Gorgeous photos from outer space

Human beings have been looking up to the stars since the dawn of civilization. For thousands of years, we have mapped and mythologized the cosmic mysteries of the night sky.

The ancient Egyptians regarded Sirius as an important part of calendar preservation. Since at least the 3rd century BC, astrologers have been searching for human meaning in the stars. Albert Einstein postulated that space and time are intertwined in an infinite fabric that stretches out in all directions.

From a macro perspective, our exploration of the world beyond Earth's atmosphere has only begun recently. July 29, 2021, marks the 63rd anniversary of the founding of NASA. And, more than 60 years later, we are still making new discoveries about our universe every day.

With a small fleet of spacecraft and the world's most powerful telescopes, NASA has taken some truly beautiful photos of outer space.

It's time to explore the universe...

Floating in the Bahamas

NASA

From 1981 to 2011, the Space Shuttle Program Sliding large amounts of energy into (or out of) Earth's orbit. The shuttle helped build the International Space Station, launched the Hubble Space Telescope, and carried interstellar probes out of Earth's atmosphere.

Here, astronauts on the International Space Station captured a photo of the space shuttle Atlantis floating above the Bahamas. The mission was the last of the Space Shuttle program, launching on July 8, 2011.

Faraway Places

NASA's Juno spacecraft arrived at the gas giant Jupiter in 2016 and is still active today. An unmanned spacecraft captured this image of Jupiter's turbulent atmosphere.

Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system. Its atmosphere contains mainly molecular hydrogen and helium.

Horsehead

This stunning image of the Horsehead Nebula in the constellation Orion was captured with a telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona.

This dense dust cloud formed about 1,375 light-years from Earth.

Quite a panorama

NASA partnered with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Italian Space Agency (ASI) to build Cassini, a spacecraft used to study Saturn and its systems. Space probe.

The probe entered orbit around Saturn in July 2004 and spent 13 years studying the ringed planet, capturing images of its moons, rings and this stunning panorama.

On the Edge of Destruction

The Hubble Space Telescope captured this image of AG Carinae, one of the brightest stars in the Milky Way.

The star is surrounded by a ring of dust and gas. Scientists believe the giant nebula emerged after one or more giant eruptions about 10,000 years ago. The cloud itself is 5 light-years across, or the approximate distance between Earth and our next closest star system, Alpha Centauri.

Explosion of Color

A supernova is a massive explosion that occurs at the end of a star's life. The Chandra X-ray Observatory is a complex space telescope that captured the aftermath of the Cassiopeia explosion.

This image shows X-ray radiation from the Tycho supernova remnant, first discovered in 1572.

On March 18, 2021, Japanese amateur astronomer Yuji Nakamura discovered a new (new to us earthlings anyway) star in the Cassiopeia constellation, called Nova Cas 2021.

Buddy System

Hubble's Wide Field Camera discovered these two galaxies in the Perseus star cluster.

The cluster consists of thousands of galaxies and is one of the largest objects in the known universe.

The Middle of the Universe

The Spitzer Space Telescope's infrared camera captured this image of the crowded core of the Milky Way.

Scientists believe there is a supermassive black hole called Sagittarius A at the center of our galaxy.

Prolific Medusa

Hubble captured an image of the merger of Medusa, a pair of interacting galaxies in the constellation Ursa Major.

Nicknamed the Eye of Medusa, the center is a gas-rich, 500 light-year-wide, extreme star-forming region.

Pillars of Creation

The Eagle Nebula, also known as Messier 16, is home to another region rich in star formation, aptly called the Pillars of Creation .

This image combines X-ray imaging from the Chandra X-ray Observatory and optical data from the Hubble Space Telescope.

Lights in Scorpius

This is the globular star cluster NGC 6380, located about 35,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Scorpius.

The bright star in the foreground is HD 159073, a star located 4,000 light-years from our planet.

Atmospheric Light Shows

Earth's aurora are beautiful sights seen from the ground, but they are also very noticeable from space.

