Top 5 Most Memorable Sights in Astronomy & Space Exploration

Hubble Eagle Nebula (M16) Pillars of Creation. Image Source: NASA (Public Domain); Credit: NASA, ESA, STScI, J. Hester and P. Scowen (Arizona State University); A Star is Born; Release Date: April 1, 1995

Top 5 Most Memorable Sights in Astronomy & Space Exploration

So many images, so many memories, but which stand out as the greatest sights in the history of astronomy and space exploration? Have you ever just looked up at a clear night’s sky and simply wondered? Stars, planets, nebulae and even a galaxy or two lay within your unaided eyesight. What object do you first remember seeing? Was it Venus rising in the morning? Jupiter shining brightly at night? The magnificent Pleiades? A faint fuzzy spot in Orion’s Belt (M42 – The Great Nebula) or Andromeda’s chains (M31 – The Andromeda Galaxy)? Or how about the Big Dipper, the North Star, the Summer Triangle or Orion itself? Maybe it was the red of Mars or its counterpart Antares?

Do you still remember that very special feeling you had the first time something totally amazing in space? Instead of your own eyes, you might have been enthralled by a picture. After all, the eyes can only see a single instant of photons, while photographs can accumulate them over time, yielding much more impressive images, filled with color and even a sense of dimension. Moreso, once we unleashed our technology into space itself, our probes produced impossibly beautiful results. Remember Voyager’s images of Saturn’s rings or Io erupting? Where were you when you first saw those likenesses?

In the spring of 2009, AstronomyTop100.com accepted 26 for the greatest sights in astronomy and space exploration. Like those listed above, some of these images appear every night with no additional technology while others required everything from long exposure photographic plates to advanced aeronautic and integrated circuit technology.

In the summer of 2009, using such Web 2.0 tools as Twitter and LinkedIn, AstronomyTop100.com polled professionals and interested amateurs from all across the world to vote for their favorite images in astronomy and space exploration. AstronomyTop100.com is an official IYA2009 project designed to increase interest in the best of astronomy and space exploration among all age groups. Over the course of the next several months, we will discover the top 100 greatest images and imaginations in astronomy and space exploration. Still don’t get it? Try picturing what happens when you mix Carl Sagan’s Cosmos and Fox’s American Idol. That’s AstronomyTop100.com!

We now proudly unveil the top five (in reverse order based on weighted votes) greatest sights in Astronomy and Space Exploration:

#5 Hubble Pillars of Creation in Eagle Nebula
#4 Andromeda Galaxy (M31)
#3 Saturn’s Rings (Voyager)
#2 Earthrise (Apollo 8)
#1 Hubble Ultra Deep Field

Each of these has a great story behind them. That all these images save one (M31) reflect the age of mass media shouldn’t be viewed as a negative. Perhaps we’ve forgotten our youthful astonishment at discovering the Big Dipper, Orion, the Pleiades and all other naked eye objects to place them anywhere beyond the familiar. Not only does this apply us individually, but metaphorically to us as a civilization. In the end, the experience, accentuated by the novelty, is often greater when it’s shared by more people, and television and the internet certainly encourages such broad sharing. Still, one can’t help but wonder if the Hubble Ultra Deep Field has a face only a mother could love (assuming she was well versed in astrophysics).

The greatest sights in astronomy and space exploration represent only one of eight categories in our quest to identify the top 100 greatest images and imaginations in astronomy and space exploration. How do these five events compare to the top five in the other seven categories? Would you like to see the complete list of the Top 40 greatest images and imaginations in astronomy and space exploration? Just go to this site: http://astronomytop100.com/Top_40.html to discover them all.

Which of these top 40 will become the top 10? You can help us by voting your opinion at our surveymonkey poll located here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=cCBjXb3VpviPP43wXczkMA_3d_3d

Have fun!

Each week from now until December 4, 2009, followers of AstronomyTop100.com on http://www.twitter.com/astronomytop100 will get the first opportunity to answer a new survey. Next, members of the LinkedIn AstronomyTop100 Group will be invited to answer. Finally, members of some relevant LinkedIn groups will also be invited to complete the survey. All surveys will be conducted through surveymonkey.com.

If you’re interested in viewing all the nominations and voting in the Round One surveys, visit AstronomyTop100.com to see all the best of the Top 100 Greatest Images and Imaginations in Astronomy and Space Exploration. If you’d like to take a survey, go to the relevant category page on AstronomyTop100.com.

Just interested in keeping tabs on everything about AstronomyTop100.com and astronomy in general? Then follow it on Twitter (@AstronomyTop100).

