Comments on: The Whole Earth Photolog

The Whole Earth Photolog

Rhaomi — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 22:34:54 -0800

From grainy stills to gorgeous high-resolution portraits, from intimate pairings to stark contrasts, and from old standbys to little-known surprises, The Planetary Society's Earth galleries offer a rich collection of stunning photography and video footage of our world as seen from both planetary spacecraft and geostationary satellites. It is a vista that has inspired many a deep thought in the lucky few that have seen it firsthand [previously]. Oh, and the rest of the Solar System is pretty neat, too.

By: Cat Pie Hurts

Cat Pie Hurts — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 23:28:27 -0800

Your favorite planet sucks. (Thanks for the post!..that gorgeous hi-res link is absolutely stunning.) And any post about our solar system is incomplete without Gustav Holst's vision of them.

By: Mr_Zero

Mr_Zero — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 00:19:10 -0800

My favorite is A Pale Blue Dot.

By: sexyrobot

sexyrobot — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 00:35:48 -0800

remember, there's a lot more to our solar system than just nine planets

By: sexyrobot

sexyrobot — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 00:51:19 -0800

also... WOAH! the GOES images in the 'water vapor' part of the spectrum?!? seriously? WOAH! (thats the americas, btw) (if it asks for a user/password try: bugmenot / kmw728 ) never seen this before... more here found via here

By: sexyrobot

sexyrobot — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 01:16:10 -0800

aaand also...just did some math...from geosynch orbit (where those pix are from) the earth takes up ~17.1 degrees of the sky...that's about like a dinner plate at arms length, a basketball in the hand...

By: The Card Cheat

The Card Cheat — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 02:40:13 -0800

I find pictures of Earth taken from space (especially Mr_Zero's "Pale Blue Dot" photo) both beautiful and terrifying. How small is our planet? Rrrrrrrrrreally fucking small. How big is space? Rrrrrrrrrreally fucking big.

By: bonobothegreat

bonobothegreat — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 09:05:30 -0800

I find that if I cross my eyes when looking at this one (sized down to fit the window). The slight rotation gives it a 3D effect. I can remember doing it on some images of Jupiter (around the time of Shoemaker-Levy) and the effect was really remarkable.

By: treepour

treepour — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 10:50:23 -0800

One of my favorites: earth and moon seen from mars.

By: pots

pots — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 13:06:18 -0800

If the 'Pale Blue Dot' excerpt and the 'many a deep thought' link give a shiver down the spine or the photos, a sense of awe, you really should watch In the Shadow of the Moon (IMDb). A documentary telling the experiences of the astronauts of the Apollo missions, it includes some incredible footage and gives some sense of the profound effects of seeing Earth from space. I can't recommend it enough.