Space Cynics

In the spirit of doing one’s part to contribute to the discourse (and because I was the fastest to hit the “reply” button when the email went out asking for a replacement host for this week), I am pleased to offer you this week’s roster from the Night Gallery:

This first set of exhibits is from the age of the Realist painters - notice the fine attention to detail and the almost lifelike examples you see before you:

A very timely addition to our little collection, this entry from The Planetary Society features the discovery of dust devils at the Phoenix landing site.

We have a neat little exhibit from the Germany, on loan to us from the museum at Next Big Future - a sort of Laserium example (sadly, without the Pink Floyd soundtrack), which promises to improve our searching ability for extra-solar planets tremendously.

The UniverseToday Foundation has supplied us with lovely imagery of the Earth & Moon as seen from other worlds.

Speaking of other worlds, this historical painting on loan from Starts With a Bang, provides a great tale of the “Story of Neptune“.

Orbiting Frog has kindly loaned our little gallery some intriguing minds’ eye pictures of space telescopes on the ubiquitous Google Earth.

This example of the rarest of images is kept in our private collection at the Night Gallery, because it is dangerous to have people around important works of art that can be easily disturbed/damaged.  Such as the Apollo Landing sites. This public service announcement brought to you by the patronage of Cumbrian Sky.

In the next (and largest) room, we find a series of paintings from the magical realism realm:

Our first exhibit in this room is the Whither First exhibit, on loan from the Colony Worlds corporation, which examines if Mercury is a better place to go than Mars after we set up our lunar base…

Next we find a rare example of Russian modern art, on loan from Hobbyspace, of a fantastical 16-person space tourism vehicle. No word yet on when tickets will be available.

This painting, entitled “An Asteroid Beckons“, suggests to the viewer that perhaps it’s best we visit the asteroids before they visit us… a thought which chills the blood.

On loan from the riofriospacetime estate.

As part of the same exhibit, we have a fine specimen of terror and mayhem from Bad Astronomy, “Bobbing For Extinctions“. Seems the Milky Way may have it in for us… (Unfortunately the image of the painting was not ready when this brochure went to print)

Music of the Spheres intriguing painting invites you to take a thrilling, perhaps even terrifying, ride on the Shaftless Elevator.

Centauri Dreams’ contribution, “Scattering Life Through the Cosmos,” challenges the viewer to consider the possibilities of life propogating through the interstellar space via microbes. That life down here may have started “out there”….

Keep walking, folks… there’s plenty more here….

And now on to the Audio Gallery - the latest addition to the Night Gallery… all the spookiest sounds and chillingest screams for your delight.

Courtesy of KySat, we have a synopsis of a recent speech by long-time space entrepreneur Jeff Manber, in particular the potential opportunities for Kentucky in the Space Community. Sure to be a hit on the podcast lineup! (mmm…. KFC in space…)

We have word that a recent addition to the Audio Gallery is this interview with CRISM scientist Dr. Adrian Brown, provided by that fine patron of the arts Astroengine.

And finally, in the audio-visual community-developed art room (the “People’s Gallery”), we have these fine pieces on temporary display:

• “Crab Holding The Beehive” - from the Catholic Sensibility foundation
• “Dune” - a classic of science fiction not meant for the big screen, courtesy of Space Feeds
• “Plan B For Outer Space” - from The SpaceRef studios

That concludes this tour of the Night Gallery. As you get ready to depart, please be sure to stop by the AstroBlog gift shop, where you can find these delightful chocolate planets on sale, just in time for Mother’s Day.