Unbelievable Space Images that are Actually Real
You may often hear the phrase “space is crazy” because a number of space images have shown spectacular scenes in different parts of our universe. Although many of them are edited with Photoshop and other tools, some of these extraordinary photographs are absolutely real. Below is a list of few unbelievable space images that are actually real.
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The Magellanic Clouds
The Planck Satellite of the European Space Agency captured a breathtaking image of the Magellanic Clouds on 7th September 2015. The triangular, red-brown blob at the left-hand corner of the above picture represents the Small Magellanic Cloud. It is one of the nearest neighboring galaxies of the Milky Way and weighs around 7 billion times the mass of our sun. Similarly, the large blob at the center of the image is the Large Magellanic Cloud, which is about 10 billion times the mass of our star.
Bagnold Dunes
The Curiosity Rover of NASA located a big black-sand field on the northwestern flank of Mars’ Mount Sharp in November 2015. The close-up images of Bagnold dunes showed that their ripples are much larger than those found on Earth’s dunes. Since then, scientists are trying to figure out a scientific reason for this variation but they haven’t had any success until now.
Bubble Nebula
NGC 7635 was found in the northern constellation Cassiopeia at a distance of around 7,100-11,000 light years from the Earth. The name of this nebula comes from its shape, which was created by a strong solar wind from a massive, hot star that is 45 times larger than our sun. The strength of the solar wind pushes the interstellar gases into a bubble around the Wolf-Rayet star which produces amazing space images for the astronomers.
Red Rectangle Nebula
Most of the objects in space are round in shape but there are some celestial bodies which have straight lines. The Red Rectangle Nebula is one such example that was discovered for the first time in 1973 during a flight associated with the AFCRL Infrared Sky Survey. In 2007, the Hubble Space Telescope of NASA used wavelengths of red light to observe that the gas emissions of this proto-planetary nebula are rectangular.
International Space Station (ISS) Transits the Moon
It is one of those real space images which can be created pretty easily on Photoshop. However, Bill Ingalls, a Photographer of NASA, made the exact calculations to capture the ISS while it is in transit across the natural satellite of our planet. At the time of the transit, there were about six people onboard and the space station was moving at an approximate speed of 5 miles per second. In the image, the Z-shaped dark spot shows the silhouette of the Moon.
Death Star Moon
The Cassini Spacecraft of NASA captured one of the most fascinating space images of all time as it shot a 130-kilometer-wide crater (called Herschel) on the surface of Mimas, a moon of Saturn. The appearance of the moon gave it its name as it resembles the Death Star hanging around the rings of the gas giant. Having said that, Mimas is just a harmless space rock with no signs of life.
Earthrise
This image is a massive counter-argument for all those people who believe that humanity never made it to the moon. Astronauts of the Apollo 8 (the first manned mission to the moon) shot an awe-inspiring image showing an Earthrise in 1968. The scientists involved in capturing this masterpiece are Jim Lovell, Frank Borman, and William Anders.
Auroras from Space
Auroras, also known as Polar Lights, is a natural display of swirling lights in the Earth’s sky but the crew of Expedition 32 (aboard on ISS) shot this beautiful image from space. A lot of people might consider it a fake picture due to its artistry but it is 100% real with a glimpse of a mechanical arm attached to the space station.
Smiling Sun
Can you imagine a smiling face on the sun? This exceptional space image might help you to imagine such a scene. The Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this astonishing picture in October 2014. It is often compared with a carved Halloween pumpkin for its facial features. The active regions of greater light and energy on the star made the sun smile with its orange glow.
Moon in front of the Earth
The Deep Space Climate Observatory satellite of NASA, whose primary purpose is to monitor solar winds, captured a unique view of the far side of the moon as it passes in front of the Earth, in 2015. The significance of this observation increases many times as that side of the moon is not visible from our planet.
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