As always, the opinions expressed in these pages are purely and personally those of myself, Brian; they are not the official views of Queen, or of any other organisation or individual.
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Now, folks, you can just enjoy this as a pretty picture, in glorious stereo and in motion too. But if you’re interested, below is an account for what this actually is, and how I made it, with a little help from my friends !
For ages I’ve been scanning the photographic output of NASA and ESA missions to explore comets - with the expert help of my Astro-collaborator Claudia Manzoni - looking for the opportunity of making a proper stereo of a jet eruption from a comet’s nucleus. We got close, but never as close as this. My friend Joel Parker has worked on NASA and ESA missions, and in particular for the New Horizons team (he looked after me when I visited) which just pulled off that incredible fly-by of Pluto, and the Rosetta mission which stunned the world by not only putting a probe in close proximity to a comet, and stalking it all the way to Perihelion (its closest approach to the Sun) but landing a tiny mobile laboratory called Philae on the comet’s surface. It’s Rosetta, and in particular its OSIRIS camera, that has given this opportunity.
Comet 67P is properly known by the names of its discoverers … Churyumov and Gerasimenko. Stroke 67P ! It’s only about 3 km across, so it has very little gravity. So the Rosetta probe is not so much ‘in orbit’ around the comet, as floating around it, always under the direct control of the team back on Earth, flying it a bit like a remote controlled plane. So the Rosetta folks tell it to emit little puffs of ‘smoke’ to change its course every now and then, setting it each time on a new path. Each new path is a fly-by of the comet at quite close range, so Rosetta can send back amazing close-up pictures as it almost grazes the surface of the comet. Joel sent me a sequence of three of these pictures, in which a huge jet of gas and dust spurted from the surface, and then was gone. This was the opportunity we needed.
In the time the Rosetta craft took these fabulous photographs, it moved a few km, giving a perfect baseline for a stereo view of the comet’s surface. It needed a lot of patience to align, because of course the probe’s distance from the comet was changing too, along with its orientation. This can be sorted out, but the bigger problem with making stereos for this comet is the fact that it’s rotating too, and pretty fast (its day is about 12 hours). In fact 67P’s rotation is the dominant factor in a sequence of pics of this kind. Why is that a problem ? It means the shadow detail changes between shots, so the stereo effect is messed up. So there was a lot of shadow correction to be done here.
OK. Now the terrain is nicely captured in stereo. But what of the jet ? Well, to make it part of the action I mixed this part of the centre image on to the last one, adding in the jet in the exact place it needed to be. What I didn’t realise initially was that, when the pictures were enhanced, the ‘sky’ above the comet was seen to be absolutely filled with lesser jets - so the mixing of the ‘skies’ had to be very carefully done, in order not to lose anything. We then needed a stereo with no jet, to make the animation. This meant doing the same process the opposite way round, adding in the part of the sky with no jet to the centre image. In stereo. Tricky little job, but rewarding, because there was a lot of real 3-D information in that ‘sky’.
So … the result ? I now had two stereo pairs - one with the big Jet and one without. My friend and colleague 3-D Denis Pellerin combined the two pairs into a GIF. And Hey Presto ! There it is ! Maybe the first flashing Comet jet ever to be pictured in 3-D !
My grateful thanks to Matt Taylor, metal hero and Project Leader of Rosetta - who’s been so encouraging to me in this … and we have another 3-D goody for you shortly.
Cheers all
Bri
CREDITS :
Images courtesy of ESA/ROSETTA/OSIRIS, Matt Taylor, Joel Parker
Details
Title Outburst in action
Released 11/08/2015 10:00 am
Copyright ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA
Description
A short-lived outburst from Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko was captured by Rosetta’s OSIRIS narrow-angle camera on 29 July 2015. The image at left was taken at 13:06 GMT and does not show any visible signs of the jet. It is very strong in the middle image captured at 13:24 GMT. Residual traces of activity are only very faintly visible in the final image taken at 13:42 GMT.
The images were taken from a distance of 186 km from the centre of the comet. The jet is estimated to have a minimum speed of 10 m/s and originates from a location on the comet’s neck, in the rugged Anuket region.
Full story: Comet’s firework display ahead of perihelion
Stereo images by Brian May. Gif by Denis Pellerin. Thanks to Claudia Manzoni.
Ah thanks. Well, you know my view. Put out the Fire. It’s all in my song with this title.
On the Hot Space album.
When was that ? 1982.
