My fascination with the cosmos is due in part to a wonderful series that ran on PBS in the 1980’s called Cosmos. I will forever be indebted to Carl Sagan for escorting me, and millions of others on a journey of the imagination to explore the Universe we live in. I’ve never met Dr. Sagan, but for some strange reason I find myself missing him. Maybe it is because he spoke to a future that included us exploring this amazing cosmos in which we live, and that our challenges came not from each other, but from trying to understand the Universe.
There is a web site called the Symphony of Science, which has a collection of songs and videos that feature Carl Sagan and other prominent scientists in a rather interesting mash-up of scientific dialog, acoustic and electronic music and effects. The first to be produced is called “A Glorious Dawn” and you may already be aware of it. I found it a very moving and uplifting song/video, and I’m not one for “auto-tuning”. I’d strongly suggest you check them out if you have a chance, as they are pleasing on many levels, from the background musical, the visuals and especially the lyrics.
Lastly, I’d like to leave you with an image of a binary star system (LL Pegasi – also known as AFGL 3068) that the Hubble Space Telescope has taken, which I feel is the embodiment of the Cosmos Carl Sagan talks about. It is visually beautiful, and as you understand how the structure was formed, it is even more fascinating. I won’t go into details about it, you can check out the Space Telescope site, and Phil Plate’s Bad Astronomy Blog (which is really good!) for more details and discussions on how it formed.
Thank you, Carl…
Till next time.
RC Davison