductions.com
  _____________________ GEODESIUM ____________________

This is cool.

Kimberly Kowal Arcand wrote:

> In case this is of interest to anyone, the trailer for the IYA2009
> project "From Earth to the
> Universe" (FETTU) is available at
> http://www.fromearthtotheuniverse.org/updates.php
> <http://www.fromearthtotheuniverse.org/updates.php>
>
> (links to http://www.astronomy2009.org/index.php/?
> <http://www.astronomy2009.org/index.php/?>
> option=com_content&view=article&id=398)
>
> thanks,
> -Kim
>
>


--
-----------------------------------------------------
April Hobart
Video & Animation
Harvard-Smithsonian
Center for Astrophysics
60 Garden Street, MS 82
Cambridge, MA 02138
617-496-7048
-----------------------------------------------------

In case this is of interest to anyone, the trailer for the IYA2009 project "From
Earth to the
Universe" (FETTU) is available at
http://www.fromearthtotheuniverse.org/updates.php

(links to http://www.astronomy2009.org/index.php/?
option=com_content&view=article&id=398)

thanks,
-Kim

Frank,
I just wanted to jump in and also congratulate you on a stunning
visualization. I was actually in the ESA/Hubble office last week when
Lars showed me the rendering and it was really a remarkably clear way
to help understand the diverse nature of the vast array of interacting
galaxies in that huge release.

Whose collision simulation was it? I was really amazed what a close
match you were able to get for so many images.

Hats off to everyone involved with prepping and releasing such a huge
number of galaxies in a single round as well. A fitting anniversary
for Hubble indeed!

Cheers,
Robert


>
> > > Folks,
> > >
> > > For HST's 18th anniversary today, we released 59 images
> > > of galaxy interactions. It is a great collection of images
> > > and worth checking out.
> > >
> > > http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2008/16/
> > > <http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2008/16/>
> > >
> > > As a visualization to accompany the images, I took
> > > a galaxy collsion simulation and matched it to five
> > > of the images. I run the simulation, pause it, rotate
> > > to match the observed geometry, and cross-fade to
> > > the observations. I think the effect is really cool, but
> > > my opinion is obviously biased.
> > >
> > > http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2008/16/video/d
> > >/
> > > <http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2008/16/video/
> > >d/>
> > >
> > > I wanted to note to this list a nifty piece of software
> > > that enabled this viz. I used the S2PLOT libraries from
> > > the folks at Swinburne to quickly write a custom
> > > application for viewing the simulation data in 3D. In
> > > just one afternoon, I Iearned enough of S2PLOT to create
> > > a basic app that can view the data as points, rotate
> > > in 3D, and output the camera coordinates and orientation
> > > to the screen. Since my render code is in C, having C libraries
> > > for pre-viz was a perfect fit. This quick app made finding
> > > the correct camera position for matching simulation to
> > > observation much easier.
> > >
> > > http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/s2plot/
> > > <http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/s2plot/>
> > >
> > > A public thanks to the Swinburne folks for their software.
> > >
> > > Frank
> > >
> > > Space Telescope Science Institute 410-338-4749
> > > 3700 San Martin Dr 410-338-4579 (fax)
> > > Baltimore, MD 21218 summers@...
> > > <mailto:summers%40stsci.edu>
> > > http://terpsichore.stsci.edu/~summers/
> > > <http://terpsichore.stsci.edu/%7Esummers/>
>
> --
> Frank
>
> Space Telescope Science Institute 410-338-4749
> 3700 San Martin Dr 410-338-4579 (fax)
> Baltimore, MD 21218 summers@...
> http://terpsichore.stsci.edu/~summers/
>
>


    ______________
   /
/ "It's kind of a ring thing, comes with a dialer, hit the symbols,
     spins around, lights come on, kind of flushes sideways..."
                                       - Col. O'Neill, Stargate: SG-1

Never done a stereo pair rendering with my code, but should not
be hard to convert the camera choreography into a twin camera
mode. I already have a 5 camera mode for dome rendering. Let
me work on this.

Frank

On Thursday 01 May 2008 5:12 am, Doug Roberts wrote:
> Frank,
>
> Very nice animation and great comparison between simulation and
> observations. One question, could you create (or provide the
> S2PLOT script + data) a version of this in stereo? In the SVL this
> is one of the things we show comparing on separate displays (one of
> which is stereo and the other tiled display). I understand the HST
> images would be 2D but the simulations must be able to be rendered
> in 3D.
>
> Thanks,
> Doug
>
> Frank Summers wrote:
> > Folks,
> >
> > For HST's 18th anniversary today, we released 59 images
> > of galaxy interactions. It is a great collection of images
> > and worth checking out.
> >
> > http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2008/16/
> > <http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2008/16/>
> >
> > As a visualization to accompany the images, I took
> > a galaxy collsion simulation and matched it to five
> > of the images. I run the simulation, pause it, rotate
> > to match the observed geometry, and cross-fade to
> > the observations. I think the effect is really cool, but
> > my opinion is obviously biased.
> >
> > http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2008/16/video/d
> >/
> > <http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2008/16/video/
> >d/>
> >
> > I wanted to note to this list a nifty piece of software
> > that enabled this viz. I used the S2PLOT libraries from
> > the folks at Swinburne to quickly write a custom
> > application for viewing the simulation data in 3D. In
> > just one afternoon, I Iearned enough of S2PLOT to create
> > a basic app that can view the data as points, rotate
> > in 3D, and output the camera coordinates and orientation
> > to the screen. Since my render code is in C, having C libraries
> > for pre-viz was a perfect fit. This quick app made finding
> > the correct camera position for matching simulation to
> > observation much easier.
> >
> > http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/s2plot/
> > <http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/s2plot/>
> >
> > A public thanks to the Swinburne folks for their software.
> >
> > Frank
> >
> > Space Telescope Science Institute 410-338-4749
> > 3700 San Martin Dr 410-338-4579 (fax)
> > Baltimore, MD 21218 summers@stsci.edu
> > <mailto:summers%40stsci.edu>
> > http://terpsichore.stsci.edu/~summers/
> > <http://terpsichore.stsci.edu/%7Esummers/>

