Queen guitarist Brian May and David Eicher launch unique astronomy book

Every star has a story to tell. And in Cosmic Clouds 3-D, rock star Brian May pairs up with Astronomy Editor David Eicher to take you on a journey inside the birthplace of stars: nebulae.
By | Published: September 22, 2020 | Last updated on May 18, 2023
Cosmicclouds3d

In an unprecedented event Wednesday, September 23, Brian May and David Eicher will hold an online book launch for their latest work, Cosmic Clouds 3-D, along with master astroimager J-P Metsävainio. Tomorrow’s live virtual event begins at 8 p.m. GMT (2 p.m. CDT). And you can tune in live below.

Cosmic Clouds 3-D is the first book ever to present 3-D stereoscopic images of nebulae, the clouds of gas that inhabit our galaxy. These sites are the birthplaces of stars, but some also mark the glowing remnants of their demise. 

The book was born out of the collaboration of May and Eicher, who achieved success with Mission Moon 3-D two years ago. Now the team, driven by May, who is an astrophysicist and also the celebrated founding member and guitarist of the rock group Queen, turns their attention to the faraway universe. 

They have hooked up with the accomplished, world-class Finnish astrophotographer Metsävainio, who has meticulously created scientifically-analyzed images showing the components of numerous star clouds in three dimensions, made by accurately simulating stereo pairs of the objects. Well-known targets like the Orion Nebula, the Rosette Nebula, the Veil Nebula, and countless others are included in this amazing, groundbreaking book. 

May has been enamored with stereo imaging, seeing the world in three dimensions, since his childhood. In a virtual worldwide book launch hosted at the Science Museum in London, freely open to the public to stream on their computers, May will describe stereo imaging and the background of the book. Eicher, Editor-in-Chief of Astronomy Magazine and author of 25 books, will describe the physics of these star clouds and what they mean in astronomical terms, and Metsävainio will details his methods that have created these unique and stunning pictures. 

The book, published by the London Stereoscopic Co., is available at: https://shop.londonstereo.com/cosmic-clouds-3-d.html

The authors welcome the public to join the September 23 event and read more details here: https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/see-and-do/brian-may-david-j-eicher-and-j-p-mestavainio-cosmic-clouds-3-d

We look forward to seeing you!