The Flame Nebula

I imagine historians will look back on the 20th Century as the period when society gave up on art. Maybe they'll blame Freud, two world wars, the Holocaust, lack of imagination, the rise of Islamic Fundamentalism or the inability of traditional artists to compete with new technology. Whatever they decide, here's another example of science beating art at its own game: The Flame Nebula as captured by VISTA (Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy). VISTA is British. It's based at the European Southern Observatory's Paranal Observatory in Chile. And it weighs three tonnes; so don't expect to find it on the next generation of mobile phones.