--
Frank

Space Telescope Science Institute 410-338-4749
3700 San Martin Dr 410-338-4579 (fax)
Baltimore, MD 21218 summers@stsci.edu
http://terpsichore.stsci.edu/~summers/

-- Doug Roberts, Ph.D.
Architect for Visualization
Northwestern University Information Technology
1970 Campus Drive
NU Library 2EAST, Room 2650
Evanston, IL 60208-2323
Email: doug-roberts@...
Phone: 847.467.5986 (Northwestern)
Phone: 312.322.0529 (Adler)

Never done a stereo pair rendering with my code, but should not
be hard to convert the camera choreography into a twin camera
mode. I already have a 5 camera mode for dome rendering. Let
me work on this.

Frank


On Thursday 01 May 2008 5:12 am, Doug Roberts wrote:
> Frank,
>
> Very nice animation and great comparison between simulation and
> observations.  One question, could you create (or provide the
> S2PLOT script + data) a version of this in stereo?  In the SVL this
> is one of the things we show comparing on separate displays (one of
> which is stereo and the other tiled display).  I understand the HST
> images would be 2D but the simulations must be able to be rendered
> in 3D.
>
> Thanks,
> Doug
>
> Frank Summers wrote:
> > Folks,
> >
> > For HST's 18th anniversary today, we released 59 images
> > of galaxy interactions. It is a great collection of images
> > and worth checking out.
> >
> > http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2008/16/
> > <http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2008/16/>
> >
> > As a visualization to accompany the images, I took
> > a galaxy collsion simulation and matched it to five
> > of the images. I run the simulation, pause it, rotate
> > to match the observed geometry, and cross-fade to
> > the observations. I think the effect is really cool, but
> > my opinion is obviously biased.
> >
> > http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2008/16/video/d
> >/
> > <http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2008/16/video/
> >d/>
> >
> > I wanted to note to this list a nifty piece of software
> > that enabled this viz. I used the S2PLOT libraries from
> > the folks at Swinburne to quickly write a custom
> > application for viewing the simulation data in 3D. In
> > just one afternoon, I Iearned enough of S2PLOT to create
> > a basic app that can view the data as points, rotate
> > in 3D, and output the camera coordinates and orientation
> > to the screen. Since my render code is in C, having C libraries
> > for pre-viz was a perfect fit. This quick app made finding
> > the correct camera position for matching simulation to
> > observation much easier.
> >
> > http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/s2plot/
> > <http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/s2plot/>
> >
> > A public thanks to the Swinburne folks for their software.
> >
> > Frank
> >
> > Space Telescope Science Institute 410-338-4749
> > 3700 San Martin Dr 410-338-4579 (fax)
> > Baltimore, MD 21218 summers@...
> > <mailto:summers%40stsci.edu>
> > http://terpsichore.stsci.edu/~summers/
> > <http://terpsichore.stsci.edu/%7Esummers/>

--
Frank

Space Telescope Science Institute    410-338-4749
3700 San Martin Dr                   410-338-4579 (fax)
Baltimore, MD 21218                  summers@...
http://terpsichore.stsci.edu/~summers/

Folks,

For HST's 18th anniversary today, we released 59 images
of galaxy interactions. It is a great collection of images
and worth checking out.

http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2008/16/

As a visualization to accompany the images, I took
a galaxy collsion simulation and matched it to five
of the images. I run the simulation, pause it, rotate
to match the observed geometry, and cross-fade to
the observations. I think the effect is really cool, but
my opinion is obviously biased.

http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2008/16/video/d/

I wanted to note to this list a nifty piece of software
that enabled this viz. I used the S2PLOT libraries from
the folks at Swinburne to quickly write a custom
application for viewing the simulation data in 3D. In
just one afternoon, I Iearned enough of S2PLOT to create
a basic app that can view the data as points, rotate
in 3D, and output the camera coordinates and orientation
to the screen. Since my render code is in C, having C libraries
for pre-viz was a perfect fit. This quick app made finding
the correct camera position for matching simulation to
observation much easier.

http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/s2plot/

A public thanks to the Swinburne folks for their software.

Frank

Space Telescope Science Institute 410-338-4749
3700 San Martin Dr 410-338-4579 (fax)
Baltimore, MD 21218 summers@stsci.edu
http://terpsichore.stsci.edu/~summers/

-- Doug Roberts, Ph.D.
Architect for Visualization
Northwestern University Information Technology
1970 Campus Drive
NU Library 2EAST, Room 2650
Evanston, IL 60208-2323
Email: doug-roberts@...
Phone: 847.467.5986 (Northwestern)
Phone: 312.322.0529 (Adler)

I wanted to pose an informal question to this group...

We don't seem to be having any kind of astro-viz meeting this year,
and I'm interested in thinking ahead to 2009, to make sure we avoid a
similar gap. So I'm thinking of offering to host something in my new
digs. (Or rather, the folks at Spitzer talked me into such an idea
when I went down to Pasadena to visit them a few weeks ago.)

For those who might not know, I've flown the American Museum of
Natural History coop and settled on the Left Coast. I'm working at
the California Academy of Sciences, which is about to open the world's
largest green building accessible to the public. It's an exciting
project, and in case you're interested, you can check out our website:
http://www.calacademy.org/

The new Academy will house a fully digital planetarium as well as a
stereoscopic theater and plenty of HD screens all over the exhibit
floor, and we're gearing up to produce our own programming for all
those venues. We will have real-time capabilities as well, with a
flexibly-designed system that should allow for easily bringing content
into our many venues.

