Subscribe to Listverse10 Incredible Images of Space
- Published August 24, 2007 - 89 Comments
Here are some beautiful images of outer space. I have tried to keep the images as large as possible so they can be used for desktop wallpapers. Click the image for the larger view.
1. The Pillars of Creation
The pillars are columns of cool interstellar hydrogen gas and dust that double as incubators for new stars. The pillars have been carved out and are illuminated by ultraviolet light coming from hot, massive newborn stars that are unseen, above the top of the photo.
2. Mercury in Transit
What better way can we truly appreciate the size of our Sun than to see one of the planets in transit?
3. Supernova
This is a photograph taken by the Hubble Telescope.
4. The Eskimo Nebula
A wonderful explosion of colour (in Gemini) as an old star dies leaving a central tiny, hot, White Dwarf and several layers of exploding gas (NASA, Hubble)
5. The Catseye Nebula
A nebula (from Latin: “mist”; pl. nebulae or nebulæ, with ligature) is an interstellar cloud of dust, hydrogen gas and plasma. It is the first stage of a star’s cycle.
6. A collection of galaxies
A stunning collection of galaxies – courtesy of the Hubble telescope
7. Exploding Star
Amazing photo of a string of pearls surrounding an exploding star
8. Detail of Saturn’s Rings and Shadow
The rings of Saturn are a series of planetary rings that orbit the planet Saturn. They consist largely of ice and dust particles.
9. Interacting Spiral Galaxies NGC 2207 and IC 2163
Spiral galaxies are named after the arms that extend—roughly logarithmically—from the bulge.
10. Iridescent Glory of Nearby Helix Nebula
The Helix Nebula (also known as NGC 7293) is a planetary nebula (PN) about 650 light-years away in the constellation Aquarius. It is one of the closest planetary nebulae to Earth.
August 24th, 2007 at 2:25 am
well done!.
August 24th, 2007 at 2:37 am
Gr8flDdFn: Thanks
August 24th, 2007 at 3:41 am
7 is a rare one. I’m a fan of the Sombrero galaxy and the Andromida multi layered shots. One thing i’d love to see is a high magnification photo of a Blue Giant or the xray imaging of an Event Horizon. A hunting I will go…..
August 24th, 2007 at 4:00 am
Crimanon: if you find some – be sure to post links
August 24th, 2007 at 4:01 am
DUDE, THEY FOUND A HOLE IN THE UNIVERSE
http://www.livescience.com/space/scienceastronomy/070823_huge_hole.html
August 24th, 2007 at 4:56 am
Crimanon: wow – that is a very interesting article.
August 24th, 2007 at 5:10 am
Andromeda: Infrared
Sombrero: Visible
Active Galactic Nuclei: The closest I can get to an event horizon without relying on an artists rendering
Still working on the Blue Giant
August 24th, 2007 at 5:14 am
Great photos Crimanon – especially 1 and 2
August 24th, 2007 at 5:15 am
Sorry about the link
August 24th, 2007 at 5:30 am
Unconfirmed Blue Giant: For all I know it’s just the sun with a blue Filter on it. This is the best iv’e found
http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o6/KellyLeak/ig213_01_02.jpg
August 24th, 2007 at 5:31 am
I really need to learn some HTML.
August 24th, 2007 at 5:40 am
Awesome, Jaime, just awesome.
August 24th, 2007 at 5:45 am
Thanks for that crimanon! The Blue Giant is fantastic.
Morphy: Thanks
August 24th, 2007 at 6:01 am
Getting some perspective???
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/26618/
August 24th, 2007 at 6:29 am
i admit i’m lost everytime i see space images. i’m not as awestruck because i have no context.
but the ‘mercury in transit’ image: pure and beautiful. i’m awed.
August 24th, 2007 at 7:09 am
dalandzadgad: that is my favorite too.
August 24th, 2007 at 8:13 am
one word Quasar one of the most powerful balls of energy and gas in the cosmos that to even rival and surpass a black hole
August 24th, 2007 at 8:24 am
mix2323: pics or it didn’t happen!
August 24th, 2007 at 8:34 am
Not sure if this would count, but what about the Pale Blue Dot photo?
Right here: http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/4/41/350px-PaleBlueDot.jpg
If you don’t know about it, the little, tiny, hard to see dot in the yellow band of light is Earth.
August 24th, 2007 at 8:47 am
Dan – that is a cool image indeed. Where was it taken?
August 24th, 2007 at 10:03 am
from Voyager 1, which visited jupiter and saturn. after that, it was very, very far from earth (almost 4 billion miles), and Carl Sagan was there, since he was helping with the mission, and he said to turn its cameras back one more time to take some pictures . One of them was the one I posted, and the very small dot in the yellow band of light is earth.
Carl sagan’s book, Pale Blue Dot, gets its name from the photo. He wrote a very powerful “description” of the photo, of which a narration over scenes from many movies can be found here:
http://stage6.divx.com/user/palebluefilms/video/1190153/We-Are-Here:-The-Pale-Blue-Dot
August 24th, 2007 at 11:42 am
Dan: ah – thanks for the extra information. It is really extraordinary.
