Cosmic Microwave Background
The Universe’s first light—still glowing after 13 billion years.
Apollo 17’s Blue Marble photograph, December 1972
- ID:
- 001-003
- Discipline:
- Cosmological
- Era:
- Solar
- Medium:
- Photograph
Earth is not only our home — it is the only known body in the universe that has birthed life, shaped minds, and reflected on its own existence. Forged from the remnants of dying stars, it formed a layered structure: a dense iron-nickel core, a convecting silicate mantle, and a thin basaltic crust. Radioactive decay keeps the core molten, driving the magnetic field and plate tectonics — a dynamic system unique among rocky planets. Over 70% of Earth's surface is covered by liquid water, a rare and miraculous solvent where life first stirred. Its oceans moderate climate and sustain complexity, while the atmosphere — once choked with volcanic carbon — was transformed by ancient microbes into oxygen. This shift gave rise to the ozone layer, shielding life from radiation and allowing multicellular organisms to thrive. Subduction, volcanism, and the carbon–silicate cycle together regulate the climate in deep time — a planetary metabolism that hints at something greater than mechanism. In 1972, the Apollo 17 astronauts captured the first full image of Earth from space: the Blue Marble. They held the camera upside-down relative to Western maps, placing Antarctica at the top — inviting us to see not a world of borders, but a single, breathing organism suspended in darkness.
Apollo 17’s Blue Marble photograph, December 1972
- ID:
- 001-003
- Discipline:
- Cosmological
- Era:
- Solar
- Medium:
- Photograph
Earth is not only our home — it is the only known body in the universe that has birthed life, shaped minds, and reflected on its own existence. Forged from the remnants of dying stars, it formed a layered structure: a dense iron-nickel core, a convecting silicate mantle, and a thin basaltic crust. Radioactive decay keeps the core molten, driving the magnetic field and plate tectonics — a dynamic system unique among rocky planets. Over 70% of Earth's surface is covered by liquid water, a rare and miraculous solvent where life first stirred. Its oceans moderate climate and sustain complexity, while the atmosphere — once choked with volcanic carbon — was transformed by ancient microbes into oxygen. This shift gave rise to the ozone layer, shielding life from radiation and allowing multicellular organisms to thrive. Subduction, volcanism, and the carbon–silicate cycle together regulate the climate in deep time — a planetary metabolism that hints at something greater than mechanism. In 1972, the Apollo 17 astronauts captured the first full image of Earth from space: the Blue Marble. They held the camera upside-down relative to Western maps, placing Antarctica at the top — inviting us to see not a world of borders, but a single, breathing organism suspended in darkness.