Basically, I can probably manage to host something in either May or
October 2009. Do y'all have any preference? Would folks be
interested in coming to S.F. for such an event?

Please send message to me individually, unless you feel like sharing
your opinion with the entire list.

Thanks!

Ryan, a.k.a.
Ryan Wyatt, Director
Morrison Planetarium and Science Visualization
California Academy of Sciences
875 Howard Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
415-321-8156

-- Doug Roberts, Ph.D.
Architect for Visualization
Northwestern University Information Technology
1970 Campus Drive
NU Library 2EAST, Room 2650
Evanston, IL 60208-2323
Email: doug-roberts@...
Phone: 847.467.5986 (Northwestern)
Phone: 312.322.0529 (Adler)

I'll come to SF most anytime. Fall is better because we host a
May symposium here in Baltimore that I usually attend.

Frank


On Friday 25 April 2008 11:16 am, Ryan Wyatt wrote:
> I wanted to pose an informal question to this group...
>
> We don't seem to be having any kind of astro-viz meeting this year,
> and I'm interested in thinking ahead to 2009, to make sure we avoid
> a similar gap.  So I'm thinking of offering to host something in my
> new digs.  (Or rather, the folks at Spitzer talked me into such an
> idea when I went down to Pasadena to visit them a few weeks ago.)
>
> For those who might not know, I've flown the American Museum of
> Natural History coop and settled on the Left Coast.  I'm working at
> the California Academy of Sciences, which is about to open the
> world's largest green building accessible to the public.  It's an
> exciting project, and in case you're interested, you can check out
> our website: http://www.calacademy.org/
>
> The new Academy will house a fully digital planetarium as well as a
> stereoscopic theater and plenty of HD screens all over the exhibit
> floor, and we're gearing up to produce our own programming for all
> those venues.  We will have real-time capabilities as well, with a
> flexibly-designed system that should allow for easily bringing
> content into our many venues.
>
> Basically, I can probably manage to host something in either May or
> October 2009.  Do y'all have any preference?  Would folks be
> interested in coming to S.F. for such an event?
>
> Please send message to me individually, unless you feel like
> sharing your opinion with the entire list.
>
> Thanks!
>
>
> Ryan, a.k.a.
> Ryan Wyatt, Director
> Morrison Planetarium and Science Visualization
> California Academy of Sciences
> 875 Howard Street
> San Francisco, CA  94103
> 415-321-8156

--
Frank

Space Telescope Science Institute    410-338-4749
3700 San Martin Dr                   410-338-4579 (fax)
Baltimore, MD 21218                  summers@...
http://terpsichore.stsci.edu/~summers/

I wanted to pose an informal question to this group...

We don't seem to be having any kind of astro-viz meeting this year,
and I'm interested in thinking ahead to 2009, to make sure we avoid a
similar gap.  So I'm thinking of offering to host something in my new
digs.  (Or rather, the folks at Spitzer talked me into such an idea
when I went down to Pasadena to visit them a few weeks ago.)

For those who might not know, I've flown the American Museum of
Natural History coop and settled on the Left Coast.  I'm working at
the California Academy of Sciences, which is about to open the world's
largest green building accessible to the public.  It's an exciting
project, and in case you're interested, you can check out our website:
      http://www.calacademy.org/

The new Academy will house a fully digital planetarium as well as a
stereoscopic theater and plenty of HD screens all over the exhibit
floor, and we're gearing up to produce our own programming for all
those venues.  We will have real-time capabilities as well, with a
flexibly-designed system that should allow for easily bringing content
into our many venues.

Basically, I can probably manage to host something in either May or
October 2009.  Do y'all have any preference?  Would folks be
interested in coming to S.F. for such an event?

Please send message to me individually, unless you feel like sharing
your opinion with the entire list.

Thanks!


Ryan, a.k.a.
Ryan Wyatt, Director
Morrison Planetarium and Science Visualization
California Academy of Sciences
875 Howard Street
San Francisco, CA  94103
415-321-8156

Folks,

Several people have asked about getting the full collection of galaxy
collision images. You can find a 1 GB ZIP file of all the highest
resolution TIFF files here:


http://imgsrc.hubblesite.org/hu/db/2008/16/misc_images/2/hubble_2008_16_images_t\
iff.zip



Frank

Space Telescope Science Institute    410-338-4749
3700 San Martin Dr                   410-338-4579 (fax)
Baltimore, MD 21218                  summers@...
http://terpsichore.stsci.edu/~summers/

Folks,

For HST's 18th anniversary today, we released 59 images
of galaxy interactions. It is a great collection of images
and worth checking out.

http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2008/16/

As a visualization to accompany the images, I took
a galaxy collsion simulation and matched it to five
of the images. I run the simulation, pause it, rotate
to match the observed geometry, and cross-fade to
the observations. I think the effect is really cool, but
my opinion is obviously biased.

http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2008/16/video/d/

I wanted to note to this list a nifty piece of software
that enabled this viz. I used the S2PLOT libraries from
the folks at Swinburne to quickly write a custom
application for viewing the simulation data in 3D. In
just one afternoon, I Iearned enough of S2PLOT to create
a basic app that can view the data as points, rotate
in 3D, and output the camera coordinates and orientation
to the screen. Since my render code is in C, having C libraries
for pre-viz was a perfect fit. This quick app made finding
the correct camera position for matching simulation to
observation much easier.

http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/s2plot/

A public thanks to the Swinburne folks for their software.