This is what they look like from orbit.

Up close and personal

This is a series of images from Juno's eighth flyby of Jupiter.

The probe conducted its 34th close flyby of Earth in June 2021.

Kaleidoscope of Gas

Here is another photo of Jupiter taken by NASA's Juno probe.

This image shows the planet's rotating southern hemisphere.

Home Improvement

This is an impressive sight of a couple during a spacewalk.

Here, NASA's Shane Kimbrough (left) and the European Space Agency's Thomas Pesquet install a new solar array on the exterior of the International Space Station.

Prime Time

Our little blue space marble looks very impressive from over 250 miles up.

Here, the Indian Ocean reflects the golden sunlight.

Mechanical Tentacle

Aerospace technology company Northrop Grumman launched this Cygnus space cargo plane to the International Space Station.

The robotic arm is one of Canada’s contributions to the station. Robotic arms perform maintenance, move equipment and capture visiting vehicles, such as this freighter, and escort them to berth.

Luminous Gas

NGC 2313 is an emission nebula—a cloud of ionized gas that glows by itself—in the constellation Monoceros, about 3,756 light-years from Earth.

The Hubble Space Telescope discovered this glowing formation.

Here's your chance

NASA's Opportunity Mars rover captured this photo of open terrain on the Red Planet.

Opportunity landed on the surface of Mars in 2004. NASA lost contact with the spacecraft in June 2018 when a dust storm that covered the entire planet buried it.

A selfie

The InSight lander landed on November 26, 2018, in the Elysium region of Mars. This selfie was one of the first messages sent back to Earth.

The lander's name is actually an acronym for Interior Exploration Using Seismic Surveys, Geodesy and Thermal Transport. Its mission: Study the deep interior of Mars.

Ripples on Mars

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured this image of ripples on the planet's surface.

But this is not a liquid. Those ripples are wind-carved patterns in the sand.

Venus Flyby

The unmanned Mariner 10 spacecraft was launched in 1973 to collect data on the atmosphere, surface and body characteristics of Mercury and Venus.

This photo shows Venus shrouded in thick clouds.

Gravity

This formation is caused by the gravitational energy of a supermassive black hole in the heart of the Hercules A galaxy.

This image is a composite of visible light information from the Hubble Space Telescope and radio data from the Very Large Array Radio Observatory in New Mexico.

Spacewalk

Here's another look at spacewalker Shane Kimbrough installing a solar array on the International Space Station.

Kimbrough has been named commander of NASA's SpaceX Crew-2 mission to the International Space Station, scheduled to return to Earth in the fall of 2021.

Sunrise from above

ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet captured this photo of a sunrise over the Indian Ocean from the International Space Station.

Since the station orbits the Earth every 90 minutes, astronauts stationed there can see the sunrise 15 times a day.

Sunrise, Sunset

The Expedition 7 crew captured this impressive sunset from the International Space Station in 2003.

That is the Pacific Ocean visible under the clouds.

Among the Stars

And the night sky doesn’t look too shabby either.

Astronaut Scott Kelly posted this image to Twitter on August 9, 2015, during a year-long mission aboard the International Space Station.

All the way up

This is our last glimpse of what the International Space Station looks like before we head back into space.

The South Atlantic Ocean is visible 273 miles below.

Toes in the Sand

NASA's Curiosity rover landed on the surface of Mars in August 2012. As of publication, the rover is still active.

Its mission is to find conditions conducive to microbial life and conduct planetary habitability research to prepare for human exploration.

The desert next door

The Curiosity rover also took this photo of the "Kimberley" formation, with Mount Sharp in the distance.

The dry, sandy landscape resembles some of Earth's vast deserts.

A storm brewing

Juno captured this image of swirling clouds during a close flyby of Jupiter's surface in 2018.

The white oval near the top of the frame is the storm.

Star Kindergarten

Messier 33, or the Triangulum Galaxy, is located in the Triangulum Galaxy, 2.73 million light-years from Earth.

