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[...] Two by Tim Lebbon out from Pyr Books. Fans of this space will remember our action-packed review of London Eye: Toxic City Book One from late last [...]
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Pictured is a Delta IV rocket launch from Cape Canaveral on November 21st, 2010. The image is a 20 second exposure taken at dusk, shot from about 100 miles west of the launch site. The launch placed a classified payload in orbit for the United States Air Force.
Difficult but not impossible to catch against the dawn or dusk sky, spotting an extreme crescent moon can be a challenge. The slender crescent pictured was shot 30 minutes before sunrise when the Moon was less than 20 hours away from New. A true feat of visual athletics to catch, a good pair of binoculars or a well aimed wide field telescopic view can help with the hunt.
The Sun is our nearest star, and goes through an 11-year cycle of activity. This image was taken via a properly filtered telescope, and shows the Sun as it appeared during its last maximum peak in 2003. This was during solar cycle #23, a period during which the Sun hurled several large flares Earthward. The next solar cycle is due to peak around 2013-14.
Located in the belt of the constellation Orion, Messier 42, also known as the Orion Nebula is one of the finest deep sky objects in the northern hemisphere sky. Just visible as a faint smudge to the naked eye on a clear dark night, the Orion Nebula is a sure star party favorite, as it shows tendrils of gas contrasted with bright stars. M42 is a large stellar nursery, a star forming region about 1,000 light years distant.
Orbiting the planet in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) every 90 minutes, many people fail to realize that you can see the International Space Station (ISS) from most of the planet on a near-weekly basis. In fact, the ISS has been known to make up to four visible passes over the same location in one night. The image pictured is from the Fourth of July, 2011 and is a 20 second exposure of a bright ISS pass.
Next to the Sun, the two brightest objects in the sky are the Moon and the planet Venus. In fact, when Venus is favorably placed next to the Moon, it might just be possible to spot the two in the daytime. Another intriguing effect known as earthshine or ashen light is also seen in the image on the night side of the Moon; this is caused by sunlight reflected back off of the Earth towards our only satellite.
A mosaic of three images taken during the total lunar eclipse of December 21st, 2010. The eclipse occurred the same day as the winter solstice. The curve and size of the Earth’s shadow is apparent in the image.
The Algonquin Indians had names for each of the seasonal Full Moons, many of which survive today. The Full Snow Moon pictured occurs in the month of December, when the first large winter storms coat the ground with snow. This Full Moon also tends to fall near the Winter Solstice, and thus rides high in the nightly sky opposite to the Sun on long winter nights.
Every rocket launch is unique, but twilight shuttle launches where by far the most impressive. The image pictured was of the April 5th, 2010 launch of Space Shuttle Discovery from the Kennedy Space Center at dawn. The exhaust plume caught the rising Sun overhead just right, and numerous noctilucent clouds persisted right up until sunrise. Unfortunately, space shuttle launches are now relegated to the pages of history.
Review: London Eye: Toxic City Book One by Tim Lebbon.
On sale in October!
Pssst! Ever wanted to see the city of London laid in ruin? Have we got a book for you. It seems that as of late, post-apocalyptic dystopian fiction is all the rage. One has to wonder; is this a result of a global air pessimism and disillusionment in our modern world culture? Or will we see the cycle shift back to “shiny-white happy futures” soon? Certainly, every generation has felt privileged to be the last, as certain doom must ultimately lay just around the corner. Douglas Adams said it best when he noted that garden-variety paranoia was a natural state in the universe…
Which brings us to this weeks’ review, London Eye: Toxic City Book One by Tim Lebbon. Out in early October 2012 from Pyr Books, London Eye is a teen saga of the near future based in a decimated London. The city has been struck by a biological terrorist weapon in 2019, and each chapter is punctuated with news dispatches of the attack. London Eye is very fast paced, and the world of the after math is glimpsed thru these flashbacks. Against this backdrop, Jack and his band make their way back into the quarantined city looking for friends and family members. The book is billed as “the X-Men meets the Hunger Games” but it puts us a bit more in mind of the Misfits series shoved into the near future.
Those who didn’t die in the devastating attack referred to by the characters simply as Doomsday have begun to evolve bizarre abilities in order to survive in this devastated realm. Choppers, giant scorpions and more all threaten our heroes and heroines, along with a devastating secret that may yet doom the world outside. I thought the imagery of the enormous mass graves that Jack’s crew encountered was especially effective.
The author employs an interesting technique of revealing the world of Toxic City in brief flashes; you’re along for the ride, witnessing the horrors and the aftermath of the attack along with these outsiders for the first time. Though they dare to penetrate this terrifying world, they also become unwitting observers and participants in documenting the results of the attack. Several plot lines lay open which will no doubt be followed in the series. What kind of bizarre and horrific experiments are the Choppers running? Who was behind the initial attacks and what were their motives? What will the consequences be for this unauthorized intrusion by Jack & his band? Would you risk such a journey for family and friends if you had the choice? All very topical teen fiction themes. Like the Hunger Games, Toxic City depicts a future world where teens are asked to grow up way too early, a dilemma to which many kids can relate. Here’s to many more and a good long run for the Toxic City series; be sure to check it out next month and get in on the ground floor!