August 24th, 2007 at 1:58 pm
Crimanon those links were awsome.That hole in the universe thing was crazy.
August 24th, 2007 at 2:02 pm
Totally agree
August 24th, 2007 at 4:00 pm
truely awe inspiring
August 24th, 2007 at 10:10 pm
Cool list.
August 24th, 2007 at 11:00 pm
Odd, I just got an email about the Eye of God. If anyone is Curious, it’s #10.
James: Just remember who brought it to you first. It’s everywhere now.
August 26th, 2007 at 6:20 pm
the exploding star is amazing… and i love the photos of the nebula’s
August 27th, 2007 at 12:43 am
tjgrs: yeah – the images are very awe inspiring.
August 28th, 2007 at 12:59 am
very nice and interesting-thanks
August 28th, 2007 at 1:00 am
khosroshahi: you are welcome
I am glad you like them. Be sure to look at some of the photos mentioned in the comments too – they are quite outstanding.
August 28th, 2007 at 2:57 am
Who wouldv’e thought that you’d grab to of the more controversial Images.
The preivously mention Eye of God(Helix Nebula) and the face of Jesus(Pillars), first column below the star.
August 28th, 2007 at 3:31 am
Crimanon: They are probably controversial in part because they are so famous.
August 28th, 2007 at 4:41 pm
For our Eastern Hemisphere bound friends:
http://www.livescience.com/space/news/070828_lunar_eclipse.html
Don’t worry too much. I missed it too. Cloudy night, so bummed.
August 29th, 2007 at 12:08 am
Crimanon: wow – great photo! I took some HD video of the recent lunar eclipse in London – it was amazing to see the moon so red.
August 29th, 2007 at 2:22 am
Ok, so if a Lunar Eclipse is the Earth moving in between the Sun and the Moon. What then, is a New Moon? Iv’e been trying to answer this for months now and I can’t get a good answer.
August 29th, 2007 at 2:47 am
Crimanon: a diagram:
Sun -> Earth -> Moon = Lunar Eclipse
Sun -> Moon -> Earth = New Moon (and sometimes Solar Eclipse)
In the New Moon, the moons full light side is facing the sun – therefore we see the dark portion. In the eclipse, the earth’s shadow obscures the moon. It is in the new Moon stage that we occasionally get a full solar eclipse (this depends on the Moon’s position and distance). Also, a lunar eclipse only occurs when there is a full moon.
August 29th, 2007 at 2:52 am
Ok new moon is just the A** end of the moon. Thank you!
August 29th, 2007 at 2:54 am
Microsoft has been beaten to it. Firefox makes it to space first.
http://www.space.com/php/multimedia/imagegallery/igviewer.php?imgid=2174&gid=180 rotate it 180* and you’ve got the first Interstellar Logo
September 16th, 2007 at 6:53 pm
Your Blue Giant is a SOHO picture of our own sun. Go to SOHO site and you can see in blue, yellow red green, etc. Check it out.
September 16th, 2007 at 7:42 pm
Hey, i never thought that the universe is so beautiful.
September 16th, 2007 at 8:04 pm
Deano: Thanks I knew something wasn’t right about that. If you have any Idea where to find a high res. pic. of a Blue Giant Please post it.
September 22nd, 2007 at 7:57 am
Great list!
September 22nd, 2007 at 8:12 am
Thanks Buzz
October 2nd, 2007 at 9:59 am
I was watching this show on tv that mentioned that our galaxy is most likely the result of a few galaxies that crashed into each other and combined, and that at some point in the far distant future we’ll collide with another galaxy and it will happen again.
October 2nd, 2007 at 10:15 am
Punjar: I believe that we are, at present, merging with another galaxy – the edges are passing through each other – maybe that is what they were referring to?
November 1st, 2007 at 12:05 pm
You’re missing one of the most famous shots: Earthrise over the moon, taken from Apollo 8 (I think it was
November 8th, 2007 at 7:14 am
love ur site, very educational, if ur into space, worth checking out neutron stars, and black holes
November 10th, 2007 at 8:02 pm
oooh i like the saturn one
November 20th, 2007 at 1:10 pm
Everytime I look at space photos, even if it’s just illustrated, I’m dazzled.
November 20th, 2007 at 1:28 pm
Eric: I am the same – as a kid I was very lucky to live in an area with very low evening light so I used to lie in the back yard and stare at the sky for hours.
November 26th, 2007 at 11:09 pm
Great images. #9 looks like come creature. Gremlin or something. Never seen the mercury pic. That is cool.
December 9th, 2007 at 10:18 am
Some great shots, the links were great too!
December 10th, 2007 at 9:11 am
http://youtube.com/watch?v=mcBV-cXVWFw
This video gives some good perspective on image #6.