This slender region of the Milky Way is one of those regions where rapid star formation occurs. Scientists believe that approximately 200 young stars inhabit this region.

Twinkle Twinkle

Here's another example of an emission nebula - this one has the unprepossessing name of NGC 2313 - shown in silver in front of the bright star V565 The light lit up the sky.

The Hubble Space Telescope captured this image.

The Other Blue Planet

The Voyager 2 spacecraft gave humans the first glimpse of Neptune in 1989.

Neptune is 17 times more massive than Earth and orbits the Sun every 164.8 Earth years.

Earth-like

Scientists believe that Earth and Saturn's largest moon Titan share some important qualities. According to NASA, no other place in the solar system has "Earth-like" liquid activity on its surface.

But for those hoping to start a new life on the distant moon, there are some problems. First, Titan's surface is about minus 290 degrees Fahrenheit, and it receives only 1 percent less sunlight than Earth's surface. Perhaps more importantly, the liquid that makes up Titan's lakes, rivers, and oceans is a mixture of methane and ethane.

Infrared information

Cassini's infrared cameras collected 13 years of surface data during Titan's flybys.

Observing the moon's surface can be tricky because the thick atmosphere scatters most visible light, but these infrared images appear to reveal complex geological and oceanographic features.

Many Moons

In 2011, Cassini captured five of Saturn's moons in one frame.

From left to right, these moons are Janus, Pandora, Enceladus, Mimas, and Rhea.

Close-up of the Moon

In this photo, also from the Cassini mission, Saturn's largest moon Titan is visible beyond the smaller star Tethys.

Scientists believe Tethys is made almost entirely of water ice, with only a small portion of rock.

Dione

Saturn*** has 82 moons, 53 of which have official names.

This is called Dionne. It is Earth's fourth largest moon and is located 234,500 miles from Saturn. This is roughly the same distance from the Earth to the Moon.

Earth's Moon

The Expedition 10 crew captured this photo of the full moon from the International Space Station.

Our Moon is the fifth largest satellite in the solar system and the largest relative to the size of the planet it orbits.

Signs of Life

The glow of European and African cities can be seen from outer space.

If you look closely, you can even see the webbing of city streets.

Texas, from above

This photo, taken by the Expedition 36 crew on the International Space Station in 2013, shows some of the population centers in Texas .

Houston, home to NASA's Johnson Space Center, is in the lower half of the frame, near the center.

Fresh Weather Report

The Hubble Space Telescope captured this photo of Jupiter in August 2020.

This ultra-sharp image shows new storms and atmospheric turbulence on the gas giant.

Staring at the Sun

This 2015 image of the Sun was composited from three different spacecraft measuring three different energies.

High-energy X-rays tracked by NASA's NuSTAR telescope appear blue. Low-energy X-rays collected by Japan's Hinode spacecraft are green. Ultraviolet light, measured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, appears red and yellow.

Saturn in sunlight

This is what Cassini saw from the orbit of Saturn in 2010.

Like Jupiter, Saturn's atmosphere is rich in hydrogen and helium.

Hello, Pluto

Long known as our solar system's ninth planet, Pluto was downgraded to a dwarf planet in 2006.

This infrared image shows glaciers on the dwarf planet's surface. Pluto is about half the size of Earth's moon.

Pluto's Moon

In January 2015, NASA's New Horizons space probe began its approach to Pluto and its five moons.

This image of Charon, Pluto's largest moon, shows a rust-colored blob composed of organic compounds called tholins. Scientists believe these tholins are the product of methane, nitrogen and other gases released by Pluto's atmosphere and deposited on the moon.

Lagoon Nebula

This formation about 4,000 light-years from Earth has many names: NGC 6523, the Lagoon Nebula, or Messier 8.

A huge interstellar dust cloud is located in the constellation Sagittarius.

Rats in space?

Last but not least, here is a photo of a crater on Mercury that looks like the Disney mascot Mickey Mouse.

This photo was taken by NASA's Messenger probe in 2012.