Frank

Space Telescope Science Institute    410-338-4749
3700 San Martin Dr                   410-338-4579 (fax)
Baltimore, MD 21218                  summers@...
http://terpsichore.stsci.edu/~summers/

Hubble Space Telescope Public Lecture Series
                             at the
                Space Telescope Science Institute


Speaker:  Nolan Walborn, Space Telescope Science Institute

Topic:  Life Cycles of Massive Stars

Date:  April 1, 2008

Time:  8 PM

Place:  Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) Auditorium

Price:  Free admission and free parking

Phone:  410-338-4700

Internet:  http://hubblesite.org/about_us/public-talks.shtml


While the stars appear as constant fixtures in the night
sky, they do indeed change and have finite lifetimes from
millions to billions of years. The source of their energy,
nuclear fusion, is also the source of most of the chemical
elements in the universe. Stellar death spreads these
elements into the interstellar medium, and enriches future
generations of stars, planets, and life itself. Dr. Walborn
will present an overview of the stellar life cycle,
featuring the spectacular lives and violent deaths of the
most massive stars.


Lectures on a diverse selection of cosmic topics are held
the first Tuesday of every month at 8 PM in the STScI
Auditorium, located at 3700 San Martin Drive on the Homewood
campus of Johns Hopkins University. Admission is free and free
parking is available in the lot across the street.

This lecture will be webcast live. The recorded webcast will
also be available for viewing online the following day. To
view the webcast, you may need to download and install
software. See the web site listed below in advance for
details.

Further information and directions are available by
calling 410-338-4700 or on the internet at:

    http://hubblesite.org/about_us/public-talks.shtml


NEXT MONTH: May 6, 2008
             Tom Brown, Space Telescope Science Institute
             The Age of the Andromeda Galaxy

Lars Christensen and company have been working hard to get the next
version of the Photoshop FITS Liberator out the door this week. For
those unfamiliar, it's an import plugin that allows FITS data to be
opened directly in Photoshop and includes extensive dynamic range
compression tools and metadata support.

Key updates in version 2.2 include:

	 � Universal Binary for Mac allows native CS3 operation on Intel-based
systems.
	 � Flip image checkbox allows image orientation to be selected on
import.
	 � Root functions (x^1/2, x^1/3, x^1/4, x^1/5) now operate
symmetrically about x=0.
	 � The import of coordinate metadata from the FITS header has been
improved
	 � Version 1.1 of the Astronomy Visualization Metadata (AVM) standard
is now fully supported.:

TO get the download you can visit the site at:

http://www.spacetelescope.org/projects/fits_liberator/index.html

Note that users of CS2 and earlier on the Mac platform should still
use version 2.1 of the plugin as the architecture has changed
significantly to support Intel-based systems.

Cheers,
Robert

PS - The latest version of the Astronomy Visualization Metadata
standard 1.1 is also online and available for review. For that go to
its site at:

http://www.virtualastronomy.org



__________________________________________
"Aah, sweet photons. I don't know if you're waves or particles, but
you go down smooth."
         - Bender (deploying his solar array), Futurama

Hubble Space Telescope Public Lecture Series
                             at the
                Space Telescope Science Institute


Speaker:  David Radburn-Smith, Space Telescope Science Institute

Topic:  Revealing the Great Attractor

Date:  March 4, 2008

Time:  8 PM

Place:  Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) Auditorium

Price:  Free admission and free parking

Phone:  410-338-4700

Internet:  http://hubblesite.org/about_us/public-talks.shtml


Just over twenty years ago, it was realized that our Milky
Way Galaxy and thousands of galaxies nearby are moving
through the universe at a speed of about two million
kilometers per hour. The best explanation is a massive
structure, some 200 million light-years away, that was named
the "Great Attractor". Studies of large scale structure have
revealed both that the Great Attractor is a massive 'wall'
of galaxies and that an even more massive collection of
galaxies exists still farther away, called the Shapley
Supercluster. Dr. Radburn-Smith will explore the history of
and new discoveries about these structures in a quest to
uncover the gravitational influences responsible for our
motion through the universe.


Lectures on a diverse selection of cosmic topics are held
the first Tuesday of every month at 8 PM in the STScI
Auditorium, located at 3700 San Martin Drive on the Homewood
campus of Johns Hopkins University. Admission is free and free
parking is available in the lot across the street.

This lecture will be webcast live. The recorded webcast will
also be available for viewing online the following day. To
view the webcast, you may need to download and install
software. See the web site listed below in advance for
details.

Further information and directions are available by
calling 410-338-4700 or on the internet at:

    http://hubblesite.org/about_us/public-talks.shtml


NEXT MONTH: April 1, 2008
             Nolan Walborn, Space Telescope Science Institute
             Life Cycles of Massive Stars

The Planetarium at the University of Texas Arlington
(www.uta.edu/planetarium) has an immediate opening for a full-time
Planetarium Program Coordinator.  UT Arlington has the largest
planetarium in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex with a 60 foot dome
and a 153 seat capacity. UT Arlington also has a production facility
with a 30 foot dome. Both planetariums are equipped with the latest
Digistar 3 system.

UT Arlington Planetarium is taking the lead in the Metroplex for
show development and production. UT Arlington Planetarium has
developed several shows since its opening in March 2006, some which
have been funded by NASA grants. The Planetarium at UT Arlington
also leases and buys shows to give a variety of options to
audiences.

The successful candidate will have at least a Bachelor's degree in a
technical field and a background in planetariums and planetarium
show production, or in computer programming and animation. Knowledge
and/or experience with Digistar 3 is preferred. Planetarium Program
Coordinator will also work with a variety of software for show
development.  Digistar 3 scripting and Microsoft Visual Basic/VB
scripting are preferred qualifications.  Experience in soundtrack
production will be plus.  Computer/Electronics hardware skills,
ability to diagnose and replace electronic components of equipment
is required.  The successful candidate should also be confident in
Astronomy, the night sky, and speaking to large groups with a
variety of ages.

The Planetarium Program Coordinator will be responsible for full-
dome show developments/productions, coordination/training of part-
time workers , maintenance and upgrade of software/equipment. The
Planetarium Program coordinator will also be active with public
shows, and with arranging private planetarium functions (weddings,
birthday parties, etc.).

