Astronomy Blog

Changing Perspective

This evening I was watching a 2006 TED talk by Penelope Boston about the possibility of life on Mars. The talk itself is an interesting look at life in caves on Earth, but it was one specific comment that I want to mention here. It is the idea of viewing the Earth as a planet.

Penelope says that every time she sits in the window seat on a plane she looks out with her head tilted sideways. It is surprising how the simple act of making the horizon vertical can so easily make it look as though you are peering down on an M-class planet in a Star Trek episode.

View of Earth from an aeroplane window rotated by 90 degrees. CREDIT: Stuart