In the increasingly divided society we currently live in, you might wonder, what does anyone truly have in common? Though we all have differences, there’s one commonality that has prevailed for all of humanity: we are all floating on a rock, flying through outer space at over a million miles an hour.
Up until 100 years ago, the universe was thought to be a relatively small place. Humans weren’t even aware that other galaxies existed. Today, scientists estimate there are over 100 billion galaxies in our universe, with some studies suggesting there could even be up to 2 trillion.
Thanks to the rapid advancement of technology in the past century, we can observe much more of the universe than we ever thought possible.
Here are 10 of the most jaw-dropping photos of space ever taken.
1. The Pillars of Creation
Taken in 1995, the Eagle Nebula's Pillars of Creation is one of the most iconic images captured by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.
These three massive clouds of gas reside in the Eagle Nebula. The "pillars" are about 5 light-years long, and have been dubbed the "Pillars of Creation" because they are essentially a stellar nursery.
The pillars are composed of molecular hydrogen and evaporating gaseous globules which produce and incubate new stars.
2. Pale Blue Dot
Pale Blue Dot is likely the most famous images of all time, but why? At first glance, it's a pretty underwhelming photo. Just empty space and a few beams of light, right?
Squint your eyes and look at the beam of light on the right. If you look hard enough, you'll see a tiny pixel. That pixel, is us.
Taken by NASA's Voyager 1 on Valentine's Day in 1990, the image shows Earth as it appears 3.7 billion miles away. The idea for this self-portrait came from the mind of the late, great Cornell astronomy professor, Carl Sagan.
The following excerpt from Carl Sagan's book Pale Blue Dot was inspired by this photo.
"Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there--on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam."
- Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot, 1994
3. The Crab Nebula
The Crab Nebula is the result of a massive star concluding its life in a massive supernova explosion. It is one of the most studied objects in astronomy.
This detailed view of the massive nebula was captured by the Spitzer Space Telescope, and is located about 6,500 light-years from Earth.
The nebulas enormous magnetic field contains trapped electrons, emitting "synchrotron" radiation. The exact nature of these types of nebulae are still somewhat a mystery to astronomers. The complexity and detail of the structure make it one of the most interesting objects in the universe.
4. Rings of Relativity
This image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope captures a fascinating phenomenon that, until recently, was just a theory.
First hypothesized by Einstein's theory of relativity, the strange shape of the galaxies in the image can be explained by something known as gravitational lensing. This phenomenon causes distant light to be warped and bent by gravity between the light source and observer.
Gravitational lensing can have some pretty unbelievable effects on how we perceive the universe around us. For example, astronomers in 2015 studying four distant supernovae in the sky realized all four were the same supernova. Due to gravitational lensing, the supernova produced four separate images in the sky.
5. The Butterfly Nebula (NGC 6302)
The Butterfly Nebula (NGC 6302) is a planetary nebula located within the constellation Scorpius. It has the most complex structure of any planet nebula ever observed.
Though the 'wings' look majestic, they are actually composed of blistering gases heated to more than 30,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The gas itself is moving at over 600,000 miles an hour. That's fast enough to get to the Moon from earth in just over 20 minutes.
6. Earthrise
This iconic photo was taken during the Apollo 8 mission by Bill Anders. It shows our beautiful planet peeking just above the lunar surface just after the first spacecraft holding humans made its way around the moon.
It's been called the "most influential environmental photograph ever taken." The momentous photo showing Earth against the vast blackness of space puts into perspective just how fragile and beautiful our home planet is.
7. Hubble's Ultra Deepfield
The Hubble Ultra Deep Field photo is one of the most mesmerizing yet frightening photos of outer space and exhibits just how vast our potentially infinite universe truly is.
Each of those tiny specks in this 1 million second exposure is a galaxy. Each of those galaxies is home to around 100 billion stars, and an estimated 100 to 200 billion planets are orbiting those stars. With those numbers, it's hard not to think that there's some other intelligent civilization looking right back at us.
What makes this photo especially mind blowing is the miniscule portion of the sky that holds this unimaginable number of galaxies, as shown in the video below.
Who knows, maybe we're in some distant planet's Ultra Deep Field photo!
8. Sunset on Mars
In 2005, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit captured this incredible view of a Martian sunset just below the rim of Gusev crater.
Interestingly, sunsets on Mars appear blue to humans due to the very fine dust that causes blue light to scatter and intensify its appearance.
Just a century ago we believed the entire universe was our Milky Way galaxy, and now you are on a phone or computer looking at a sunset on the surface of another planet. This is an excellent example of how far humans have advanced in such little time. How fascinating!
9. The Veil Nebula
Next on our list is yet another nebula, some of the most beautiful structures in the cosmos. The Veil Nebula is comprised of ionized gas and dust located in the constellation Cygnus.
It is the remnant of a supernova from a star more than 20 times massive than the Sun, which exploded somewhere between 10,000 and 20,000 years ago. During that time, the supernova was so bright that it would have been visible from Earth, even during daylight.
10. Free Floating
Last, but certainly not least, is this astonishing photo taken in 1984 of astronaut Bruce McCandless floating above the Earth.
In this photo, McCandless was farther away from his spaceship than any previous astronaut. This was possible thanks to a Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU). He ventured 320 feet away from the safety of his spaceship.
After exiting the airlock, McCandless thought of the monumental quote from Neil Armstrong as he landed on the moon, pondering what he should say.
Instead, to relieve some fear and cut the tension, McCandless said, "It may have been a small step for Neil, but it’s a heck of a big leap for me."
James Webb Telescope: Expanding the Universe Even Further
All of the photos above are fantastic examples of some of the best work humanity has ever produced, all thanks to hard-working individuals and scientific communities with one common goal of expanding our understanding of the universe that created us.
In less than a week, humanity will be blown away once again as the James Webb Space Telescope releases its first images. NASA has said that they will be the deepest images of the universe ever taken, and they even brought some astronomers to tears.
The first science-quality images from JWST will be released on July 12 at 9:30 a.m. CT and can be viewed at NASA's website.
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