50 Astrophotography Photos

The Earth is a beautiful place; the Universe, spectacular. Nothing could make whatever problems and worries you have, seem and feel less significant than the thought of Earth being a mere speck in the vastness of the Universe. That, and stellar astrophotography photos like what you see in this post.

The truth is though that the colors of these astrophotographs may not be as what you see them. In truth, we won’t be able to see much of the "colors" that make up the sights in the Universe. Our eyes are not capable of "seeing" wavelengths in the infrared or gamma-rays regions. Our appreciation of color is limited to a small portion of the spectrum.

Nonetheless, scientists have "translated" the images taken in and of space into the forms of colors that our brain can see and interpret. These color-corrected images make up what we understand of the cosmos and faraway galaxies, nebulae and other heavenly bodies. Here are 50 of the most beautiful shots they have of our Universe, get ready to be dazzled.

NGC6888 The Crescent Nebula

IMAGE: astrodoc.ca

NGC2403

IMAGE: astrodoc.ca

M15 Globular Cluster

IMAGE: astrodoc.ca

Small Magellanic Cloud

IMAGE: astrodoc.ca

NGC2174 and NGC2175 Nebula

IMAGE: astrodoc.ca

NGC949

IMAGE: ESA Hubble & NASA

M45, The Pleiades

IMAGE: astrodoc.ca

Andromeda M31

IMAGE: Jean Jacquinot

M52 and The Bubble Nebula

IMAGE: astrodoc.ca

Orion’s Sword

IMAGE: astrodoc.ca

Hickson 44 Galaxy Group

IMAGE: astrodoc.ca

Galaxies Collide in the Antennae Galaxies (NASA, Chandra, Hubble, Spitzer, 08/05/10)

IMAGE: NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center

Comet C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy Passes the Star Rukbah and the Open Clusters M103 and NGC 663

IMAGE: Joseph Brimacombe

NGC6604 – Open Cluster in Serpens

IMAGE: Bill McSorley

M31 Andromeda Galaxy “Neighbor of a Grand Design”

IMAGE: Terry Hancock

Black Hole Blasts Hole in Galaxy Cluster (Redux: NASA, Chandra, 11/02/06)

IMAGE: NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center

Monster Galaxy at the Heart of Perseus Cluster (NASA, Chandra, 08/20/08

IMAGE: NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center

Center of the Milky Way Galaxy (NASA, Chandra, 11/10/09)

IMAGE: NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center

M101 The Pinwheel Galaxy in LRGB + HA

IMAGE: Terry Hancock

Milky Way Galaxy Over Mauna Kea

IMAGE: Shane Black

Spiral Galaxies “Ultraluminous X-ray sources” (ULXs)

IMAGE: NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center

M81 (NGC 3031) Bode’s Galaxy

IMAGE: Terry Hancock

MyCn18: An Hourglass Planetary Nebula

IMAGE: R. Sahai and J. Trauger

Trio Leo

IMAGE: Philippe Durville

Mystic Mountain Dust Pillars

IMAGE: Hubble Legacy Archive, NASA, ESA

Along the Cygnus Wall

IMAGE: Jimmy Walker

Sharpless 249 and the Jellyfish Nebula

IMAGE: César Blanco González

Star Formation in the Tadpole Nebula

IMAGE: WISE, IRSA, NASA

Sh2-155: The Cave Nebula

IMAGE: Bill Snyder

Moon and Earth from Chang’e 5-T1

IMAGE: Chinese National Space Administration

The Cat’s Eye Nebula from Hubble

IMAGE: NASA, ESA, HEIC, and The Hubble Heritage Team

Titan Beyond the Rings

IMAGE: Cassini Imaging Team, ISS, JPL, ESA, NASA

Messier 20 and 21

IMAGE: Lorand Fenyes

The Horsehead Nebula

IMAGE: John Chumack

Sharpless 308: Star Bubble

IMAGE: Jeff Husted

M106 Close Up

IMAGE: Adrian Zsilavec, Michelle Qualls, Adam Block

Comet Lovejoy Before Galaxy M63

IMAGE: Damian Peach

IC 5067 in the Pelican Nebula

IMAGE: César Blanco González

Perseid Meteors Over Ontario

IMAGE: Darryl Van Gaal

Io’s Surface: Under Construction

IMAGE: Galileo Project, JPL, NASA

Thor’s Helmet

IMAGE: Martin Rusterholz

IC 1805: The Heart Nebula

IMAGE: Terry Hancoc

Herschel’s Andromeda

IMAGE: ESA/Herschel/PACS & SPIRE Consortium, O. Krause, HSC, H. Linz

LL Ori and the Orion Nebula

IMAGE: NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team

A Halo for NGC 6164

IMAGE: Don Goldman

NGC 2736: The Pencil Nebula

IMAGE: ESO

Total Solar Eclipse

IMAGE: Eyetothesky

Comet Lovejoy

IMAGE: zeFinn

NGC 6888: The Crescent Nebula

IMAGE: J-P Metsavainio

The Sombrero Galaxy in Infrared

IMAGE: R. Kennicutt (Steward Obs.) et al., SSC, JPL, Caltech, NASA

50 Astrophotography Photos