New Moon
June 16, 2012 7:24 PM Subscribe
Kelly Beatty of Sky & Telescope magazine has introduced the first entirely new Moon globe in 40 years using high-resolution data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC). You may know LROC as the satellite that showed us the remains of the Apollo missions (previously). One nice detail is that they got the Moon's asphalt-like color correct.
It's $100. I was going to put that in, but I didn't want the post to look like an ad.
posted by dirigibleman at 7:49 PM on June 16, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by dirigibleman at 7:49 PM on June 16, 2012 [1 favorite]
I want this for my coffeetable. That's right friends, it's a moon globe!
posted by XhaustedProphet at 7:57 PM on June 16, 2012
posted by XhaustedProphet at 7:57 PM on June 16, 2012
What does "correct" color mean in a case like this? I mean, color changes as you recede from an object, so I don't really see the relevance to determining the appropriate color for a scale model of the moon (which is what a globe is) of looking at the color of moon rocks. Anyone who has ever got onto building and painting scale models quickly learns that if you paint a scale model the exact same shade and hue as the real object it will look garishly incorrect.
posted by yoink at 8:20 PM on June 16, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by yoink at 8:20 PM on June 16, 2012 [2 favorites]
This is where augmented reality could really shine.
It's nice to have a lunar globe with 850 named features, it's a lot nicer than having nothing. But in this situation I want to put on my google glasses or aim my smartphone and have access to all the current named features. I want video showing me how these features were formed. I want links the crafts that landed there. I want access to all the information space nerds meticulously gather.
posted by rcdc at 8:24 PM on June 16, 2012 [1 favorite]
It's nice to have a lunar globe with 850 named features, it's a lot nicer than having nothing. But in this situation I want to put on my google glasses or aim my smartphone and have access to all the current named features. I want video showing me how these features were formed. I want links the crafts that landed there. I want access to all the information space nerds meticulously gather.
posted by rcdc at 8:24 PM on June 16, 2012 [1 favorite]
Anyone who has ever got onto building and painting scale models quickly learns that if you paint a scale model the exact same shade and hue as the real object it will look garishly incorrect.
Well, I was really referring to albedo. I suspect the type of person willing to spend $100 on a Moon globe would like the touch of the globe having about the same albedo as the actual Moon. I suspect as time goes on they'll make a globe that looks more natural to someone used to seeing it against the inky-black sky. Having said that, it looks like they did compromise somewhat to get the shade they did use.
posted by dirigibleman at 8:43 PM on June 16, 2012 [1 favorite]
Well, I was really referring to albedo. I suspect the type of person willing to spend $100 on a Moon globe would like the touch of the globe having about the same albedo as the actual Moon. I suspect as time goes on they'll make a globe that looks more natural to someone used to seeing it against the inky-black sky. Having said that, it looks like they did compromise somewhat to get the shade they did use.
posted by dirigibleman at 8:43 PM on June 16, 2012 [1 favorite]
The new one looks much more like a Death Star, IMO. Or something that could become one. Very cool.
posted by circular at 9:54 PM on June 16, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by circular at 9:54 PM on June 16, 2012 [1 favorite]
Actually, circular, I hate to argue but Alec Guinness's Obi-Wan agrees: That's no moon...
posted by MCMikeNamara at 11:03 PM on June 16, 2012
posted by MCMikeNamara at 11:03 PM on June 16, 2012
That old globe, while serviceable, just wasn't satisfying.
I like his attitude.
posted by thijsk at 2:28 AM on June 17, 2012
I like his attitude.
posted by thijsk at 2:28 AM on June 17, 2012
Ooo! I'll take a slightly smaller one, please. I have Replogle's 11cm globe of the 1960s-era map on my desk. Its uniform gray makes it essentially useless as a reference. I work with the new LROC data as well, and it's transforming how we see the moon.
posted by rlk at 6:42 AM on June 17, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by rlk at 6:42 AM on June 17, 2012 [1 favorite]
Awesome! I've been playing with this data on my 3D printer. Here are the Darwin Craters.
posted by gwint at 9:42 AM on June 17, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by gwint at 9:42 AM on June 17, 2012 [2 favorites]
I want this for my coffeetable. That's right friends, it's a moon globe!
posted by XhaustedProphet
Don't forget: they do a Mars globe, too. (One for each end table!)
posted by AsYouKnow Bob at 10:11 AM on June 17, 2012
posted by XhaustedProphet
Don't forget: they do a Mars globe, too. (One for each end table!)
posted by AsYouKnow Bob at 10:11 AM on June 17, 2012
(Desire for a lunar-patterned lampshade for an anti-S.A.D. solar-spectrum bulb once made me make a geodesic .pdf from Celestia data, which i just thought folks in this thread might enjoy.)
posted by ver at 10:51 AM on June 17, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by ver at 10:51 AM on June 17, 2012 [2 favorites]
I have the Chein Tin Litho lunar globe that was put out in 1969. The dark side is incomplete because the NASA hadn't finished mapping it. At the time NASA was most interested in the terrain near the equator, as that is where the Apollo landings were targeted. Apollo 8 took some photos of the dark side, and they were incorporated into this lunar globe.
posted by Gungho at 11:25 AM on June 17, 2012
posted by Gungho at 11:25 AM on June 17, 2012
yoink: "What does "correct" color mean in a case like this? I mean, color changes as you recede from an object, so I don't really see the relevance to determining the appropriate color for a scale model of the moon (which is what a globe is) of looking at the color of moon rocks. "
The red giant Betelgeuse disputes your belief, as does quantum theory, and Einstein's explanation of the photoelectric effect.
I suspect you are confusing "perception" with color - one is a psychological effect, and the other is a measurable parameter of real-world objects (given the accuracy limitations of the human eye response curves).
posted by IAmBroom at 8:50 AM on June 18, 2012
The red giant Betelgeuse disputes your belief, as does quantum theory, and Einstein's explanation of the photoelectric effect.
I suspect you are confusing "perception" with color - one is a psychological effect, and the other is a measurable parameter of real-world objects (given the accuracy limitations of the human eye response curves).
posted by IAmBroom at 8:50 AM on June 18, 2012
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Seriously, read most of the first link, but I need to know $! I scanned, but didn't see it.
posted by cjorgensen at 7:45 PM on June 16, 2012