With about 25,000 students, UT Arlington is part of the University
of Texas system, and it is a Carnegie Research Classification I
university offering a wide range of degrees and programs.  Arlington
is home to many tourist attractions (Six Flags Over Texas, Hurricane
Harbor, Texas Rangers Baseball, Dallas Cowboys Football [stadium
currently under construction], etc.).  Arlington is at the center of
the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex, a prosperous urban area with a
population fast approaching six million people.  It is near the
third largest airport in the world.  With all its amenities,
Arlington is still a relatively inexpensive area to live.  The
median house price in Arlington in 2005 was $121,700.

Salary and benefits are competitive.  Interested parties should fill
out an application through the UT Arlington website:
www.uta.edu/uta/jobs  Applications will be accepted until February
29, 2008.

The retirement plan for this position is Teacher Retirement System
of Texas (TRS), subject to the position being at least 20 hours per
week and at least 135 days in length.

The University of Texas at Arlington is an Equal
Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants
will receive consideration for employment without regard to race,
color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, age, citizenship
status, Vietnam era or special disabled veteran's status, or sexual
orientation.

We will be accepting applications until February 29.

Marc Rouleau, Director
Planetarium at UT Arlington
marcrouleau@...
817-272-0822

Hubble Space Telescope Public Lecture Series
                             at the
                Space Telescope Science Institute


Speaker:  Kate Brand, Space Telescope Science Institute

Topic:  Galaxies and Quasars over Cosmic Time

Date:  February 5, 2008

Time:  8 PM

Place:  Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) Auditorium

Price:  Free admission and free parking

Phone:  410-338-4700

Internet:  http://hubblesite.org/about_us/public-talks.shtml


Everything we know about the universe outside our solar
system comes  from the analysis of light. While our eyes are
sensitive only to  optical light, telescopes can detect far
fainter light over a  much larger range of wavelengths.  For
nearby galaxies, the combination of optical and infrared
images provides new insight into their  inner workings.
Most, if not all, galaxies contain black holes with  masses
of more than a million times that of the Sun at their
centers.  Compelling evidence argues for the existence of a
massive black hole at the center of our own Milky Way
galaxy.  When matter  falls into these massive black holes,
the systems can shine more  brightly than the entire galaxy,
and are known as quasars. Using multi- wavelength
observations of quasars across much of the Universe's
history, we can estimate how the super-massive black holes
in today's  galaxies grew.


Lectures on a diverse selection of cosmic topics are held
the first Tuesday of every month at 8 PM in the STScI
Auditorium, located at 3700 San Martin Drive on the Homewood
campus of Johns Hopkins University. Admission is free and free
parking is available in the lot across the street.

This lecture will be webcast live. The recorded webcast will
also be available for viewing online the following day. To
view the webcast, you may need to download and install
software. See the web site listed below in advance for
details.

Further information and directions are available by
calling 410-338-4700 or on the internet at:

    http://hubblesite.org/about_us/public-talks.shtml


NEXT MONTH: March 4, 2008
             David Radburn-Smith, Space Telescope Science Institute
             Revealing the Great Attractor

Forwarded for Kevin Hussey:

> Hello:
> I have told many of you that I'd let you know when one of our
> "game" products was available on the world-wide-web.  We'll, it
> happened today. Please see the release below for some info and the
> links.  This is our first version of "Cassini at Saturn Interactive
> Explorer" (CASSIE) with version 2 in the works (it's been funded.)
> If you have suggestions, questions are comments please don't
> hesitate to let me know.  Where going to select which suggestions
> and new features to add into version 2.0 later this month.
> Enjoy,
> Kevin
>
>
> Kevin J. Hussey
> Lead, Visualization Technology Applications and Development
> Office of Communications and Education
>
> Jet Propulsion Laboratory
> 4800 Oak Grove Dr.
> Pasadena, California 91109-8099
> California Institute of Technology
> Mail Stop 186-131
> phone: (818) 393-4558
>
>
> ----------------------------------------
>
> MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
>
> JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
>
> CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
>
> NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
> PASADENA, CALIF. 91109 TELEPHONE 818-354-5011
>
> http://www.jpl.nasa.gov
>
> Carolina Martinez/Diya Chacko 818-354-9382/818-393-5464
> Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
> carolina.martinez@.../dschacko@...
>
> INTERNET ADVISORY:
> 2008-018
>           Jan. 31, 2008
>
> JOURNEY TO SATURN FROM YOUR COMPUTER
>
>
> Want a peek at Saturn as seen from space?  A new interactive 3-D
> viewer that uses a game engine and allows users to travel to Saturn
> and see it as it is seen by the Cassini spacecraft is now online at
> http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/CASSIE and
> http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/multimedia/cassie.html .
>
> The Cassini at Saturn Interactive Explorer makes the real Cassini
> mission data fully available in three colorful, easy-to-use
> expeditions.
>
> The “Where is Cassini Now?” expedition shows exactly where the
> Cassini spacecraft is and what it is doing each moment over the
> current 24-hour period.  Viewers can see the spacecraft move in its
> orbit and maneuver according to instructions from mission
> scientists and navigators at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
> Pasadena, Calif.
>
> With the “Mission Overview” expedition, look back in time as
> Cassini orbited the Saturn system over the past 3.5 years, and
> fast- forward into the future to see where it is headed.  Users can
> control two virtual cameras to see Cassini fly by Saturn and its
> moons.
>
> The “Saturn’s Moons” expedition gives an in-depth peek at seven of
> Saturn’s moons, providing useful facts and interactive surface
> views of each one.
>
> More information on the Cassini mission is available at http://
> www.nasa.gov/cassini and http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov .
>
> The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the
> European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. JPL, a division
> of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the
> Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate,
> Washington. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and
> assembled at JPL.
> -end-

For immediate posting:

The Planetarium at the University of Texas Arlington
(www.uta.edu/planetarium) has an immediate opening for a full-time
Planetarium Program Coordinator.  UT Arlington has the largest
planetarium in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex with a 60 foot dome
and a 153 seat capacity. UT Arlington also has a production facility
with a 30 foot dome. Both planetariums are equipped with the latest
Digistar 3 system.

