7 Awe Inspiring Looks At Our Solar System

Space Artist Dana Berry brings us to far, far away places.

1. Heavy Metal: when neutron stars collide, they forge gold

NASA, Dana Berry, Skyworks Digital

2. Gamma ray bursts are among the most powerful and devastating explosions in the entire Universe

NASA, Dana Berry, Skyworks Digital

3. These cosmic explosions can lead to massive black holes

NASA, Dana Berry, Skyworks Digital

A gamma ray burst is a cosmic collision announcing the birth of a space-bending, time-warping black hole.

4. Without a star to guide them, these planets fall toward a massive black hole

NASA, Dana Berry, Skyworks Digital

Some worlds drift in the lanes of our galaxy, unattached to any one star or solar system, and like the stars, they can be swept up by a massive black hole.

5. Magma seeps from the core of an orbiting moon

NASA, Dana Berry, Skyworks Digital

Extraordinary tidal pressure creates glowing red fissures on the night side of this planet.

6. The moon is about to have an encounter with one lucky LADEE

NASA, Dana Berry, Skyworks Digital

The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) is a robotic mission that will orbit the moon to gather detailed information about the lunar atmosphere conditions near the surface and environmental influences on lunar dust.

7. Flying toward an alien star

NASA, Dana Berry, Skyworks Digital

This Project Daedalus star-craft capable of traveling close to the speed of light, is based on a 1970s British Interplanetary Society study and blueprint.

EXTRA: one image we hope isn't based on reality

This scene of steampunk Martian invaders was generated for Dana Berry's book, “Race to Mars.”

Learn more about Dana Berry whose artwork was recently featured on the cover of National Geographic.

Learn more about Autodesk Maya, the software used by this digital artist.