Redshift

About Redshift

Redshift is a gallery of astrophotographs by Professor Robert “Bob” Vanderbei, emeritus professor at Princeton University, distinguished for his work in operations research and optimization, and a passionate amateur photographer of the night sky. Through patience, precision, and a genuine love of the cosmos, Bob has assembled a remarkable archive of cosmic objects, and Curiosità is proud to share selected images from that collection with our readers.

More than a gallery of astrophotographs, Redshift is Curiosità’s signature feature, designed to be experienced, not merely read. Each entry pairs one of Bob’s photographs with a layered story: the mythological tradition surrounding the object, drawn from Greek, Chinese, Hindu, Islamic, or other cultures and varied with each issue; the history of its discovery, who first cataloged it, when, and with what instrument; and one surprising human detail that reminds us that science is never just data.

Unlike a museum gallery, where all paintings hang simultaneously on the wall, Redshift reveals its collection gradually — one image per issue, each cosmic object given its own space and moment. We invite you to return to this gallery with every new issue, and to let both the photographs and the stories that travel with them work on you slowly, the way the light from these objects has traveled — across unimaginable distances — to reach us.

This inaugural photograph was captured using a ZWO SEESTAR S50 Pro at f/5, with a 249-minute stack composed of 20-second sub-exposures, shot at 03:56 EDT on June 2, 2026, and is licensed under CC BY 4.0.