UT Arlington Planetarium is taking the lead in the Metroplex for
show development and production. UT Arlington Planetarium has
developed several shows since its opening in March 2005, some of
which have been funded by NASA grants. The Planetarium at UT
Arlington also leases and buys shows to give a variety of options to
audiences.

The successful candidate will have at least a Master's degree in
science, education or related field.  At least one year experience
and knowledge working in astronomy education or related field.  A
Bachelor's degree with several years experience can substitute for
the Master's requirement.  Knowledge with planetariums and
planetarium show production, or in computer programming and
animation and experience with Digistar 3 is preferred. Planetarium
Program Coordinator will work with 3DS Max or Lightwave, Adobe
Premier, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Photoshop, and Adobe Illustrator
and/or other Web Design software for show development.  Digistar 3
scripting and Microsoft Visual Basic/VB scripting are preferred
qualifications.  Experience in soundtrack production will be plus.
Computer/Electronics hardware skills, ability to diagnose and
replace electronic components of equipment is required.  The
successful candidate should also be confident in Astronomy, the
night sky, and speaking to large groups with a variety of ages.

The Planetarium Program Coordinator will be responsible for full-
dome show developments/productions, coordination/training of part-
time workers, maintenance and upgrade of software/equipment. The
Planetarium Program coordinator will also be active with public
shows, and with arranging private planetarium functions (weddings,
birthday parties, etc.).

With about 25,000 students, UT Arlington is part of the University
of Texas system, and it is a Carnegie Research Classification I
university offering a wide range of degrees and programs.  Arlington
is home to many tourist attractions (Six Flags Over Texas, Hurricane
Harbor, Texas Rangers Baseball, Dallas Cowboys Football [stadium
currently under construction], etc.).  Arlington is at the center of
the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex, a prosperous urban area with a
population fast approaching six million people.  It is near the
third largest airport in the world.  With all its amenities,
Arlington is still a relatively inexpensive area to live.  The
median house price in Arlington in 2005 was $121,700.

Salary and benefits are competitive.  Interested parties should fill
out an application through the UT Arlington website:
www.uta.edu/uta/jobs  Applications will be accepted until January
31, 2008.

The retirement plan for this position is Teacher Retirement System
of Texas (TRS), subject to the position being at least 20 hours per
week and at least 135 days in length.

The University of Texas at Arlington is an Equal
Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants
will receive consideration for employment without regard to race,
color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, age, citizenship
status, Vietnam era or special disabled veteran's status, or sexual
orientation.

Hubble Space Telescope Public Lecture Series
                             at the
                Space Telescope Science Institute


Speaker:  Nino Panagia, Space Telescope Science Institute

Topic:  Supernovae: Lighthouses of the Cosmos

Date: January 8, 2008

Time:  8 PM

Place:  Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) Auditorium

Price:  Free admission and free parking

Phone:  410-338-4700

Internet:  http://hubblesite.org/about_us/public-talks.shtml


Supernovae are awesome cosmic explosions that can profoundly
influence the evolution of the Universe. When a star much
more massive than our Sun explodes, it enriches interstellar
space with heavy elements and thereby drives the chemical
evolution of the universe. Supernova explosions also inject
formidable amounts of energy into the interstellar medium,
thus strongly affecting the evolution of their host
galaxies. In addition, supernovae are bright enough to be
seen at cosmological distances, making them an ideal tool to
trace the evolution of the Universe.


Lectures on a diverse selection of cosmic topics are held
the first Tuesday of every month at 8 PM in the STScI
Auditorium, located at 3700 San Martin Drive on the Homewood
campus of Johns Hopkins University. Admission is free and free
parking is available in the lot across the street.

This lecture will be webcast live. The recorded webcast will
also be available for viewing online the following day. To
view the webcast, you may need to download and install
software. See the web site listed below in advance for
details.

Further information and directions are available by
calling 410-338-4700 or on the internet at:

    http://hubblesite.org/about_us/public-talks.shtml


NEXT MONTH: February 5, 2008
             Kate Brand, Space Telescope Science Institute
             Quasars and Galaxies Over Cosmic Time

Hubble Space Telescope Public Lecture Series
                             at the
                Space Telescope Science Institute


Speaker:  Robert Hanisch, Space Telescope Science Institute

Topic:  Real Astronomy from Virtual Observatories

Date:  December 4, 2007

Time:  8 PM

Place:  Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) Auditorium

Price:  Free admission and free parking

Phone:  410-338-4700

Internet:  http://hubblesite.org/about_us/public-talks.shtml


One of the major efforts launched by the astronomy community
in the last decade has been the Virtual Observatory. This
project, which has the potential to transform astronomy
research, is really neither "virtual" nor an "observatory",
so what is it?  The Virtual Observatory is the means by
which astronomers, educators, and the public can find,
access, and compare data from telescopes around the world.
Dr. Hanisch, Project Manager of the US National Virtual
Observatory, will describe how the Virtual Observatory works
and the kinds of new research and educational opportunities
that it enables.


Lectures on a diverse selection of cosmic topics are held
the first Tuesday of every month at 8 PM in the STScI
Auditorium, located at 3700 San Martin Drive on the Homewood
campus of Johns Hopkins University. Admission is free and free
parking is available in the lot across the street.

This lecture will be webcast live. The recorded webcast will
also be available for viewing online the following day. To
view the webcast, you may need to download and install
software. See the web site listed below in advance for
details.

