Please! Do not click this thumbnail just yet. Read this brief introduction first:

Besides a passion for all things photographic, as well as all things creative, I also have a love of science. And without highly-technical cameras, how could we ever understand or visualize what scientists and researchers uncover, discover or invent.

The Hubble Telescope was designed to get sharper celestial and deep-space images, due to the simple fact that it wouldn’t need to look through our dirty atmosphere. Yet besides the incredible images, no one ever imagined the additional contributions it would make to science — it was the Hubble that confirmed our universe is oval (and I thought it was square). The Hubble has been in the spotlight for a long time, but it’s only one of many intergalactic contributors.

Mars has an Orbiter and, up until recently, a Rover taking photographs and running experiments much longer than either were designed to. Unfortunately, the rover recently and, unexpectedly, went silent … a huge loss for NASA.

And back on October 25, 1997, the Cassini-Huygens blasted off from Florida to begin its 6-1/2 year trip just to reach Jupiter, and then Saturn. Huygens’ photos have been unbelievable. Which takes me to the image above (don’t click yet).

It’s a very simple photograph of our star, the Sun. But as simple as this image is, it is like no other. The sun was photographed on January 14, 2005, by the Huygens, from somewhere near Saturn.

Thank you for waiting. You’re free to click now.