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17 Space Pictures That Will Actually Make You Think

The universe might be big and wonderful and scary, but that doesn't mean we can't understand it.

1. This is what a nebula looks like in visible light versus infrared.

NASA, ESA/Hubble and the Hubble Heritage Team / spacetelescope.org / spacetelescope.org
NASA, ESA/Hubble and the Hubble Heritage Team / spacetelescope.org / spacetelescope.org
NASA, ESA/Hubble and the Hubble Heritage Team / spacetelescope.org / spacetelescope.org

2. This is the Earth-moon distance to scale.

3. This is how thin our atmosphere actually is.

4. We actually see slightly more than half the moon.

5. This is what a sunset looks like on Mars.

6. For the first astronauts on Mars, Earth will be just a tiny speck in the sky.

7. This is what it looks like when planets form around a star.

8. This picture shows the sun reflecting off the sea on Saturn's moon Titan.

9. This is what Saturn looks like from the other side, with the sun behind it.

10. And that tiny dot just inside Saturn's second ring is Earth.

11. This is the sharpest image the Hubble Space Telescope has ever taken.

12. This is what it looks like when a small galaxy passes behind a bigger spiral one.

13. This is what it looks like when two spiral galaxies collide.

14. This is what the south pole of Jupiter looks like.

15. There's a volcanic region on Jupiter's moon Io and this is what it looks like when it erupts.

16. This is a tiny patch of the sky, and every speck of light in this image is a galaxy.

17. This is what a spiral galaxy looks like side on.

NASA/ESA / spacetelescope.org / spacetelescope.org

In visible light and in infrared, for good measure. It's called the sombrero galaxy, for obvious reasons.

NASA/ESA / spacetelescope.org / spacetelescope.org

In visible light and in infrared, for good measure. It's called the sombrero galaxy, for obvious reasons.

NASA/ESA / spacetelescope.org / spacetelescope.org

In visible light and in infrared, for good measure. It's called the sombrero galaxy, for obvious reasons.