Further information and directions are available by
calling 410-338-4700 or on the internet at:

    http://hubblesite.org/about_us/public-talks.shtml

Frank Summers wrote:

>>It is indeed a tough test.  I tried it this morning and got only so-so
>>results.
>
> For this one, you get kudos just for the attempt.

Thanks, it's kind of you to say so.  :)

- Ernie                                  http://home.comcast.net/~erniew

On Tuesday 27 November 2007 12:54, Ernie Wright wrote:
> It is indeed a tough test.  I tried it this morning and got only so-so
> results.

For this one, you get kudos just for the attempt.

fjs

Frank Summers wrote:

> On Tuesday 13 November 2007 15:20, Ernie Wright wrote:
>
>>I recently updated my Saturn model.  Here are a few test renders:
>>
>>    http://home.comcast.net/~erniew/astro/images/saturn/1.jpg
>>    http://home.comcast.net/~erniew/astro/images/saturn/2.jpg
>>    http://home.comcast.net/~erniew/astro/images/saturn/3.jpg
>
> Excellent, Ernie.

Thanks!

> By the way, has everyone here seen the incredible
> image of Saturn eclipsing the Sun from Cassini?
>
> http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08329
>
> Since the faint rings (D, E, G) are micron-sized particles,
> they appear best in backlit images. With the Sun
> eclipsed by Saturn, the whole ring system is
> resplendent. Now that would be a test of a scattering
> model.

It is indeed a tough test.  I tried it this morning and got only so-so
results.

     http://home.comcast.net/~erniew/astro/images/saturn/4.jpg  (72K)

This is at 16:00 UT on 15 Sep 06.  If you squint, the brightness of the
rings doesn't look too bad overall, but the D and F rings didn't light
up the way they do in the Cassini image.  My data doesn't go out to the
extent of the E and G rings, so those are completely absent.  And my
color is washed out, although maybe that's been pushed in the Cassini
image.

On the good side, I easily got ring shine (light reflected from the
rings illuminating the night side of the planet).

I'm not modelling the atmosphere at all, so I didn't get the rim light
on the planet (and to some extent I think this is an artifact of taking
the mosaic over several hours from slightly different angles).

- Ernie                                  http://home.comcast.net/~erniew

Excellent, Ernie.

By the way, has everyone here seen the incredible
image of Saturn eclipsing the Sun from Cassini?

http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08329

Since the faint rings (D, E, G) are micron-sized particles,
they appear best in backlit images. With the Sun
eclipsed by Saturn, the whole ring system is
resplendent. Now that would be a test of a scattering
model.

Frank

On Tuesday 13 November 2007 15:20, Ernie Wright wrote:
> I recently updated my Saturn model.  Here are a few test renders:
>
>     http://home.comcast.net/~erniew/astro/images/saturn/1.jpg
>     http://home.comcast.net/~erniew/astro/images/saturn/2.jpg
>     http://home.comcast.net/~erniew/astro/images/saturn/3.jpg
>
> The first two show the rings from the sunlit side; they're backlit in
> the third.
>
> I created a new planet image map and added color to the ring shader, in
> both cases using Cassini images as sources.
>
> The ring shader does Lambert and Henyey-Greenstein scattering based on a
> model and source code that Dave Seal at JPL sent me years ago.
>
> Comments welcome.
>
> - Ernie                                  http://home.comcast.net/~erniew
>

--

Space Telescope Science Institute      410-338-4749
3700 San Martin Dr                     410-338-4579 (fax)
Baltimore, MD 21218                    summers@...
        http://terpsichore.stsci.edu/~summers/

I recently updated my Saturn model.  Here are a few test renders:

     http://home.comcast.net/~erniew/astro/images/saturn/1.jpg
     http://home.comcast.net/~erniew/astro/images/saturn/2.jpg
     http://home.comcast.net/~erniew/astro/images/saturn/3.jpg

The first two show the rings from the sunlit side; they're backlit in
the third.

I created a new planet image map and added color to the ring shader, in
both cases using Cassini images as sources.

The ring shader does Lambert and Henyey-Greenstein scattering based on a
model and source code that Dave Seal at JPL sent me years ago.

Comments welcome.

- Ernie                                  http://home.comcast.net/~erniew

Hubble Space Telescope Public Lecture Series
                             at the
                Space Telescope Science Institute



Speaker:  Carol Christian and Alberto Conti, Space Telescope
           Science Institute

Topic:  The Making of Google Sky

Date:  November 6, 2007

Time:  8 PM

Place:  Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) Auditorium

Price:  Free admission and free parking

Phone:  410-338-4700

Internet:  http://hubblesite.org/about_us/public-talks.shtml


Sky in Google Earth was launched in August 2007, and has
become a very popular extension of an already popular
program. The hope is that both the public and researchers
will enjoy exploring the digital sky through this interface.
Dr. Christian and Dr. Conti, leaders of the STScI Team that
worked with Google on the project, share their experience in
building Google Sky and show the latest additions
enthusiastically supplied by researchers. The potential to
bring huge amounts of new astronomical data to the public
through Sky, and other new interfaces coming online, is
starting to be realized.


Lectures on a diverse selection of cosmic topics are held
the first Tuesday of every month at 8 PM in the STScI
Auditorium, located at 3700 San Martin Drive on the Homewood
campus of Johns Hopkins University. Admission is free and free
parking is available in the lot across the street.

This lecture will be webcast live. The recorded webcast will
also be available for viewing online the following day. To
view the webcast, you may need to download and install
software. See the web site listed below in advance for
details.

Further information and directions are available by
calling 410-338-4700 or on the internet at:

    http://hubblesite.org/about_us/public-talks.shtml


NEXT MONTH: December 4, 2007
             Robert Hanisch, Space Telescope Science Institute
             Real Astronomy from Virtual Observatories

Sorry for the ad! :)

Cheers,

Pedro

IAU0701:

New journal for astronomy communicators goes live!

