Fifteen years of planning, capture, and processing finally reached the world
Desde los cielos australes de Mendoza, el astrofotógrafo Lucas D'Ortone logró que sus imágenes llegaran a los canales oficiales de la NASA, siendo seleccionadas por el programa APOD —Astronomy Picture of the Day—, una de las iniciativas de divulgación científica más reconocidas del mundo desde 1995. Es el resultado de más de quince años de práctica sostenida: planificación, captura técnica y procesamiento de imágenes del cosmos. Este reconocimiento no solo sitúa el trabajo de un fotógrafo argentino en una conversación global, sino que recuerda que los cielos del sur también guardan su parte del universo compartido.
- Las fotografías del cielo nocturno mendocino de D'Ortone fueron publicadas en la cuenta oficial de Instagram de la NASA, alcanzando a millones de seguidores en todo el mundo.
- El fotógrafo fue preciso en distinguir lo conseguido de lo que aún no: sus imágenes aparecieron en el feed de Instagram de APOD, pero todavía no como la imagen principal del día en el sitio web del programa.
- APOD, fundado en 1995, combina fotografía astronómica con explicación científica rigurosa, y aparecer en sus canales equivale a ingresar a un archivo de décadas de lo mejor de la imagen cósmica humana.
- D'Ortone no solo persigue cielos despejados en distintos rincones del mundo, sino que también enseña: sus talleres presenciales y en línea transmiten a otros el lenguaje técnico y artístico de la astrofotografía.
Lucas D'Ortone apuntó su cámara al cielo austral de Mendoza y capturó imágenes que terminarían viajando hasta los canales oficiales de la NASA. Sus fotografías fueron seleccionadas y publicadas en la cuenta de Instagram del programa APOD —Astronomy Picture of the Day—, que desde 1995 comparte imágenes del cosmos acompañadas de explicaciones científicas rigurosas y cuenta con millones de seguidores en todo el mundo.
El propio D'Ortone fue cuidadoso al precisar el alcance del logro: sus imágenes habían llegado al Instagram de APOD, pero aún no habían sido elegidas como la fotografía principal del día en el sitio web del programa, distinción que permanece como horizonte. Aun así, la publicación tenía un peso real: APOD es una de las iniciativas de divulgación científica más reconocidas a nivel internacional, y aparecer en sus canales es unirse a una conversación que atraviesa continentes y décadas.
Originario de Mar del Plata, D'Ortone había dedicado más de quince años a construir una práctica completa: la planificación de observaciones, la captura técnica y el procesamiento que transforma datos en imágenes. No era un pasatiempo, sino una disciplina perfeccionada a través del estudio y la repetición, ejercida en distintos puntos del planeta en busca de cielos despejados.
Paralelo a su trabajo personal, D'Ortone había asumido también el rol de maestro, conduciendo talleres presenciales y en línea para compartir el conocimiento acumulado sobre astrofotografía. La selección de la NASA llegó así como reconocimiento no solo de una serie de imágenes, sino de una trayectoria entera —y de que los cielos del sur de Argentina tienen algo que decirle al mundo.
Lucas D'Ortone pointed his camera at the southern Mendoza sky and captured something that would travel across the world. The photographs he took there were selected and published on the official Instagram account of NASA's APOD—Astronomy Picture of the Day—a program that has been sharing images of the cosmos since 1995. It was a moment of recognition for work that had already consumed more than fifteen years of his life.
D'Ortone was careful to clarify what had happened and what had not. The images had made it to APOD's Instagram feed, which reaches millions of followers globally. But they had not yet been chosen as the featured Astronomy Picture of the Day on the program's main website—that distinction remained ahead of him. Still, the Instagram publication was significant. APOD, founded by NASA in 1995, has built an international reputation for its daily releases of astronomical photographs paired with rigorous scientific explanation. It is one of the most recognized science outreach initiatives in the world, and to appear on its official channels is to join a conversation that spans continents and decades.
The photographer himself came from Mar del Plata, on Argentina's Atlantic coast, but had spent years chasing clear skies wherever they could be found. His work was not the product of a hobby pursued on weekends. Over fifteen years, he had developed a complete practice: the planning of observations, the technical capture of images, the careful processing that transforms raw data into the photographs people see. This was a discipline, a craft refined through repetition and study.
Beyond his own work documenting the night sky in different parts of the world, D'Ortone had taken on the role of teacher. He conducted workshops, both in person and online, sharing the knowledge he had accumulated about how to plan astronomical observations, how to capture them technically, and how to process the results. He was not simply making images for himself; he was building a community of people who wanted to learn the same language.
The selection by APOD represented something larger than a single photograph or even a series of them. It was recognition that the work being done in Argentina, in the southern reaches of Mendoza province, met the standards of an institution that had been curating the best of human astronomical imaging for more than three decades. The images had impressed people locally and beyond. Now they had impressed NASA.
Citas Notables
The images were selected and published on APOD's Instagram, though not yet as the main Astronomy Picture of the Day on the program's website— Lucas D'Ortone
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
What made these particular Mendoza photographs stand out enough to catch NASA's attention?
D'Ortone didn't say explicitly, but APOD looks for images that combine technical excellence with something that speaks to people—clarity, composition, the sense that you're actually seeing something real about the sky. Mendoza has some of the clearest air in Argentina, especially in the south. That matters.
He was careful to distinguish between the Instagram publication and the main website feature. Why does that distinction matter?
Because APOD's main site is the official daily selection—it's the one that gets archived, studied, referenced. Instagram is broader reach but less permanent in some ways. He was being honest about where his work actually landed.
Fifteen years is a long time to be doing something before getting this kind of recognition. What sustains someone through that?
The work itself, probably. And the teaching. He's not just taking pictures in isolation. He's built a practice around sharing what he knows. That creates accountability, community, a reason to keep improving.
Do you think this changes anything for him going forward?
It validates the approach. It opens doors—more students for the workshops, more opportunities to document skies in other places. But the real work, the patient work of planning and capturing and processing, that doesn't change. If anything, it becomes more visible.