Tales of the Heliosphere

The Bad Astronomer has compiled his annual list of best astronomy pictures and posted the results at his blog. He writes:

"Astronomy is arguably the most beautiful of the sciences. I’m biased, of course, but it’s nearly impossible to gaze upon a picture of a galaxy, a moon, a nebula, and not see in it something compellingly artistic. Sometimes it’s the color, sometimes the shape, and sometimes it’s the knowledge that we can understand the subject of the picture itself.

"Science doesn’t take away from the beauty of nature. It enhances it, multiplies it."

To which, I can only say, "amen."

Go to BadAstronomy.com to view his compilation of beautiful photos taken of creation in 2007. (Here.)

My favorite is his number 5, the photo of Jupiter's moons, Io and Europa, taken by the New Horizons Pluto Probe in March 2007. The photo is below, courtesy of NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute. (Here.)

-tdr

Labels: Aesthetics, Astronomy