15 Best Space Images Ever

In the last 60 years, many space missions have explored our atmosphere and the planetary neighbors in our Solar System. Similarly, different space telescopes, like the Hubble, have been used to capture the amazing happenings of interstellar space. All these missions have provided us with wonderful space images and some of the best among them are listed below.

The Sword of Orion

This infrared image of the Orion Nebula was captured by the Spitzer Space Telescope of NASA. This massive star-making factory is closest to the Earth, at a distance of about 1,450 light-years. Consequently, the nebula appears (to the naked eye) as a fuzzy star in the sword of the Orion Constellation.  

Earth and the Moon

This photo from the DISCOVR spacecraft is regarded as one of the most iconic space images of all time. In this image, the lunar satellite of our planet is passing between the Earth and the spacecraft’s camera and telescope. It doesn’t look that way, but the Moon and the Earth are actually a million miles away. 

Pillars of Creation

The Hubble Space Telescope took this popular image of the Eagle Nebula’s Pillars of Creation. It shows the multi-colored glow of gas clouds and rust-colored elephant’s trunks of these famous pillars. The wispy tendrils of dark cosmic dust add even more worth to this interstellar view.  

Southern Crab Nebula

This hourglass-shaped nebula is created by an uneven binary star system. One of the stars in this system has already turned into a white dwarf after exploding. This beautifully-symmetrical photo was captured by the Hubble and was released on the 29^th birthday of the space telescope.

The Ring Nebula

This iconic celestial formation is about 2,000 light-years away in the Northern Constellation of Lyra. The Ring Nebula was formed by the outer layers of a dying, sun-like star. The dense ring of this planetary nebula encloses a football-shaped cloud of glowing gas.  

ISS Solar Transit

This 10-frame composite photo of the ISS Solar Transit is the next entrant on our list of best space images. This extraordinary view was captured on 17^th December 2016 from Newbury Park in California. It shows the International Space Station as it transits across the Sun, with a crew of six people onboard.

Veiled Titan

This beautiful image was captured by the Cassini spacecraft. In this photo, Titan (a moon of Saturn) is hidden behind the A and F rings of Saturn. Similarly, Epimetheus (the craggy moon of Saturn) is also there in this image.

Blue Sunset on Mars

It is strange as well as spectacular to see blue skies on the red planet. This breathtaking Martian sunset was captured by the Curiosity Rover in 2015. The reflection of the sunlight with the dust particles resulted in the faint blue haze that produced this amazing scene.

Historical Spacewalk

This historical space image was captured by the crew members of the Space Shuttle Challenger, in February 1984. In this photo, Bruce McCandless (NASA astronaut) can be seen field-testing the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU). This was the first occasion when an astronaut left the spacecraft without a tether.

Rose of Galaxies

This picture shows a pair of interacting galaxies called Arp 273. The larger of the galaxies (UGC 1810) is being pulled apart by the tidal gravitational forces of the smaller one. According to a theory, UGC 1813 (smaller galaxy) passed through the UGC 1810 to make this galactic rose.

The Caterpillar

This photo of Bok globule (a small cloud) is one of the most stunning space images Hubble has ever captured. Due to its resemblance with a caterpillar, scientists named this cloud as the “caterpillar”. The top of the Keyhole Nebula is also visible in this picture.

Ghost of Cassiopeia

This ghostly nebula is called IC 63 and is about 550 light-years away from the Earth. It was captured by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2018. This slowly eroding cloud of gas and dust reflects the blue light of Gamma Cassiopeia (a powerful star).   

Tapestry of Blazing Starbirth

This is one of the most photogenic space images of all time. The Tapestry of Blazing Starbirth is a turbulent stellar nursery in the Large Magellanic Cloud. This photo shows a giant nebula (NGC 2014) and its neighbor (NGC 2020) that combine to form a massive star-forming factory.

Sombrero Galaxy

This space image represents one of the largest mosaics that have ever been assembled from Hubble observations. This picture shows a brilliant white core that is encircled by thick dust lanes. This spiral galaxy was named the Sombrero because of its close resemblance to a Mexican hat.  

Butterfly Nebula

This beautiful celestial object is certainly not as delicate as a butterfly. The butterfly-like wings are actually cauldrons of gas that are heated to about 20,000 Celsius. The glow of these gases comes from the stream of ultraviolet radiation that the central dying star emits.