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Lot 405
[Apollo 16] VISION FROM SPACE: incredible far-UV photograph of Planet Earth taken from the lunar Surface John Young, 16-27 April 1972
14 – 28 April 2025, 12:00 CEST
Paris, Avenue HocheSold for €1,024 inc. premium
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[Apollo 16] VISION FROM SPACE: incredible far-UV photograph of Planet Earth taken from the lunar Surface
John Young, 16-27 April 1972
Printed 1972.
Vintage chromogenic print on early resin coated Kodak paper [NASA image 72-HC-463].
With NASA caption numbered "72-HC-463" and "A Kodak Paper" watermark on the reverse(issued by NASA Head Quarters, Washington, D.C.).
20.3 x 25.4 cm. (8 x 10 in.)
Historical context
A fantastic vision of our home planet from another world.
This abstract and mesmerizing photograph of Earth was captured by John Young from the Moon's surface using the gold UV astronomy camera, a specialized scientific instrument brought to the lunar surface by the Apollo 16 crew. The image not only reveals Earth's atmospheric glow in a wavelength invisible to the human eye but also transforms a scientific observation into a strikingly beautiful exploration of our planet's interaction with space.
National Geographic caption: Apollo 16 brings us visions from space
In the vastness of the heavens lies beauty in abundance. Man has honed his skills as a space traveller, and each lunar voyage now returns with aesthetic as well as scientific cargo.
A record haul from the April flight of Apollo 16 produced this unearthly portrait of our planet glowing like a psychedelic vision in a colour-enhanced ultraviolet photograph made from the moon. Sensitive to radiation unseen by the human eye, the camera recorded oxygen levels surrounding the earth at various altitudes—a new look at the upper atmosphere that could benefit communications and help measure long-term effects of air pollution.
Scientists added colour to black-and-white photographs to enhance differences in the brightness of the oxygen glow. Reacting to the sun's ultraviolet radiation, oxygen atoms fluoresce, appearing here as a cloak of gold closest to the earth's surface, where the life-sustaining gas lies heaviest. As it thins with altitude, oxygen appears green, red, and finally blue. On earth's night side the gas shows blue in two intersecting arcs over the Equator, a phenomenon scientists do not yet fully understand.
An aurora shimmers over the south magnetic pole, extreme right. Stars dot the film; one appears as a bright yellow lump on earth's left side.
Printed 1972.
Vintage chromogenic print on early resin coated Kodak paper [NASA image 72-HC-463].
With NASA caption numbered "72-HC-463" and "A Kodak Paper" watermark on the reverse(issued by NASA Head Quarters, Washington, D.C.).
20.3 x 25.4 cm. (8 x 10 in.)
Historical context
A fantastic vision of our home planet from another world.
This abstract and mesmerizing photograph of Earth was captured by John Young from the Moon's surface using the gold UV astronomy camera, a specialized scientific instrument brought to the lunar surface by the Apollo 16 crew. The image not only reveals Earth's atmospheric glow in a wavelength invisible to the human eye but also transforms a scientific observation into a strikingly beautiful exploration of our planet's interaction with space.
National Geographic caption: Apollo 16 brings us visions from space
In the vastness of the heavens lies beauty in abundance. Man has honed his skills as a space traveller, and each lunar voyage now returns with aesthetic as well as scientific cargo.
A record haul from the April flight of Apollo 16 produced this unearthly portrait of our planet glowing like a psychedelic vision in a colour-enhanced ultraviolet photograph made from the moon. Sensitive to radiation unseen by the human eye, the camera recorded oxygen levels surrounding the earth at various altitudes—a new look at the upper atmosphere that could benefit communications and help measure long-term effects of air pollution.
Scientists added colour to black-and-white photographs to enhance differences in the brightness of the oxygen glow. Reacting to the sun's ultraviolet radiation, oxygen atoms fluoresce, appearing here as a cloak of gold closest to the earth's surface, where the life-sustaining gas lies heaviest. As it thins with altitude, oxygen appears green, red, and finally blue. On earth's night side the gas shows blue in two intersecting arcs over the Equator, a phenomenon scientists do not yet fully understand.
An aurora shimmers over the south magnetic pole, extreme right. Stars dot the film; one appears as a bright yellow lump on earth's left side.
Footnotes
[NASA caption] APOLLO 16 UV CAMERA PHOTOGRAPH -- A colour enhancement of a far-ultra-violet photo of the Earth taken by Astronaut John W. Young, commander, with the ultraviolet camera on April 21, 1972. The original black and white photo was printed on Agfa Contour film three times, each exposure recording only one light level. The three light levels were then coloured blue (dimmest), green (next brightest) and red (brightest).
The three auroral belts, the sunlit atmosphere and the background stars (one very close to the Earth on left) can then be studied quantitatively for brightness. The UV camera was designed and built at the Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C.
Literature
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, November 1972, pp. 856-857
Images from space, the camera in orbit, Arnold, plate 49