Space Images | Universe Today

Written by Fraser Cain

Here are some amazing space images. And look down at the bottom for instructions on how to get more images across the Internet.

Here's a space image of the Eagle Nebula captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. Also known as M16, this is a star forming region in the constellation Serpens.

This is the ring galaxy AM 0644-741 captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. The ring is a massive region of active star formation, probably after a recent galactic collision.

This is the famous Earthrise picture taken by the crew of Apollo 8 as they were returning from the Moon. This was the first time anyone had ever orbited around the Moon.

Jupiter and moons. Image credit: NASA/JPL

Here's an image of Jupiter and its largest moons. The Galilean moons were named after Galileo, who discovered them when he was the first to turn a telescope to the sky.

This is the space shuttle Atlantis ready for launch on mission STS 129.

We need so many space images for our stories here on Universe Today, that we've got lots of resources for finding the best images. Probably the best place to start is the Hubble Space Telescope. The regular Hubblesite has all the new photo releases, and then the Hubble Heritage site has some of the best images Hubble has ever taken. You can also get images from the other great observatories: Chandra and Spitzer.

If you'd like images of the Solar System, check out NASA's Planetary Photojournal. You can also get images from each of the missions exploring the Solar System. There's SOHO for the Sun, MESSENGER at Mercury, Venus Express, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Cassini, New Horizons and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.

If you'd like images of Earth, check out NASA's Earth Observatory and NASA's Visible Earth. There are also some amazing images taken by astronauts of Earth.

We've written many articles about space images for Universe Today. Here's an article about the best space images of 2008, and here are some cool images of the space shuttle mission STS-129.

We've also recorded many episodes of Astronomy Cast about space. Listen here, Episode 36: Gamma Ray Bursts.

Filed under: Astronomy