NASA's most beautiful images of space
Here are five of NASA's most amazing images that even the most talented of creatives would struggle to make.
Take stock and recharge your sense of proportion. It's good for your soul. Even when you're in the fiery pits of a deadline and your coffee-swilling Creative Director is baying for blood, it pays to remember your place in the celestial order of things.
We're tiny, and the Earth is, let's be honest, dwarfed by most of everything in the known universe.
The universe is also making works of art that, may just be, prettier that the stuff you're working on. If not prettier, it's work will probably have more far-reaching consequences than your efforts. And if not more consequential, the products the universe is making have, at least, stood the test of time (depending upon your vantage and velocity).
So, here are five images from space - made by NASA - that should help you find peace, and a put your day in proportion. And if they don't, they're beautiful nonetheless.
01. The final frontier
This images looks like a psychedelic still taken from Star Trek: The Motion Picture. In reality the red arc is actually a giant shockwave created by a speed star called Kappa Cassiopeiae.
02. How the sun shines
This image shows x-rays steaming off the sun. The blue and green streams are actually visualisations that have been overlaid on picture taken by a telescope.
03. When galaxies collide
This amazing light show was created when two spiral galaxies had a grazing encounter. The images was created by combining images captured by two different telescopes, each designed see different things.
04. Where stars are born
This is W3, a huge stellar nursery that's about 6,200 light-years away. It's situated in one of the Milky Way galaxy's main spiral arms, called the Perseus Arm. Look closely at the downloadable TIFF and you'll see yellow and blue dots in the red filaments. These are young stars.
05. Darkness seldom seen
This amazing view of Saturn was taken in the planet's shadow, with The sun's rays backlighting the famous rings. It was taken by the Cassini Orbiter and is both rare and precious. The last time Cassini was in a position to take such an image was 2006.
Words: Martin Cooper
Like this? Read these!
- The 13 best places to download stock art online
- 5 great ways to source free images
- 13 killer website galleries to inspire your design
Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Get the Creative Bloq Newsletter
Daily design news, reviews, how-tos and more, as picked by the editors.
The Creative Bloq team is made up of a group of design fans, and has changed and evolved since Creative Bloq began back in 2012. The current website team consists of eight full-time members of staff: Editor Georgia Coggan, Deputy Editor Rosie Hilder, Ecommerce Editor Beren Neale, Senior News Editor Daniel Piper, Editor, Digital Art and 3D Ian Dean, Tech Reviews Editor Erlingur Einarsson and Ecommerce Writer Beth Nicholls and Staff Writer Natalie Fear, as well as a roster of freelancers from around the world. The 3D World and ImagineFX magazine teams also pitch in, ensuring that content from 3D World and ImagineFX is represented on Creative Bloq.