This image is NGC 6543 known as the Cat's Eye Nebula as it appears to the Chandra X-Ray Observatory and Hubble Telescope. A planetary nebula is a phase of stellar evolution that the sun should experience several billion years from now, when it expands to become a red giant and then sheds most of its outer layers, leaving behind a hot core that contracts to form a dense white dwarf star. This image was released Oct. 10, 2012. CREDIT: X-ray: NASA/CXC/RIT/J.Kastner et al.; Optical: NASA/STScI View full size image

We all know that pictures are worth a thousand words, but does that maxim also apply to the world of astronomy?

A team based at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass., has been trying to find out the answer with a years-long review of the lure of cosmic photos. The project, known as "Aesthetics & Astronomy," consists of astronomy outreach coordinators, science writers and astrophysicists, as well as education professors who specialize in aesthetics.

Since 2008, the group has been conducting experiments to determine how much the images produced by orbiting space telescopes, faraway Mars rovers and other interplanetary spacecraft are understood by professional scientists and the public alike.  (((

(More)http://www.space.com/20108-astronomy-images-cosmic-beauty.html