Images and Videos

Abstract

Images of astronomical wonders are what probably inspired us to become interested in astronomy in the first place and that is still true for newcomers to astronomy today. What has changed is that these awe inspiring images are much more plentiful now and, thanks to the Internet, much more accessible. I can remember the excitement of the Voyager probes reaching Jupiter and then Saturn but in those days there was no easy means for the ordinary amateur astronomer to quickly get copies of those pictures. That has all changed now. In the case of space probes, each will have its own web site with background information, mission status and, of course, the latest images, almost as soon as they have been transmitted back to Earth. We can download them and digitally process them ourselves to enhance or enlarge details, just like Mission Control used to do with those Voyager images.