Explore the unexplored. Discover the undiscovered. Know the unknown. AstronomyTop100.com

Io Erupting – Evidence of Life Beyond Earth Discovered

On March 4, 1979, Voyager 1 flew past Jupiter’s closest Galilean moon Io. As NASA scientists scrutinized the many images produced, they discovered what appeared to be a plume spewing from the rocky surface of the red-orange satellite. They couldn’t believe their eyes. For the first time ever, mankind had recorded an active volcano (seven in fact) outside our own Earth. This planetoid was alive!

I remember devouring this image and the associated science when I received the June 1979 issue of Science. Having completed only my first year of undergraduate work studying physics and astronomy, the picture tantalized me beyond what one might expect (you see, I intended to – and did – specialize in stellar astrophysics, not planetary geophysics). Still, I once had a youthful obsession with all things volcanic. I once spent several third grade days nestled closely to a tome detailing the ten worst volcano eruptions – and gladly repeated (over and over) each disaster to my innocent parents. This image rekindled that love affair for the penultimate time. (The ultimate time? – that’s another story).

For me, a living moon was more significant than the other famous Voyager discovery (Jupiter has rings!). So much of the story amazed me. Not just the science, but the technology. Remember, this was only the second group of spacecraft to venture outside the asteroid belt. I recall waiting with bated breath for NASA to give the thumbs-up signal that the first two probes – Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11 – successfully traversed that dreaded obstacle course six years earlier. Well, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 both made it past the pieces of rock and iron, too, but they had something else. They possessed a much better imaging system (and a greater awareness of the radiation belts near Io). Indeed, the fact we could receive such detailed pictures over such a long distance awed me.

The year was 1979. Just ten years earlier we had conquered the moon. Now, NASA – and America – was leading the human race further than the local orbits of the terrestrial planets and soon would fly to Saturn – and beyond. And I was entering my sophomore year studying the very same subject, one that I had loved since I was old enough to understand.

I was young. The space program was young. It was a beautiful world – er – universe to be a part of.

Why is Carl Sagan Among the Top Five Greatest People in Astronomy & Space Exploration?

Credit: Jenny Rollo (Public Domain); Galileo’s elaborate tomb in the Basillica di Santa Croce, Florence.

Who are the greatest people in the history of astronomy and space exploration? From these specific heads came every idea mankind has ever had regarding astronomy and space exploration. Indeed, the very thought of imagination requires people. These represent, with apologies to Walt Disney, the imagineers of Astronomy and Space Exploration. Without them, we’d be nothing but apes throwing bones at an alien black monolith (wait, wasn’t that in our Popular Culture category?). In the spring of 2009, AstronomyTop100.com compiled 44 nominations – the most in any category – for the greatest people in astronomy and space exploration. These ranged from a gaggle of Greeks starting with Anaximander (c610-c546BC) – the pre-Socratic philosopher credited with the first known attempt to model the universe – to Carl Fredrich von Weizsäcker (1912-2007) – whose work added tremendously to our knowledge of the energy engine of stars as well as the origin of our solar system.

We had two simple rules when it came to nominating people: 1) Don’t nominate anyone you’re related to; and, 2) Don’t nominate anyone still alive. In a moment, you’ll see why we should have probably added a third rule.

In the summer of 2009, using such Web 2.0 tools as Twitter and LinkedIn, AstronomyTop100.com polled professionals and interested amateurs from all across the world to vote for their favorite greatest people in astronomy and space exploration. AstronomyTop100.com is an official IYA2009 project designed to increase interest in the best of astronomy and space exploration among all age groups. Over the course of the next several months, we will discover the top 100 greatest images and imaginations in astronomy and space exploration. Still don’t get it? Try picturing what happens when you mix Carl Sagan’s Cosmos and Fox’s American Idol. That’s AstronomyTop100.com!

We now proudly unveil the top five (in reverse order based on weighted votes) greatest people in Astronomy and Space Exploration:

#5 Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)
#4 Carl Sagan (1934-1996)
#3 Isaac Newton (1642-1727)
#2 Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)
#1 Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

I’m sorry, but I have to respectfully disagree with our esteemed voters. Clearly, Carl Sagan does not belong on this list. So many others have added more to the science of astronomy and to the development of the space exploration program that I question whether he even belongs in the top ten.(I can easily place Aristotle, Ptolemy, Charles Messier, Tycho Brahe, Edwin Hubble, and Werner von Braun ahead of Mr. Sagan.) His inclusion may be due to the phenomenon of “recency” – a term in behavioral psychology which says folks tend to overweight things they’ve most recently witnessed.

In retrospect, we should have had a third rule – any nominee must have been deceased for at least 25 years. This would have been long enough for the direct generational experience to have faded so the individuals could have been viewed in proper perspective.

The greatest people in astronomy and space exploration represent only one of eight categories in our quest to identify the top 100 greatest images and imaginations in astronomy and space exploration. How do these five events compare to the top five in the other seven categories? Would you like to see the complete list of the Top 40 greatest images and imaginations in astronomy and space exploration? Just go to this site: http://astronomytop100.com/Top_40.html to discover them all.

