Truex.org » Video http://truex.org Tue, 26 May 2009 01:53:25 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8 en hourly 1 We Orbit a Ball of Fire http://truex.org/2007/03/14/we-orbit-a-ball-of-fire/ http://truex.org/2007/03/14/we-orbit-a-ball-of-fire/#comments Wed, 14 Mar 2007 17:33:40 +0000 Truex http://truex.org/2007/03/14/we-orbit-a-ball-of-fire/ The STEREO-B spacecraft had its cameras calibrated on the 25th of February, which is unremarkable save for the capture of a lunar transit of the sun.

This is what an eclipse looks like from space.

The lunar disk was filmed to provide a baseline level of dark for the calibration of the STEREO-B camera, which orbits the sun about a million goddamn miles behind Earth. You really need to watch the (very) large Quicktime video to get the full effect. Being able to see the actual movement of the sun’s surface, along with the different scale of the moon itself, is more than a little surreal.

Terrifying, actually. I can’t put my finger on the exact reason why, but I’m sure it has something to do with the insignificance of humanity in the face of the goddamn ball of nuclear fire we orbit.

]]> http://truex.org/2007/03/14/we-orbit-a-ball-of-fire/feed/ 0