See the encapsulating images shortlisted for the 2021 Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition.
astronomy
Posted inNews
Ancient Antikythera Mechanism, the “World’s First Computer,” Is Reconstructed
The device, which is thought to predict planets’ movement, was found in the sea in 1901, salvaged from a wrecked merchant ship.
Posted inIn Brief
Rembrandt and van Gogh Masterpieces Inspire Names for a Planet and Star
Two celestial bodies in the Andromeda constellation have been named “Night Watch” and “Starry Night.”
Posted inNews
Artist Trevor Paglen Is Not Convinced His Space Art Will Ruin Astronomical Research
After raising nearly $76,000 to launch his artwork into space, Paglen is now facing concerted criticism from the science community that his sculpture could ruin their research for the two months it orbits Earth. The artist begs to differ.
Posted inArt
The Earliest Known Printed Illustrations of the Greek Constellations
A rare first edition of the Poeticon Astronomicon, printed in Germany in 1492, is headed to auction at Swann.
Posted inHistory
The History of One of the Oldest Astronomical Clocks in the World
While Prague’s famed clock is gone for repairs, we take a look at its history.
Posted inArt
The Early-20th-Century Painter Who Captured Solar Eclipses
In 1918, painter Howard Russell Butler precisely captured what the camera could not: the fiery colors of a solar eclipse.
Posted inArt
The First Known Depiction of the Cosmos Adorns a 3,600-Year-Old Disk
Discovered in 1999 in Germany, the 3,600-year-old Nebra Sky Disk is recognized as the oldest known depiction of cosmic phenomena.
Posted inIn Brief
Astronomers Attempt to Date Sappho’s “Midnight Poem” Using the Stars
For centuries, scholars have mined the verse of Greek lyric poet Sappho, Plato’s “tenth Muse,” for clues about her life.
Posted inNews
Century-Old Glass Photographic Plate Reveals Earliest Evidence of an Exoplanet
The Carnegie Institution for Science announced this week that one researcher’s dive into a collection of glass photographic plates turned up an unexpected image from 1917 that indicates the presence of an exoplanetary system.
Posted inArt
Rediscovered Glass Plate Photographs Show the Skies 120 Years Ago
Over 150 glass plate photographs of the moon, stars, and solar eclipses were recently rediscovered in the basement of the the Niels Bohr Institute (NBI) in Copenhagen.
Posted inArt
Celestial Art and Science in Albrecht Dürer’s 1515 Star Charts
The same year that Albrecht Dürer created his famous rhinoceros woodcut, the German artist also collaborated on the first star charts printed in Europe.