Weekend Diversion: Sleeping in the Stars
From cloudy nights to clear, and even during the day, this beautiful bedding brings the beauty of the Universe to you!
“The probability of success is difficult to estimate; but if we never search the chance of success is zero.” –Giuseppe Cocconi and Philip Morrison
Most of us will never know the joys of either escaping the Earth’s atmosphere or our gravitation bond to our home world, yet looking towards the sky and being filled with a sense of wonder is something accessible to us all. Wouldn’t it be great if we could bring that home to our daily experience, somehow? For some of us, it would be fantastic! Have a listen to Catie Curtis as she sings her song Wallpaper Dreams,
while you consider that not only can you turn your favorite astronomy images into fabric, but now one company has made it easy to take the greatest images of nebulae, stellar remnants and space art to bed with you!
This combination of duvet cover / flat sheet / pillowcases may be a little on the pricey end, but the image quality simply can’t be beat, as this absolutely nails the Eagle Nebula, including the famed Pillars of Creation in all their glory!
For some reason, being able to see some of these designs and immediately identify them with not only the nebula but the actual image that they were sourced from gives them an extra sense of legitimacy to me. Sure, they have artistic renditions of space as well,
but why would you settle for a beautiful fake when you can have the real deal of a bona fide piece of the Universe brought to you for the same price?
There’s the Witch’s Broom in the Veil Nebula, also known as the Western Veil Nebula or NGC 6960, which has been beautifully converted into bedding here.
The fabric appears to be of good, solid quality and durable as well, which is great to know. This way, you won’t just be paying for looks; you’ll actually get a product that you can use rather than just look at! I wish it weren’t 100% polyester, but at least it’s satin, which is (at least for me) farther up the comfort scale than pretty much any other polyester product.
They have the flame nebula, which I recognize immediately as being one of the brightest, most prominent reflection nebulae, lit up by the bright, blue star at the end of Orion’s belt: Alnitak.
Also close by to the flame nebula is the even more famous horsehead nebula, which they had the good sense to turn into bedsheets as well!
It’s also worth pointing out that they claim to use “real 3d print” to create these bedsheets; I’m not entirely sure what that means in this context. (Maybe this FujiFilm service or technique?) However, I am pretty sure of what this means:
[W]e use environmental ink to print the pattern, to make a blight, clear and never fade craft to you. Duvet cover and pillowcase are both sides printed, flat sheet can only be one-side printed.
Makes sense! What else do they have that caught my eye?
The amazing pulsar at the center of the Crab Nebula, as imaged by the Chandra X-Ray telescope with Hubble data (in red) overlaid!
There’s also the unmistakeable Carina Nebula, the only product of Anlye bedding that I’ve found that get’s a one star review!
Why? It’s not because it’s low quality, because it’s a poor print or because it doesn’t match the Hubble original precisely. It does!
It got that review because it took too long to ship for the reviewer to be comfortable with. However, this shouldn’t have been a surprise, NY, since they explicitly warn you:
3).Order Detail
A).we have no stock, all the items will be made after we get the order.
B).working time:3–7 work days
C).shipping time:5–15 days,depends on your country(festival seasons such as NOV DEC will be a little delay)
So be aware, if you order it today, it might not get here in time for Christmas.
Still, there are some amazing other prints from our Universe, including the Rosette Nebula (above) and the star cluster in the newly forming region NGC 602 (below).
There are others, too, that I can’t quite place my finger on, but I know I’ve seen them before. See if you recognize any of them for yourself!
And there’s this last one, which came with the most darling review from Grandma:
The bedding was purchased for my grandson. When it arrived he was so excited to see the beautiful quilt and sheets that matched. Whow, he says it is so soft and silky and more comfortable, not as hot as other sheets. He let his friends take a look and they decided it looks like a “space rainbow” which is fitting for what he likes. The colors are very rich and I think it will wear and wash well. Anlye answered all questions I asked and was very helpful during the purchase. Thanks for the opportunity to give a gift that was completely appreciated.
Some of these are really spectacular, and I hope that — if you’ve got $200 to plunk down on a new bedding set — you consider doing something that brings an awareness and an appreciation of the Universe to you. Happy holidays and happy weekend to you, and I’ll see you back here tomorrow for more wonders and joys of the Universe!
Missed our Comments of the Week? Check them out here! And if you have comments on this, leave them at the Starts With A Bang forum on Scienceblogs!
