NASA has accomplished more space exploration feats than any other agency. From the historic 1969 Moon landing to ongoing Mars missions, NASA brings the universe’s wonders closer to humanity. The breathtaking images captured during each mission offer a glimpse into the limitless possibilities of space. Here are the top 10 most spectacular space photos from NASA.
10Giant Prominence Erupts from Sun
On April 16, 2012, a solar prominence emerged from the left side of the Sun. The Solar Dynamic Observatory, operated by NASA, captured this breathtaking occurrence at a wavelength of 304 angstroms. The deep red color of the solar prominence is due to its appearance in that range. These prominences can also trigger coronal mass ejections, a massive outburst of solar flares, and wind from the Earth’s surface.
During these eruptions, solar flares can loop hundreds of thousands of miles. Fortunately, the prominence recorded in 2012 did not reach Earth. The deep red material seen during this event is plasma, a combination of hot wind and charged hydrogen and helium particles.
9Comet ISON
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center captured the stunning image of the ISON comet using a 14″ telescope with a color CCD on November 8th, 2013, when it was 97 million miles from Earth. Unfortunately, the comet became extinct after its slingshot around the Sun. It has an icy body that spans several million kilometers with a tail that is 20 times wider than the full Moon.
The ISON comet, discovered by Russian astronomers Vitaly Nevsky and Artyom Novichonok on September 21, 2012, originated from the Oort cloud at the solar system’s edge. During its journey towards the Sun, the ISON comet had gathered an astounding 112,000 pounds of dust every minute and had completed 4.5 billion years in the Oort cloud before its disappearance.
10 Rarest And Amazing Astronomical Events
8Jupiter’s Great Red Spot
Back in 1979, NASA’s Voyage I space probe managed to capture the great red spot of Jupiter. Actually, this probe was for a mission to explore the outer solar system. The red spot on Jupiter is a high-pressure storm region, similar to the hurricanes we experience on Earth. This storm has been visible from Earth for centuries.
It is large enough to hold a planet three times the size of our Earth. NASA’s close-up image of the red spot shows different colors of swirling clouds. According to a scientific report, this red spot was twice as big 100 years ago but continues shrinking over time.
7Curiosity Rover on Mars
This picture depicts NASA’s Curiosity rover captured by the Mars Hand Lens Imager at the site where the mission’s first scoop sampling took place. The camera used to capture this Martian image was within the rover’s arm. Over time, Curiosity has passed an impressive distance of 4.47 kilometers on the red planet, which has resulted in some wear and tear on its tires due to the rough terrain.
The Curiosity rover has successfully completed one Mars year since landing on Mars on August 6th, 2012. Its main objective was to search for evidence of life in the locations chosen by NASA scientists. Throughout this mission, the rover has sent multiple photos of Mars back to Earth, providing valuable insight into the climate conditions on the planet.
6Sunset on Mars
NASA’s Spirit space rover captured a stunning view of the Sunset on Mars during its successful exploration of the planet from 2004 to 2010. Sadly, communication with Spirit was lost in 2010. The capture of the Sunset became one of NASA’s most iconic achievements, taken from the Gusev crater on Mars by the Spirit rover’s panoramic camera mosaic on the 489th Martian day.
You can see the bluish glow in the sky above the Sun depicted in the image. However, the exaggerated redness of the sky in contrast to the daytime colors of the Martian sky is due to the relatively small size of the Sun from Mars. These images of sunsets and twilights on Mars have assisted scientists in estimating the height of dust on the planet.
5First Image of Mars
In 1976, NASA’s Viking I became the first spacecraft to land on Mars. Within moments of its landing, it sent the first-ever image of the planet back to Earth. Over six years, the Viking I extensively explored Mars, second only to the Opportunity mission. Its primary goal was to capture detailed images of the planet’s surface and study its atmosphere.
It captured high-resolution images of the Martian surface that characterize the structure and composition of the atmosphere and surface to search for evidence of life on Mars. This achievement is still remarkable today, as it remains a testament to the incredible advancements made by NASA in space exploration.
4Earth and Moon from Saturn
NASA’s Saturn mission spacecraft photographed Earth and the Moon from Saturn, capturing their beauty from 900 million miles away. The image shows Earth and the Moon as small dots compared to the size of Saturn’s rings, with Earth appearing pale blue and the Moon in white. This photograph is exceptional because it allowed people on Earth to see their planet from an interplanetary distance for the first time.
However, such images are rare because the Sun appears much closer to Earth from a great distance, increasing the risk of damaging space camera sensors. Nonetheless, the Cassini spacecraft captured this stunning image when the Sun was behind Saturn. Cassini is a joint project of NASA and ESA studying Saturn and its natural ring since 2004.
3Man on Moon
In 1961, after President John F. Kennedy’s announcement, NASA successfully completed a human-crewed mission to the Moon on July 20, 1969. Neil Armstrong made history by becoming the first man to walk on the Moon’s surface, followed by Buzz Aldrin. This iconic image shows Armstrong walking on the lunar module.
The astronauts collected samples from the Moon’s surface, planted the American flag, and left a sign on a rock. Meanwhile, Mike Collins orbited the Moon and captured pictures of their mission. After spending two and a half hours on the lunar surface, Aldrin described it as magnificent desolation. On July 24, 1969, all three astronauts returned safely to Earth.
2Earthrise
Earthrise is the most popular photograph from NASA’s Polo 8 mission, the first-ever manned mission to lunar orbit. Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and William Anders, the astronauts of the Apollo 8 mission, photographed the mother planet from lunar orbit on Christmas evening of 24th December 1968. It is the first-ever image of Earth from deep space.
The astronauts of the Apollo 8 mission from NASA also became the first human beings to enter lunar orbit in history, and they also made a historic live broadcast from lunar orbit on Christmas evening of 1968. Upon viewing the image, only a small brown patch of equatorial Africa is visible, with the planet appearing predominantly blue and white.
Related Articles
Top 6 successful manned Moon landings in the history
Top 10 Fastest Man Made Objects Ever
Top 7 Places in the Universe to Discover Alien Life
1Webb’s First Deep Field
On July 11, 2022, the James Webb Telescope took the highest-resolution image of the earliest universe, known as Webb’s First Deep Field. The telescope’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) captured this image covering a small area of the sky visible from the Southern Hemisphere, centered on the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 in the constellation of Volans.
This galaxy cluster appeared 4.6 billion years ago, with many galaxies in front of and behind it. But they have undergone a redshift by stretching of light due to the universe’s expansion. The NIRCam brought these distant galaxies into sharp focus, revealing them as tiny, faint structures that had never been seen before. This image shows the youngest galaxies formed within a billion years after the Big Bang.
