Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                              2019 November 24

                          Apollo 12: Self-Portrait
                Image Credit: NASA, Apollo 12, Charles Conrad

   Explanation: Is this image art? 50 years ago, Apollo 12
   astronaut-photographer Charles "Pete" Conrad recorded this masterpiece
   while documenting colleague Alan Bean's lunar soil collection
   activities on Oceanus Procellarum. The featured image is dramatic and
   stark. The harsh environment of the Moon's Ocean of Storms is echoed in
   Bean's helmet, a perfectly composed reflection of Conrad and the lunar
   horizon. Works of photojournalists originally intent on recording the
   human condition on planet Earth, such as Lewis W. Hine's images from
   New York City in the early 20th century, or Margaret Bourke-White's
   magazine photography are widely regarded as art. Similarly many
   documentary astronomy and space images might also be appreciated for
   their artistic and esthetic appeal.

                       Tomorrow's picture: a bat glow
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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                             & Michigan Tech. U.

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