I said … “ People get killed by people. People with guns. "
Guns to me are one of Man’s saddest ever inventions.
Given the choice, I bring in a zero tolerance law for all firearms. I’d make it a prison offence just to own one, or carry one.
But there is too much money to be made in the business of making weapons. And the makers are able to saturate gullible people with propaganda with the money they make. Persuading them that they need to be able to throw death at a distance. The very idea is, by definition, cowardly, barbaric, senseless. And of course there’s all those sick people who just love to make themselves big and brave by shooting a defenceless animal. So they all club together and perpetuate this savage madness. That’s saddest of all.
**Thu 27 Aug 15** ELLIS-MAY IN STUDIO WORKING ON NEW ALBUM TRACKS.
AND COSMOLOGY.
AND GOD.
Direct link
Yes, I was joking on twitter, in case anyone gets the wrong idea, about Kerry being bullied. Kerry Ellis is pure gold dust, and I would never bully her in the studio or anywhere else.
But after all this time I think I have an instinct for how far as a producer and arranger I ought to be pushing her to break new ground. Actually we’re pretty good at pushing each other now - challenging everything, which is a great way to be, recording new tracks. For Kerry, the years of utterly devoting herself to a life of singing have, is the ultimate artist, and that incredible voice is now deeper, sweeter, finer, and more awesomely controlled than ever. So working with that awesomeness is something I could never take for granted.
Making new music is a place where all the tools are familiar, like your favourite garden spade, with time-worn handle, and yet there are always new borders to dig - new perennials to grow. We have planted a fabulous new tree this week. Strong roots, from a couple of the world’s greatest songwriters (no - not me), a stout and handsome trunk rising and spreading into strong and unforgettable lyrical branches, culminating in luscious fruits of passionate vocal and guitar performances on the spreading canopy of this story told in song !!! OK ? !
OK … enough gardening metaphors. But I feel massively grateful that I have this stuff to feed my soul, and cleanse it of the sadness and anger and disappointment that I’m often on the verge of drowning in, as we (in Save-Me) plough on out there, trying to persuade certain people that they shouldn’t be behaving despicably to animals.
So today was a good day of good work, and, no matter what comes from it, a reward in itself. In fact I think most of the great things in life that involve the pursuit of excellence rather than money are at their peak of wonder in the process, even more than in the end product. So really I thank God that I am fortunate enough still to be able to devote a day like this to being creative for its own sake. God ? Thanking God ? I hear you. As a physicist, am I in danger of compromising my credibililty ? Well, I discovered this quote earlier this week from Jacob Bekenstein, friend of Stephen Hawking and truly one of this world’s greatest theoretical cosmologists of all time. He said
“I look at the world as a product of God; my job is to figure out how it works.”
Wonderful. And there he says it all, as far as I am concerned. How could there be any conflict between God and Astronomy ? To me, all the arguments about science and religion being in conflict are wasted time. I don’t believe either one has anything to say about the other. Interestingly, I have met scientists who regard Enrico Fermi as something of a God, because he discovered Entropy - the measure of disorder in the Universe - and the fact that it always increases. It’s a gloriously all-pervasive concept which for physics students is such a revelation that it almost in itself justifies years of study in crowded lecture theatres. But Bekenstein - remember the name - used this concept to make a discovery if anything even more Universe-shattering … that Black Holes also have increasing entropy and in fact are not so black that they can’t radiate energy. Hawking, initially skeptical of Bekenstein’s belief that the Laws of Thermodynamics still applied in the vicinity of a Black Hole, was the man who eventually tied up the whole idea, and was able to predict what this radiation, now known as ‘Hawking Radiation’ would look like.
But I digress.
We, in the world of Western Capitalism, are immensely privileged to have the opportunity to enjoy pure art and pure science, if we manage to detach ourselves from the idea that what matters in life is money and power. Why do so many of us miss that opportunity ?
Well, that’s it for amateur philosophy for today, folks.
But I’ll be back !
Have an excellent Bank Holiday weekend … and do remember to smell some roses.
**Tue 25 Aug 15** GOING INTO BATTLE- NEWSNIGHT Direct link
I'm going into battle again tomorrow night (Tues 25 Aug) on Newsnight, folks, re: 'overreaction' on Cecil. Not a pleasant prospect, but an opportunity.DETAILS
Bri
EDITOR: Please note: There is always the proviso that "Breaking News" can force changes to the planned content.
