Space is the Place: Two Days Dedicated to the Stars and Planets [Something Interesting #48]
- Alex Bemish
- May 2
- 2 min read
To celebrate both National Space Day today and International Astronomy Day tomorrow, I'm posting some of my favorite space-related things. No paragraphs for context or anything like that. All you need to know is that outer space is amazing and awesome.
"Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space." - Douglas Adams
Crash Course: Astronomy hosted by Phil Plait
Might be a little outdated - came out a decade ago...! - but the universe takes a while to change so I'm sure much of this is still relevant.
Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil deGrasse Tyson
The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene
Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks - Brian Eno (1982)
For All Mankind on Apple+
An alternative history with some dodgy science but still a beautiful show about space.
For All Mankind (1989, dir. Al Reinart)
Shares a name with the TV series but this is a footage-based documentary about the Apollo program, containing some of the music from the Brian Eno album posted above. While the full movie is available on YouTube, I recommend checking out the Criterion print to get the best experience outside of a theater.
Websites of Interest
"Getting started in Astronomy" (Royal Astronomical Society)
"Astronomy for Beginners" (The Planetary Society)
Space Exploration on StackExchange
"Look again at that [pale, blue] dot. That’s here. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you’ve ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every superstar, every supreme leader, every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there, on a mote of dust suspended on a sunbeam." - Carl Sagan
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