Something Beautiful

Jupiter and Venus

Last night as I was walking home, I couldn't help but be struck by two bright objects in the night sky.  They appear to have been Jupiter and Venus, making an all-time great simultaneous appearance.   If you haven't seen them yet, I highly recommend a trip outside tonight.   Caution: this is a very limited engagement! 

Emerson on the stars

Tonight I came across this observation by Ralph Waldo Emerson:

To go into solitude, a man needs to retire as much from his chamber as from society. I am not solitary whilst I read and write, though nobody is with me. But if a man would be alone, let him look at the stars. The rays that come from those heavenly worlds, will separate between him and what he touches.

One might think the atmosphere was made transparent with this design, to give man, in the heavenly bodies, the perpetual presence of the sublime. Seen in the streets of cities, how great they are! If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore; and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city of God which had been shown! But every night come out these envoys of beauty, and light the universe with their admonishing smile.

Northern lights

The Astronomy Photo of the Day site has two fine time-lapse films of the aurora borealis, or Northern lights, over Norway:

November 2010

March 2011

The first film probably gives a more accurate idea of the auroras. The second is a bit more dramatic. For a fine still photograph of the Northern lights, have a look at this excellent example.

Hubble Space Telescope Advent Calendar

Last year the Boston Globe published an amazing set of 24 photos taken by the Hubble Space Telescope as a kind of Advent calendar. They don't seem to have done another calendar this year, but the photos are still there and they are magnificent.

 

The night sky

It's possible to learn so much about astronomy on the Web. Just being able to identify objects in the sky on any given night is such a pleasure. A good site for that is EarthSky.org.

Saturn and its moons

NASA's Cassini Spacecraft is now reaching the end of its four-year prime mission (on June 30th), and about to enter into its extended mission. The Boston Globe has taken advantage of this marker to publish some of the fantastic images Cassini has sent home over the past four years.  These twelve photos of Saturn and its moons are truly extraordinary.

Solar eclipse

This is so moving -- solar eclipse, as seen in Turkey, 2006. (Note: Two-minute video is from the Exploratorium; the good stuff is mostly in the second minute.)

Flying over Mars

Here's something so wonderful it brings tears to my eyes -- a chance to fly over the surface of Mars.

Saturn and Titan

Photos of planet Saturn are almost always beautiful. Try this one of Saturn and Titan, one of its moons

Astrophoto site

The photos here are so stunning, so unexpected, so unimaginably beautiful and strange, that some of them bring tears to the eye -- Astrophoto gallery.