**Mon 24 Aug 15** "VICTORIAN GEMS"- AN OPENING Direct link
See video below:
Hi Folks
I’m very happy to say The London Stereoscopic Company has new product and I’m here to describe it for you to do an opening and it’s called "Victorian Gems”.
It’s a selection of great Victorian masterpieces and it’s meant to be an introduction to stereoscopy, which we can put in the shops.
We launched it at the National Stereoscopic Association meeting last week, but this - for those of you who are already into this stuff, everything in this is new, so we have - this comes off - the slipcase.
We have an OWL’s Nest, which some of you already know, but this one has three new sets and of course - an OWL - and it also as a booklet which tells you about what’s in the box. There’s a bit of history of stereoscopy in here, a little bit about how to use the OWL - how to take stereoscopic pictures of yourselves and things around you, and a little bit of information about other products, which are forthcoming from The London Stereoscopic Company.
So I can show you the boxes - the first one is corresponding to our most recent book, “The Poor Man’s Picture Gallery”. This is it and of course the star of this show is Chatterton. The Death of Chatterton - and there’s a great story goes with this, of course, which is in the book, but this makes a very nice stereo card and you can enjoy this exactly as the Victorians enjoyed it. Here it is with some information on the back and “Wow”, it’s pretty good to me.
Am I advertising all right?
The next one is the second in the series of Diableries, which we’ve been publishing. These have the customary special glowing eyes - the foil eyes ,so these will glitter and glow in different lights and look very mysterious. They have slightly different surrounds because this is a different set of 12, and these are actually 1-12, the original Diableries, and the first one is ‘The Seven Deadly Sins’, and I don’t know if you can see, but the eyes glow very convincingly.
There’s been a massive amount of work on it to creating these and I feel very proud that we finally got these series going. There’s the collecting, there’s the restoration and the printing and various experimenting and proofing seems to take the longest with all the descriptions but with a great deal of pride we offer Diableries, the second lot.
And the last thing is the thing somehow I’m most proud of, which is "Scenes In Our Village" and it must be 40 years since I dreamt of doing this. "Scenes In Our Village" by T R Williams is such a rare series, almost nobody gets to see the originals because they are so scarce. So over a long period of collection and writing a book with Elena and finally creating these, it’s the first time in the 21st century that anyone has been able to really get hold of these cards in what really will come across as pristine condition, just as people in Victorian times would have bought these. It’s the most beautiful series, and each one of these is restored much more carefully and much more in an advanced way than the ones in the book.
The ones in the book were meant to look real as they were photographs of actual cards. These are all extensively reproduced, restored I should say, and reproduced and optimised in various ways. In some cases we’ve been able to get hold of the negative like in this one so it’s an incredibly high resolution and high quality card. And another one here. This is one of my favourites, ‘The Blacksmith’ . Yeah, this one in particular is very beautiful. Done from the negative, recoloured in the original colours, as close as we can get them. I think you’ll enjoy them. So this is "Scenes In Our Village". The very first set. There will be probably six of these sets eventually, I hope, if we’re spared, as my Mum used to say.
So three boxes and the viewer, our OWL viewer stereoscope, and a booklet, and also you get a little piece of paper which will go in here to describe what’s in the box. That’s what this little window was designed for. So I’m very happy about that.
Hope you enjoy. I can’t tell you the price cos I’d have to kill you - but enjoy it. The new London Stereoscopic Company “Victorian Gems”.
Brian May talks about the London Stereoscopic Company's new product: Victorian Gems. It consists of an Owl's Nest, an Owl viewer (designed by Brian May and recently patented), an explanatory booklet, and three new sets of 12 cards each: "Scenes in Our Village" (1-12), "Diableries: Stereoscopic Adventures in Hell
**Wed 19 Aug 15** QUEEN - CHRISTMAS SONGS AND THE LACK OF OFFICIAL VIDEO(S) ? Direct link
[Brian was asked about the lack of a video for 'Thank God It's Christmas' - SEE LETTERS]
A Thank God It’s Christmas video ?
Well, Paul, this stuff is often talked about … but we never seem to get around to devoting time to it … there are always too many other things claiming priority.
It’s true that Roger and I looked at both of these songs when we were planning a Christmas single … but ‘I Dream of Christmas’ was never worked on by the band ... it remained my demo. I developed it later for Anita, as you probably know, and it became her Christmas single.
Well, we’re heading towards South America pretty soon, so probably we’ll have enough on our minds for a while !
