49 Awesome Pictures from Outer Space

What are the coolest pictures of space? The New Horizons Pluto flyby showed us our first close-up images of the demoted dwarf planet, and they’re spectacular. But awesome pictures of space aren’t new. From the first space pictures taken by craft that left the atmosphere to the thousands of pictures taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, there are now countless images of galaxies, star clusters, quasars, and some of the most remote planets in the visible universe.

But even pictures of our closest neighbors like the sun, moon, and planets in the Solar System have new surprises for us. Using sophisticated instruments, we can see different wavelengths of light, moons transiting across planets, and spectacular closeups of peaks and craters. Some of these photos of space are so beautiful, they don’t even seem real. As new telescopes and software are introduced by NASA, however, our views of the universe will become even more spectacular – making these images seem quaint.

But until then, enjoy this planet photography – some of the most incredible and best space pictures taken of both our Solar System and the great vastness of the universe.

0 50 Cone Nebula

Monkey Head Nebula

Barnard 33

Galaxy ARP 273

Enter any name and brace yourself

The Surface of Venus

Far Side of the Moon

M51

Earthrise

Jupiter’s Great Red Spot

RS Puppis

M106

NGC7049

Neptune

M104 (Sombrero Galaxy)

Mars

Closeup of Pluto

High-Energy Sun X-Ray

First Color Photo of Mercury

2015’s First Full Image of the Sunlight Side of Earth Since Apollo 17

Eagle Nebula (Pillars of Creation)

Astronaut Bruce McCandless in Space

3D Photo of Mars, by India’s Mars Orbiter

Centaurus A

NGC5866

Carina Nebula

V838 Monocerotis

M74

NGC 1300

Pluto in Full Color

Pinwheel Galaxy

Supernova Remanent

Flame Nebula

MyCN18 (Engraved Hourglass Nebula)

NGC2841

M15 Cluster

IC 418 (The Spirograph)

Westerlund 2

Pluto’s Dark Areas Close Up

NGC7293

Supersonic Shockwave Backlit By the Sun

NGC3603

M77

Antenna Galaxies

M57

Orion Nebula

NGC1275

Pluto’s Mysterious “Snakeskin” Landscapes

Uranus

undefined