Which of these top 40 will become the top 10? You can help us by voting your opinion at our surveymonkey poll located here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=pQ2Yo1VgJ00TDgnFXyYFRQ_3d_3d

Have fun!

Each week from now until December 4, 2009, followers of AstronomyTop100.com on http://www.twitter.com/astronomytop100 will get the first opportunity to answer a new survey. Next, members of the LinkedIn AstronomyTop100 Group will be invited to answer. Finally, members of some relevant LinkedIn groups will also be invited to complete the survey. All surveys will be conducted through surveymonkey.com.

If you’re interested in viewing all the nominations and voting in the Round One surveys, visit AstronomyTop100.com to see all the best of the Top 100 Greatest Images and Imaginations in Astronomy and Space Exploration. If you’d like to take a survey, go to the relevant category page on AstronomyTop100.com.

Just interested in keeping tabs on everything about AstronomyTop100.com and astronomy in general? Then follow it on Twitter (@AstronomyTop100).

Explore the unexplored. Discover the undiscovered. Know the unknown. AstronomyTop100.com

Top Five Greatest Events in Astronomy and Space Exploration

Image credit: NASA

Title: Telecast of Astronaut Neil Armstrong descending ladder to surface of the moon (7/20/69)

Description: Astronaut Neil A. Armstrong, Apollo 11 commander, descends the ladder of the Apollo 11 Lunar Module prior to making the first step by man on the moon. This view is a black and white reproduction taken from a telecast by the Apollo 11 lunar surface camera during extravehicular activity. The black bar running through the center of the picture is an anomaly in the television ground data system at the Goldstone Tracking Station.

What are the greatest events in the history of Astronomy and Space Exploration? These moments lay frozen in time, their significance magnifying as they pass through the generations. More than a dozen nominations for the greatest event in astronomy and space exploration compiled in the spring of 2009 by AstronomyTop100.com ranged from the Star of Bethlehem (7-4BC) through the Battle of Hastings (1044AD) to the dramatic rescue of Apollo 13 (1970AD).

What marks a “great” event? We can recognize the significance of any singular moment when, after a period of time, it seems all other actions flow back to it. When this occurs, that solitary instant that becomes a new benchmark, a new standard... at least until the next one. Each of these nominations represents a unique event that shall endure the ravages of time, but only a select few merit inclusion in the top five.

In the summer of 2009, using such Web 2.0 tools as Twitter and LinkedIn, AstronomyTop100.com polled professionals and interested amateurs from all across the world to vote for their favorite greatest event in astronomy and space exploration. AstronomyTop100.com is an official IYA2009 project designed to increase interest in the best of astronomy and space exploration among all age groups. Over the course of the next several months, we will discover the top 100 greatest images and imaginations in astronomy and space exploration. Image a cross between Carl Sagan’s Cosmos and Fox’s American Idol. That’s AstronomyTop100.com!

We now proudly unveil the top five (in reverse order based on weighted votes):

#5) World’s First Liquid-Propellant Rocket (3/16/1926)

#4) The Space Race (1957 – 1969)

#3) Sputnik Launch (10/1/1957)

#2) Yuri Gagarin’s First Manned Space Flight (4/12/1961)

#1) Man on the Moon (Apollo 11 – July 20, 1969)

Centuries from now, cultural historians and social archeologists will look back and judge the merits of our civilization based on events like these. What do you think they will conclude?

But the greatest events in astronomy and space exploration represent only one of eight categories in our quest to identify the top 100 greatest images and imaginations in astronomy and space exploration. How do these five events compare to the top five in the other seven categories? Would you like to see the complete list of the Top 40 greatest images and imaginations in astronomy and space exploration? Just go to this site: http://astronomytop100.com/Top_40.html to discover them all.

Which of these top 40 will become the top 10? You can help us by voting your opinion at our surveymonkey poll located here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=vFf8cKIE9AOwkigBQkv_2bHQ_3d_3d

Have fun!

Each week from now until December 4, 2009, followers of AstronomyTop100.com on http://www.twitter.com/astronomytop100 will get the first opportunity to answer a new survey. Next, members of the LinkedIn AstronomyTop100 Group will be invited to answer. Finally, members of some relevant LinkedIn groups will also be invited to complete the survey. All surveys will be conducted through surveymonkey.com.

If you’re interested in viewing all the nominations and voting in the Round One surveys, visit AstronomyTop100.com to see all the best of the Top 100 Greatest Images and Imaginations in Astronomy and Space Exploration. If you’d like to take a survey, go to the relevant category page on AstronomyTop100.com.

Just interested in keeping tabs on everything about AstronomyTop100.com and astronomy in general? Then follow it on Twitter (@AstronomyTop100).