26 October 2007, Munich: In response to an increasing need among the growing community of astronomy communicators, the International Astronomical Union is today announcing the advent of a new journal called "Communicating Astronomy with the Public Journal". Subscriptions to print and online versions are free of charge to communicators.

A new peer-reviewed journal released today by the IAU will provide astronomy communicators with important tools and innovative resources to communicate more effectively the workings of the Universe to the public.

IAU President Catherine Cesarsky says "We are pleased to announce the first issue of the Communicating Astronomy with the Public Journal. The IAU is strongly dedicated to improving the global level of astronomy education and outreach."

The journal provides astronomy communicators with a mix of resources, opinion and information on how to communicate more effectively to the general public the workings of the Universe. As Pedro Russo, Editor-In-Chief of the journal, explains, the CAP journal has an important aim: "As the astronomy education and public outreach community expands globally, it becomes increasingly important to establish a community of science communication experts."

President of IAU Commission 55 Communicating Astronomy with the Public, Ian Robson: "Astronomy has an innate appeal to people of all ages, partly because it concerns the fascinating great questions `of life, the Universe and everything' and partly because many of the data obtained with telescopes can be presented as objects of stunning beauty. Astronomy is a great example of how fascinating physics can be."

Science communicators are encouraged to submit their own articles for publication explains Russo. "Public communication of astronomy is a burgeoning field of science communication. We would like to see the astronomy outreach community deeply involved in this journal's evolution and production."

The journal will be published quarterly for free in print and online. It will act as a repository of ideas for astronomy communicators; for example in use with activities as part of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 which will be a global celebration of astronomy and its contributions to society and culture. Pedro Russo, also IAU Coordinator for the International Year of Astronomy 2009, explains "The next few years will be extremely important for astronomy communication and education. The International Year of Astronomy 2009 will serve as a unique platform to inform the public about the latest discoveries in astronomy."

The first two issues are sponsored by the European Space Agency, the International Astronomical Union, Instituto de Astrof�sica de Canarias (Spain) and ESO.

Free subscription forms and the online version of the journal can be found at www.capjournal.org

###

Notes for editors
The CAP Journal is published by the IAU DIVISION XII Commission 55 Communicating Astronomy with the Public (http://www.communicatingastronomy.org). The journal is divided into nine main sections. The "Research & Applications" section contains peer-reviewed science communication `research' articles. "News" and "Announcements" present information and updates, such as conference reports from the astronomy outreach community. "Resources" and "Innovation" provide a repository of outreach ideas and cutting-edge astronomy communication methods respectively. "Best Practices" aims to be a guide, containing case studies, to the techniques that work best in communicating astronomy. "Opinion" provides space for subjective discussions of topics related to astronomy communication.

The IAU is the international astronomical organisation that brings together almost 10,000 distinguished astronomers from all nations of the world. Its mission is to promote and safeguard the science of astronomy in all its aspects through international cooperation. The IAU also serves as the internationally recognized authority for assigning designations to celestial bodies and any surface features on them. Founded in 1919, the IAU is the world's largest professional body for astronomers.

The International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009) will be a global celebration of astronomy and its contributions to society and culture. It will stimulate worldwide interest not only in astronomy, but in science in general, with a particular appeal for young people. IYA2009 will portray astronomy as a peaceful global scientific endeavour that unites astronomers in an international, multicultural family of scientists working together to find answers to some of the most fundamental questions that humankind has ever asked.

For more information, please contact:

Editor-In-Chief/IAU IYA2009 Coordinator
Pedro Russo
ESO/ESA/ST-ECF
Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2
D-85748 Garching bei M�nchen
Germany
Tel: +49 89 320 06 195
Fax: +49 89 320 23 62
E-mail: prusso(@)eso.org

IAU Press Officer/Secretary of IAU Commission 55
Lars Lindberg Christensen
ESA/Hubble, Garching, Germany
Tel: +49-89-32-00-63-06
Cellular: +49-173-3872-621
E-mail: lars(@)eso.org

Hubble Space Telescope Public Lecture Series
                             at the
                Space Telescope Science Institute


Speaker:  Maggie Turnbull, Space Telescope Science Institute

Topic:  Earth-like Worlds in our Galaxy: Discovery,
         Exploration ... and Preservation

Date:  October 2, 2007

Time:  8 PM

Place:  Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) Auditorium

Price:  Free admission and free parking

Phone:  410-338-4700

Internet:  http://hubblesite.org/about_us/public-talks.shtml


Humanity's planetary passions lead in two directions: our
quest to find and  explore other habitable planets in the
Galaxy and our desire to preserve the world we already have.
Scientifically, the connection between them is clear: to
find other planets like our own, it is enormously helpful
to understand the one we're standing on. Dr. Turnbull will
explore a wide  range of ideas, from the science of NASA's
Terrestrial Planet Finder,  to the cosmic network of
relationships involving the Earth's life and  climate, to
the balance between making the universe "our own" while
keeping our footprints small.


Lectures on a diverse selection of cosmic topics are held
the first Tuesday of every month at 8 PM in the STScI
Auditorium, located at 3700 San Martin Drive on the Homewood
campus of Johns Hopkins University. Admission is free and free
parking is available in the lot across the street.

This lecture will be webcast live. The recorded webcast will
also be available for viewing online the following day. To
view the webcast, you may need to download and install
software. See the web site listed below in advance for
details.

Further information and directions are available by
calling 410-338-4700 or on the internet at:

    http://hubblesite.org/about_us/public-talks.shtml


NEXT MONTH: November 6, 2007
             Alberto Conti and Carol Christian, Space Telescope
               Science Institute
             Google Sky