Apollo Gallery

Carl Sagan, US astronomer

Carl Edward Sagan (1934-1996), US astronomer and astrochemist. Sagan was a consultant and adviser to NASA, and worked on the Apollo mission, as well as the Mariner, Viking, Voyager, and Galileo space probes and planetary exploration programs. He proposed theories to explain the high temperature of Venus, the seasonal changes on Mars, and the reddish haze of Titan. He was a prominent sceptic and populariser of science, writing many books on the subject. He also campaigned for nuclear disarmament, and spoke at the conference of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War in Moscow in the summer of 1987. Photographed in 1987, in Moscow, Russia

© RIA NOVOSTI/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Colossus of Rhodes statue

Colossus of Rhodes. Historical artwork showing the vast bronze statue of the Greek sun god Helios (later identified with Apollo, the god of light), at the entrance of the harbour at Rhodes, a Greek island in the Aegean Sea. The statue, standing 33 metres tall, was completed in 282 BC and stood for only 56 years before being destroyed in an earthquake. Even the broken remains were so impressive that people travelled from afar to see them. They remained in Rhodes for around 800 years until the Saracens invaded and sold them, supposedly transporting them to Alexandria on the backs of 900 camels. This engraving is from Maerten van Heemskerck's 16th century book Seven Wonders of the World, and reproduced in The Picture Magazine, 1894

© SHEILA TERRY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

The Council of the Gods (or Assembly of the Gods): Zeus on Olympus surrounds divinites

LRI4619180 The Council of the Gods (or Assembly of the Gods): Zeus on Olympus surrounds divinites. They are represented from top to bottom and on the left: Ganymede, Athena, Poseidon, Hermes, Hephaistos, Aphrodite, Eros, the 3 Charites, Dionysos and Ares. In the center: the Cabinets (Parques), Demeter and Pan. On the right: Nike, Hera, Hades, Asclepios, Apollo, Artemis, Heracles, Hebe (Juventas). Fresco of the vault of the room of the Iliad by Luigi Sabatelli (1772-1850) 1819-1825 Florence, Palazzo Pitti by Sabatelli, Luigi (1772-1850); Palazzo Pitti, Florence, Italy; (add.info.: The Council of the Gods (or Assembly of the Gods): Zeus on Olympus surrounds divinites. They are represented from top to bottom and on the left: Ganymede, Athena, Poseidon, Hermes, Hephaistos, Aphrodite, Eros, the 3 Charites, Dionysos and Ares. In the center: the Cabinets (Parques), Demeter and Pan. On the right: Nike, Hera, Hades, Asclepios, Apollo, Artemis, Heracles, Hebe (Juventas). Fresco of the vault of the room of the Iliad by Luigi Sabatelli (1772-1850) 1819-1825 Florence, Palazzo Pitti); Luisa Ricciarini; Italian, out of copyright

© Luisa Ricciarini / Bridgeman Images