I just saw this posted on Facebook ...and some time later on I came back to earth, wishing I was a sci-fi writer. So many potential stories here! And what about the first recorded interstellar object to enter our solar system? Holy shit. It's so different from the asteroids we're used to. This is mind-boggling stuff. We are SO small, here on Earth. https://www.digitaltrends.com/photography/best-space-photos/?utm_source=f1&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=digitaltrends%E2%80%93ua-bestspacephotos&k_clickid=168342180&utm_content=prog&fbclid=IwAR0b5akfimA8WozpVTtO9AyYX0kMAeeqJIF_qB0099UtzaUMKKrE_itfCxI
"The mission specialist is seen floating above the oceans of Earth without tethers, using a propulsion system attached to his suit to move around freely in space." Yeah, nothing can go wrong there.
Some truly stunning photos here. Truly the stuff dreams are made of, dreams of exploration and awe. These are some of the wonders that wait to reward those who will leave all they know behind. Some will spark ideas for stories. For example, an Einstein Ring shows an object hidden from direct line of sight, and at the same time conceals obvjects that otherise would have been visible. But most are just delicious and literally exotic eye candy. And Homer's inspiration arises not from the image itself, but in contemplating and extrapolating from the situation depicted. This is imagination taking flight.
Those are amazing. Lots of great inspiration for the sci-fi writers here, and absolutely gorgeous photography. Thank you for posting that! In the vein of your post, I’m wondering if a “Photographic Inspirations” thread might be useful to our members in the Writing Prompt section? (If copyright is a concern we could ask one of the attorneys here if a loose interpretation of “Fair Use” would cover it.) But it’d be one hell of a ride while it lasted!
I could eat meat. NASA has image galleries from several of their missions. My favourite are Juno's images of Jupiter.
The one that really made me catch my breath was the one of the asteroid from outwith our solar system. Apparently the only one ever recorded. It's a clear photo as well, and it's very odd looking. Flat. Good grief. Where did it come from? It's fast disappearing through our solar system and is beyond reach of any instrument to make contact with it. But wow.
For me, it's the photo of the ring nebula. It immediately brings Larry Niven's Smoke Ring novels to mind. They take place in a solar system where the cloud of gas around a star is still sufficiently dense as to serve as a continuous atmosphere for the few small worlds that have formed within. Most of the action takes place in floating colonies and giant tree-like organisms shaped like integer symbols, giving rise to the name of one of the books.
Those are fantastic, Dap! Thanks for posting them. Slightly OT but related: I highly recommend the SkyGuide app for anyone who enjoys stargazing. In addition to showing you what’s what, it includes a weekly calendar of celestial events that are visible to the naked eye, along the best viewing times and a darkness finder map for your area. I do recommend silencing the sound alerts, though, unless you enjoy being awakened in the middle of the night by creepy sounds when the space shuttle or something flies over.
Keep in mind that not one of those amazing images can hold a candle to the most common of things here at home. We just might be the most amazing thing in this fucking universe. We shouldn't forget that. Would I want to travel at light speed to the Andromeda Galaxy and spend the day on a world revolving around a sun like ours? Perhaps. But I rather like the idea of lying in the tall grass, watching the clouds go by and listening to the birds chatter. Somewhere in a meadow back on Earth, a swallow is chasing down a dragonfly.
You know that's an artist's conception, right? Great story to read especially after this asteroid's fly by: Rendezvous with Ramos by Arthur C Clarke.
Yeah, it's an artist's conception, but according to the article that is what it looked like. Flat, and unlike asteroids from our own solar system. And Rendezvous with Rama is one of my favourite Sci-Fi novels. That's the kind of Sci-fi I really like. I've always liked the attitude that says either we are 'alone' in the universe or we're not ...either way, it boggles the mind. That applies to all phenomenon, really. If things like this strange asteroid turn out to be something we know and understand, then the simple vastness of space boggles the mind. And if it turns out to be something we've never heard of ...well....
I love the story and shape of that interstellar asteroid as well. Have you seen this new news: The Guardian: Results of the 10-year study suggest 70% of bacteria and archaea exist in the subsurface of the Earth. Life appears even more versatile that ever imagined.
This is the freaky part.... that pic is what the ships look like in my MS..... one that I began 10 years ago. My ships are also from outside our system and part of a fleet originating in the Dwarf Sagittarius galaxy. You know, the one that collided with the Milky Way a million years or so ago.
@jannert - Some beautiful pictures, the tiger stripes reminded me of a song, and made me wonder what it was that made them. I do write a little, some sci-fi shorts, so these are inspirational.