Sights

We say “a picture is worth a thousand words.” The pictures of these natural phenomena have perhaps inspired many more. We can spy in the night sky – depending on the time of year – several of these visions with the unaided eye. Others represent spectacular deep sky objects whose true beauty can only be revealed once the photographic plate has remembered far more photons than the human eye can ever hope to collect in an instant.

Here’s a complete list of the original Sights nominees.

Apollo 8: Earthrise

In the beginning God… It’s the afternoon of Christmas Eve, 1968. As Apollo 8 emerges from the far side of the Moon on its fourth orbit, Astronaut William Anders sees something no man before him […]

Io Erupting (Voyager 1)

We might have discovered this six years earlier if not for a glitch. Of the thousands of commands sent to Pioneer 10 during the 24 days of its Jupiter encounter, only one was lost due to those radiation belts. It could have been one just like this. […]

Sights Nominees

We spy on these spectacular objects, whose true beauty can only be revealed once the photographic plate has remembered far more photons than the human eye can ever hope to collect in an instant. […]