Ok guys... I know people get upset every time there's not a beautiful galaxy to gaze at but providing you a pretty picture is not all of what APOD is about. I will quote this again as I have quoted it in the past. APOD editors have been at this for over 15 years now.
RJN wrote:I posted that video to APOD. About once a month or so, APOD posts an image that is not strictly related to the classical definition of astronomy or space science. Reasons for this are several, including broadening APOD's reader base. APODs like these, in my opinion, interest people in space, science, and astronomy who might not normally have or follow such interests. In my view, the web appears to stratify people by interests, and many times people in one interest group will not wander into other interest areas. Eclectic APODs like this are therefore an attempt to reach across disciplines.
Additionally, in my view, APOD is also about planet Earth, exploration, and making connections between science and things not classically related to science. In this case, this APOD focussed on humans specifically, who have never been highlighted on APOD before. This also gives APOD a "human" link usable inside of future APODs.
- RJN
This is in reference to the
Happy People Dancing APOD. You can read the
ensuing discussion about it here. It's actually an interesting read to see how various people responded to it. Anyway, while this roll cloud isn't as far off as happy people dancing, the general idea is still the same. It's a free service and the editors have dedicated countless hours of their lives to help educate the masses a little bit more every day with a single picture, video, or illustration and that's the whole point of APOD. They shouldn't have to apologize for doing the best that they can at it.