Film: The Beauty of Space Photography

PBS Off Book is a web-original series from PBS Arts that explores cutting edge arts and the artists that make it. In this episode, PBS Off Book explores the world of space photography with Emily Rice of the American Museum of Natural History, Zolt Levay of the Space Telescope Science Institute, and David Hogg of New York University.

Here’s how PBS Off Book describes the film: “Space presents a fantastic mystery to human life. Unfathomably large, with characteristics that defy our experience and understanding, the stars have perplexed and amazed humanity for our entire recorded history, and likely before. In the present, astrophysicists and astronomers are aggressively studying the universe in an attempt to solve critical scientific and philosophical questions. One of the primary tools for measurement and observation is imaging using cameras connected to powerful telescopes on Earth and in space. And although it’s not the primary motivation for photographing space, beauty is one of the most intriguing byproducts. Images of space communicate the grandeur of the universe, and spark essential curiosities about what may be out there waiting for us once we make our way into the stars.”