December 10th, 2007 at 4:50 pm
simply beautiful…
December 11th, 2007 at 9:36 am
im fascinated with space. I awlays was and the hole in space is simply amazing such a strange alien force something beyond our elements. I also love the 1st picture you show on here its really aewsome i fell in love with it. I dont know but it reminds me of heaven…. The most fascinating thing in space to me is black holes and white holes. If those two were to collide scientists believe that a worm hole may be form but theres no logical information to back that up.
December 11th, 2007 at 9:40 am
I find space mind boggling. Its to big for humans to explore and that frst pic was very unique. Never have i seen something like that before. But the most fascinating thing to me in space would have to be black holes and white holes because theyre amazing. If those two were to collide scientists believe that a worm hole may form but theres no logical information to back that up.
December 11th, 2007 at 9:42 am
oh by the way jack the rippers jaide i just changed my name cus the computer wouldnt let me make a comment..
December 11th, 2007 at 9:44 am
wtf id did let me create a comment okay somethings going wrong with the schools computer…Sorry about that guys
December 14th, 2007 at 9:16 pm
I stumbled across this list of pictures from another site if anyone is interested…
http://www.badastronomy.com/bablog/2007/12/13/top-ten-astronomy-pictures-of-2007/
Keep up the great work Mr. Frater!!!
December 15th, 2007 at 1:54 am
ScaryPerry: thanks for posting that – it is a great list of photos. In fact, I had already included it on the Hotlinks for today
December 22nd, 2007 at 2:19 pm
Jamie, totally inspired choice for a list. I enjoyed these so much. and the #1 photo on that last link is amazing at the full rez.
December 22nd, 2007 at 3:35 pm
suzi: thanks
I love these types of things and will definitely do more like them in future!
March 3rd, 2008 at 9:49 am
Interesting tidbit: The Hubble Space Telescope takes pictures in black and white, and these are all colored in by NASA scientists based off of heat images. So these aren’t there true colors, but rather “Space Art”. I’m rather grateful for it, because these images are breath-taking, especially compared to the originals.
March 3rd, 2008 at 10:08 am
Smallpox:
That’s not quite strictly accurate.
The Hubble does not take pictures in black and white but rather in what we call “true color.” True color, in space, is very muted, yes—but not exactly b&w.
Colors are then enhanced (“false color”) using various methods relying on spectography and so on–producing an *enhanced* view of the true colors—not exactly the same as “space art,” which makes us think of them as mere interpretations of some scientist’s whims. They’re more than that. They DO reflect reality to a great extent.
March 3rd, 2008 at 10:32 am
Well thanks for correcting me. I was going off old (and apparently paritally remembered) knowledge, but I figured if I tossed it out there, someone would be able to elaborate on it better. I guess space art was a bad term, but I was trying to get across that they were making the pictures more appealing by enhancing stars in the background and using vibrant colors.
March 3rd, 2008 at 10:45 am
Smallpox:
Yeah, I totally understand–and you were correct in large part–I just wanted to correct the possible assumption that someone might make, from reading what you wrote, that imaging scientists were just taking artistic license with these pictures—they don’t–they *do* rely on real science to judge what these colors should like like–in part, as you say, with infrared information, but also spectographic and other factors.
March 4th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
Lame list.
No.1 was the only good one
March 4th, 2008 at 4:59 pm
Ghidoran: You’re the only one to think so. Feel free to grab a telescope from you nearest Sharper Image and TRY, just try, to take a respectable picture. If you get some worthy shots. I think we’d all love to see them.
March 23rd, 2008 at 2:56 pm
The universes Most powerful event… http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/swift/main/index.html the only thing that comes close is the big bang.
April 1st, 2008 at 8:22 am
The last one is known as Eye of the God.
August 28th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
all so amazing! for all you know that cluster of galaxies could be you favorite book, video game or show… hope there’s more to come!
September 11th, 2008 at 8:29 am
All images are awsome
September 15th, 2008 at 1:23 am
Its so wicked!
October 20th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
I love seeing images of space – especially nebulae. I nearly cried the first time I saw the Orion Nebula. Pretty daft, right?
November 13th, 2008 at 4:36 am
oh! its a very good thing about space
March 2nd, 2009 at 9:58 am
hi i think these pics are absilutly fantastic they are amazing i wish i could do them in my home work but i am not doing that.
summer
April 6th, 2009 at 8:55 pm
Just found this: Awesome…. Check out the pictures
April 27th, 2009 at 9:40 am
I think that the hourglass nebula should’ve been included. Besides from that, good job!
June 9th, 2009 at 8:03 am
out of this world…thanku…delistious
July 8th, 2009 at 8:08 am
The heart nebula is also really beautiful Google it.
July 11th, 2009 at 4:05 am
Those pictures are awesome..Really beautiful..I’m really fond of astronomy.,.
October 22nd, 2009 at 4:54 pm
You learn this early in journalism school or any feature writing class – never, ever, ever lead with a question the reader can answer No to. ,