Explore the unexplored. Discover the undiscovered. Know the unknown. AstronomyTop100.com

The Greatest People in Astronomy and Space Exploration

Who are the greatest people – the thinkers, tinkerers and imagineers – in the history of Astronomy and Space Exploration? The nominations for the best people in astronomy and space exploration are in! Poll #7 (of 8) of Round One of AstronomyTop100.com has officially begun! AstronomyTop100.com is an official IYA2009 project designed to increase interest in the best of astronomy and space exploration among all age groups. Over the course of the next several months, we will discover the top 100 greatest images and imaginations in astronomy and space exploration. Image a cross between Carl Sagan’s Cosmos and Fox’s American Idol. That’s AstronomyTop100.com!

With nearly 40 names spanning the centuries the Nominations include the men and woman whose imaginations spurred mankind to look to the skies. This list includes many people who might surprise you. Did you know the most famous observer – the man who provided the data that put the final nail in the coffin of the geocentric theory died before the telescope was even invented? Were you are the final proof of the validity of the heliocentric theory was completely written before Caesar was born, but abandoned due to lack of observable confirmation? Who was the woman whose discovery forever changed the universe?

This challenging Survey invites you to tax your powers of judgment to pick only the top five people who possessed the most influential imaginations in Astronomy and Space Exploration. Are you up for the task? Will you even recognize every name? (Don’t worry if you don’t, because that is part of the selection process!) Go to the Survey and have fun!

Each week, followers of AstronomyTop100.com on http://www.twitter.com/astronomytop100 will get the first opportunity to answer the survey. Next, members of the LinkedIn AstronomyTop100 Group will be invited to answer. Finally, members of some relevant LinkedIn groups will also be invited to complete the survey. All surveys will be conducted through surveymonkey.com. If you’d like to see the schedule of all the Round One surveys, go to this blogpost.

If you’re interested in viewing all the nominations and voting in the Round One surveys, visit AstronomyTop100.com to see all the best of the Top 100 Greatest Images and Imaginations in Astronomy and Space Exploration. If you’d like to take a survey, go to the relevant category page on AstronomyTop100.com.

Just interested in keeping tabs on everything about AstronomyTop100.com and astronomy in general? Then follow it on Twitter (@AstronomyTop100).

Explore the unexplored. Discover the undiscovered. Know the unknown. AstronomyTop100.com

Vote Your Top Favorites in Astronomy and Space Exploration

It’s here! The nominations for the best in astronomy and space exploration are all in! Round One of AstronomyTop100.com has officially begun! AstronomyTop100.com is an official IYA2009 project designed to increase interest in the best of astronomy and space exploration among all age groups. Over the course of the next several months, we will discover the top 100 greatest images and imaginations in astronomy and space exploration. Image a cross between Carl Sagan’s Cosmos and Fox’s American Idol. That’s AstronomyTop100.com!

Here is the schedule and the rules for Round One:

Week #1 (ends 7/24/09) Popular Culture (Click here Nominations; here for Survey)
Week #2 (ends 7/31/09) Engineering (Click here for Nominations; here for Survey)
Week #3 (ends 8/7/09) Events (Click here for Nominations; here for Survey)
Week #4 (ends 8/14/09) Theories (Click here for Nominations; here for Survey)
Week #5 (ends 8/21/09) Discoveries (Click here for Nominations; here for Survey)
Week #6 (ends 8/28/09) Sights (Click here for Nominations; here for Survey)
Week #7 (ends 9/4/09) People (Click here for Nominations; here for Survey)
Week #8 (ends 9/11/09) Ancient Artifacts (Click here for Nominations; here for Survey)

Each week, followers of AstronomyTop100.com on http://www.twitter.com/astronomytop100 will get the first opportunity to answer the survey. Next, members of the LinkedIn AstronomyTop100 Group will be invited to answer. Finally, members of some relevant LinkedIn groups will also be invited to complete the survey. All surveys will be conducted through surveymonkey.com.

If you’re interested in viewing all the nominations and voting in the Round One surveys, visit AstronomyTop100.com to see all the best of the Top 100 Greatest Images and Imaginations in Astronomy and Space Exploration. If you’d like to take a survey, go to the relevant category page on AstronomyTop100.com.

Just interested in keeping tabs on everything about AstronomyTop100.com and astronomy in general? Then follow it on Twitter (@AstronomyTop100).

Explore the unexplored. Discover the undiscovered. Know the unknown. AstronomyTop100.com

To Boldly Go...

The Quest. Man’s calling. It could be as simple as opening the door to a strange room. It could be as complicated as unlocking the key to a new science. In either case, the urge impels us all to take that first step into unchartered territory. Sure, some of us would rather give others the initial chance. There comes a point, however, when human nature eggs us on to follow pioneers into a new land of innovation and invention.

That’s when we undertake The Quest.

The Quest. To discover the undiscovered. To explore the unexplored. To know the unknown.