An image of earth captured by American astronaut William Anders during Apollo 8, the first manned space mission to leave Earth's orbit.
NASA
"The Creation of The World and the Expulsion From Paradise" (1445) by Giovanni di Paolo —
Produced for a church in Siena, Italy, Giovanni di Paolo's Renaissance painting portrays the universe as a series of concentric circles. The earth sits in the center, with the sun above and the known planets in orbit.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
"Transit of Venus" (2004) by Wolfgang Tillmans —
A photograph showing Venus as it passes between the Earth and the sun. This transit of Venus against the sun will not be visible again until 2117.
"Snoopy Sees Earth Wrapped In Sunset" (1970) by Alma Thomas —
African-American artist Alma Thomas depicted the setting sun in this painting from the latter stages of her career. The name is believed to refer to Apollo 10's lunar module, Snoopy. But, as the new book "Universe: Exploring the Astronomical World" suggests, it may refer to the cartoon strip character: "(Snoopy's) habitual position lying on top of his doghouse might also explain why the horizon runs vertically rather than horizontally."
Smithsonian American Art Museum/Art Resource/Scala, Florence
"Map of the Northern Sky and Map of the Southern Sky" (c.1515) by Albrecht Dürer —
One of two cosmological woodcuts created by German Renaissance painter and theorist Albrecht Dürer. Based on the work of Austrian mathematician Johannes Stabius and German astronomer Conrad Heinfogel, the two images show the northern and southern constellations.
"Astronaut Bruce McCandless on Untethered Spacewalk" (1984) by NASA —
American astronaut Bruce McCandless floats above Earth as he becomes the first person to embark on an untethered spacewalk in 1984.
NASA
"The Angel Ruh Holding The Celestial Spheres" (c.1550-1600) by unknown —
A 16th-century illustration based on the work of influential 13th-century astronomer, Abu Yahya Zakariya' ibn Muhammad al-Qazwini. In a theory popular throughout the Islamic world at the time, Qazvini envisaged the world surrounded by a series of spheres.
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford, UK/Bridgeman Images
"Cosmological Map" (c.1400-1521) by unknown —
An ancient Mayan depiction of the cosmos, with the fire god Xiuhtecuhlti at its center. T-shaped trees can be seen in each of the four cardinal directions.
DEA Picture Library/DeAgostini/Getty Images
"The Moon" (1609) by Galileo Galilei —
Galileo produced these detailed drawings after observing the moon through a small telescope. Thanks to his artistic training, Galileo realized that he could use the visible shadows to ascertain the moon's topography.
Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze
"The Augsburg Book of Miracles" (Das Augsburger Wunderzeichenbuch) (c.1550) by unknown —
Flaming comets are imagined flying over -- and towards -- Earth. The image appeared in "The Augsburg Book of Miracles" a recently discovered 16th-century manuscript envisaging disasters sent by God.
