Desktop Background Pictures | Universe Today

Written by Fraser Cain

Here are some great space and astronomy pictures that would make perfect desktop background pictures. If there's an image that you want to use, click on the picture to see a larger version. Then right-click on the image and choose "Set as Desktop Background".

Endeavour Lifts Off!

Here's a picture of the space shuttle Endeavour blasting off from Cape Canaveral in Florida. You can see the big countdown clock in the foreground, and an almost full Moon in the upper right.

Hubble Scores a Perfect Ten

This was one of the first images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope after it was refurbished in 2009 by the space shuttle. This image shows two distant galaxies interacting with each other through their gravity. This picture demonstrated that the camera is working just as well after it was taken and upgraded as it was before.

Witch Head Nebula

This is a picture of the Witch Head Nebula, also known as IC 2118. The nebula glows because of the reflected light from that bright star off to the left.

Ius Chasma

Valles Marineris on Mars is the largest chasm in the Solar System. And within this monster valley is a relatively small region called Ius Chasma. This is a photo of the Martian surface in Ius Chasma, showing the sand dunes.

Pipsqueak Star Unleashes Monster Flare

This is an artist's illustration of a small star having a big flare. Astronomers detected a relatively small M-class star, which is smaller than our own Sun, blasting off the most powerful solar flare they'd ever seen. Even though these stars are small, they seem to be more more active than larger stars.

We've written many articles for Universe Today with pictures that would make great desktop background pictures. Here's a story with some Jupiter photos, and here are some photos of a recent annular solar eclipse.

If you'd like more amazing photographs, the best place to look is NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day. I also recommend you check out the website for the Hubble Space Telescope.

We've recorded many episodes of Astronomy Cast, including one about Hubble. Check it out, Episode 88: The Hubble Space Telescope.

Filed under: Astronomy