The most beautiful thing you have ever seen is...?

[Zulu Romeo]

They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Well, that and fantasy realm polyocular glaucoma.

But anyway, one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen is the night sky. Especially on a clear night such as the one tonight. The moon is full and bright, the moonlight casting shadows outside and through the window, and the familiar constellations of Orion, Taurus, Gemini and Canis Major are large and present above.

But even then, that's not the best night sky I have ever seen. That honour goes to the southern hemisphere southern sky, as seen out in the country on a clear night - the very heart of the Milky Way Galaxy is the great prize there.


But that got me thinking. What do you see as beautiful, and what is the most beautiful thing you've (ever) seen?

 

[thestrangequark]

It is a difficult question, but I'd say the Hubble images of the universe. The beauty is so deep and profound. It is truly not simply the aesthetic of the images, but their effect on me that I find so beautiful. They never fail to fill me utterly with awe and wonder.

There is also a quality of light that only occurs in the early evening on very cloudy days, when the sun begins to set and the clouds break just enough to let a dripping of golden brown light shine through the gloaming. It saturates everything it touches, and the world glows yellow against the dark sky. When I was a kid my mother and I used to call it "long sun," because it was as if the sun was stretching it's arms out as far as it could to touch the earth before setting for the night. That is also very beautiful.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

The "Blue Marble" photo of Earth from space. I gaze at it for a very long time whenever I see it.

 

[Emher]

You kinda stole mine ZR. I can look at a clear starry sky for hours if it's not too damned cold outside and no one stops me. At some point I'd like to go somewhere where' there's not a light around for miles and miles and just lie down and look up at the sky the whole night.

 

[Amaris]

Last night I saw a halo around the Moon. In the back of my mind I readily explained to myself that it was simply light being refracted through an accumulation of ice crystals in the upper atmosphere, but to my eyes, it was just a beautiful thing to behold.

 

[ThankQ]

Last night I saw a halo around the Moon. In the back of my mind I readily explained to myself that it was simply light being refracted through an accumulation of ice crystals in the upper atmosphere, but to my eyes, it was just a beautiful thing to behold.

I run into this all the time. For some reason, many people seem to think that having a deep, scientific understanding of something diminishes its beauty.

....

Can someone tell me how to embed a youtube video?

 

[the 4th hanson bro]

put the video url in [yt] tags

 

[TheLonelySquire]

1. My daughter. Everyday.
2. My wife. Everyday.
3. Rio de Janeiro skyline with Jesus reigning supreme over the city. Night or day it is breathtaking.

 

[John Picard]

Aside from my divorce papers, the most beautiful thing I have seen is sunrise in the Pacific ocean where the water was so smooth, it looked like glass. No ripples, no waves, just smooth to the horizon in every direction.

 

[Zulu Romeo]

There is also a quality of light that only occurs in the early evening on very cloudy days, when the sun begins to set and the clouds break just enough to let a dripping of golden brown light shine through the gloaming. It saturates everything it touches, and the world glows yellow against the dark sky. When I was a kid my mother and I used to call it "long sun," because it was as if the sun was stretching it's arms out as far as it could to touch the earth before setting for the night. That is also very beautiful.

A lot of the meteorological phenomena during and after sunset are beautiful - especially the twilight just after the sun has set, and the pinkish afterglow as the sun is setting. I also love those rays of sunlight poking in-between heavy clouds (apparently known as Crepuscular Rays).

Something else about the night sky which is fascinating, especially when seen in Scotland, is a very bright band of blue sky sitting on the northern horizon, visible during and after midnight. I've never known what that phenomenon is called, but it's very striking.

 

[1001001]

It is a difficult question, but I'd say the Hubble images of the universe. The beauty is so deep and profound. It is truly not simply the aesthetic of the images, but their effect on me that I find so beautiful. They never fail to fill me utterly with awe and wonder.

Good one.

The Hubble Deep Field is truly humbling and amazingly beautiful.

 

[Miss Chicken]

I once saw a beautiful moonbow.

It was a very calm night and there was only light drizzle. The moon was full and it was about 11pm so it was quite dark. I was down at Southport, one of the most southernly towns in Tasmania and I was looking out sea.

The moonbow was just like a rainbow but silvery. After looking at it for a while I could just make out very faint colours.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

The new Yankee Stadium.

(you think I'm kidding? Guess again.)

 

[Amaris]

Last night I saw a halo around the Moon. In the back of my mind I readily explained to myself that it was simply light being refracted through an accumulation of ice crystals in the upper atmosphere, but to my eyes, it was just a beautiful thing to behold.

I run into this all the time. For some reason, many people seem to think that having a deep, scientific understanding of something diminishes its beauty.

For me, it enhances it's beauty.

 

[ThankQ]

For some reason, many people seem to think that having a deep, scientific understanding of something diminishes its beauty.

here:

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSZNsIFID28&feature=PlayList&p=610EB9E3B480F5D6&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=2[/yt]

 

[Velocity]

My granddaughter. (Ok, so not really a "thing")

 

[Holdfast]

But that got me thinking. What do you see as beautiful, and what is the most beautiful thing you've (ever) seen?

The mirror. Every morning.





OK, OK, I'll play nicely. Space phenomena don't really do it for me, though I do admit I like a pretty night sky. I like crystal clear blue seas, white sands, and rugged coastal scenes, and open horizons though. I also really like some cityscapes too - esp. when there's lots of Miesian type glass blocks around reflecting the light everywhere.

 

[Zulu Romeo]

But that got me thinking. What do you see as beautiful, and what is the most beautiful thing you've (ever) seen?

The mirror. Every morning.

It was never the same since Piers Morgan left.

 

[Jadzia]

Space scenes to me look cold and lonely, and while the images can be nice, I don't consider them beautiful.

Beauty for me is something more complex than a image. For example a face is beautiful because there is life behind it. That life being important to me. A gift is beautiful because it is a gift from someone who I care about, who cares about me.

So beauty is something beheld with my mind's eye, not so much with my senses.

 

[SeerSGB]

1) The cliche: My son when he was born.
2) My wife the first time we met
3) A clear night sky.

Now the thing with looking up in a night sky for me, is so long as I don't think about it I'm fine I can enjoy it for the beauty of it. The flip side though is if I start thinking of the scale of things I start getting depressed and feel very small and unimportant.