Cartier Coco

What the Sun’s Molten Surface Looks Like

After NASA’s Apollo 8 orbited the moon in 1968, its crew brought back with them the most stunning of photo souvenirs. “Earthrise,” taken by William Anders using 70mm color film, pictured our planet as a distant orb in the vastness of outer space—an image that would come to stand for humanity and, eventually, the environmental zeitgeist, popularized on the covers of Stewart Brand’s 

 and forever imprinted in the public mind. As Anders later said, “We set out to explore the moon and instead discovered the Earth.”

Half a century later, we’re now in awe of new video footage taken by the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, the world’s largest and most powerful of its kind, located atop the Haleakala volcano on Maui. The telescope’s recently captured imagery of the sun’s molten surface—the closest views yet afforded to human eyes—leave us both blown away by mankind’s widening gaze, and humbled by the expansive unknown. Some have likened its appearance to 

, each kernel approximated to be the size of Texas. For those of us who remember watching Charles and Ray Eames’s 

 in science class, the pattern might also evoke the arrangement of cells of our own human skin, suggesting some eerie likeness and connection in the universe, across unfathomable time and scale.

In our current moment of uncertainty and existential threat amidst a global pandemic, compounded by the climate crisis, the images also serve as a sobering reminder of our place in the universe as tiny and insignificant, yet interrelated, specks of dust that dare to stare into the sun. As the Japanese government, referencing a Buddhist poem, recently noted on a box of donated medical supplies to China: “We have different mountains and rivers, but we share the same sun, moon, and sky.”

Nine Timeless Gifts for the 2023 Holiday Season

The 7 Best Books of the Year

Lara Gilmore on the Media That Brings Out Her Inner Child

A Liberating, Time-Traveling Journey Through Family, History, and Memory

Katy Bowman on Why “Movement Nutrition” Matters

Phaidon’s Emilia Terragni on the Media That Satiates Her Roving Curiosity

With “Open Questions,” Helen Molesworth Opens Up New Ways of Seeing Art

Stefan Sagmeister Finds Optimism in the Long View

How Stoicism Can Cultivate Joy

Spike Lee’s Prolific Career Gets the Spotlight, Naturally, in Brooklyn

Roxane Gay Balances Her Content Intake Between the Real and the Imagined

The Gossamer Glow of Jhumpa Lahiri’s “Roman Stories”

5 Exhibitions You Can’t Miss This Fall

Lindsey Bro on the Cathartic, Humanizing Effect of Bathing Rituals

At New York’s Climate Week, a “Climate Science Fair” Cultivates Optimism and Future-Forward Thinking

David W. Orr on the Inextricable Links Between Climate and Democracy

William Hanley on Media That Adds a Bit of Whimsy to the Everyday

A Dynamic, City-Defining Riverfront Park Grows in Memphis

The Vibrant, Kaleidoscopic Color Theory of Christopher John Rogers

Desiring Beauty, Even If It Kills Us

Eddie Stern on the Physiological and Spiritual Power of Pranayama

vanessa german on Art as a Way of Life and Love as a “Human Technology”

The Go-To Routines and Rituals of Daphne Javitch

Beverly Nguyen’s Highly Tactile Taste in Media

In “Look,” Christian Madsbjerg Celebrates the Slow, Patient Act of Observation

Sara Auster on Fine-Tuning Your Life Through Sound Therapy

A Herzog & de Meuron Exhibition Emphasizes Architecture as Collective, Not Egocentric

Priya Khanchandani on the Media That Inspires Her Curatorial Work

Vivian Rosenthal on the Profound Power of Holotropic Breathwork

Pedro Gadanho on How Architecture Must Adapt to Our Ecological Emergency

In “Ordinary Notes,” Christina Sharpe Weaves a Profound Portrait of Black Life

The Alchemy of David Adjaye’s Architecture

Millana Snow’s New Well-Being Plan

5 Exhibitions You Must See This Summer

Jaé Joseph on Broadening Notions of Luxury and Well-Being

The Poetic, Humanistic Architecture of Lina Ghotmeh

Chris Impey on the New Space Race and Exoplanet Habitation

Norman Teague on How He Keeps His Finger on the Pulse

With His Monumental Bronze Sculptures, Thomas J Price Honors the Everyday Features of Black Life

In “Not Too Late,” a Vital, Kaleidoscopic View on the Climate Crisis