The most curious and mysterious photographs of space. What does the earth look like from different points in the solar system?

1. In the photo - the mouth of the Betsibuka River in the northwestern part of the island of Madagascar. The photo was taken on March 8, 2005 by a member of the ISS-10 crew who worked on the ISS from October 16, 2004 to April 24, 2005.

2. The picture shows Hurricane Dean- the strongest tropical cyclone of the Atlantic hurricane season. Photo taken on August 18, 2007 by crew members on the space shuttle Endeavor.

3. October 5−13, 1984 - view of the Great Himalayas from the southwest. The photography covers the territories of India, Pakistan and China. The photo was taken during the 6th flight of the Challenger shuttle by one of the crew members.

4. Great Lakes, located in North America. Lake Ontario is in the foreground and the city of Detroit is in the center of the photo. The photo was taken during the 19th space flight of Discovery in September 1994.

5. Cleveland Volcano Eruption on Chuginadak Island, North America. The photo was taken on May 23, 2006 by members of the thirteenth long-term crew of the International Space Station ISS-13.

6. Flying over Madagascar. This photo is the most recent in our collection: it was taken by cosmonaut Ricky Arnold, who on March 21 of this year launched as flight engineer 2 of the Soyuz MS-08 spacecraft together with Oleg Artemyev and Andrew Feistel. Two days later, the ship docked with the Russian segment of the ISS.

7. And this one is famous The shot was taken from a distance of 29,000 kilometers back in 1972 by the crew of the Apollo 17 mission. The image is called Blue Marble and shows the Earth fully illuminated by the Sun.

Recently, NASA announced that on July 19, the Cassini probe in orbit around Saturn will photograph the Earth, which at the time of shooting will be at a distance of 1.44 billion kilometers from the device. This is not the first photo shoot of this kind, but the first one that was announced in advance. NASA experts hope that the new image will take pride of place among such famous images of the Earth. Whether this is true or not, time will tell, but for now we can remember the history of photographing our planet from the depths of space.

For a long time, people have always wanted to look at our planet from above. The advent of aviation gave humanity the opportunity to rise beyond the clouds, and soon the rapid development of rocket technology made it possible to obtain photographs from truly cosmic heights. The first photographs from space (if we accept the FAI standard, according to which space begins at an altitude of 100 km above sea level) were taken in 1946 using a captured V-2 rocket.

The first attempt to photograph the earth's surface from a satellite was made in 1959. Satellite Explorer-6 I took this wonderful photo.

By the way, after Explorer 6's mission was completed, it still served the American Motherland by becoming a target for testing anti-satellite missiles.

Since then, satellite photography has developed at an incredible pace and now you can find a bunch of images of any part of the earth's surface for every taste. But the vast majority of these photos were taken from low Earth orbit. What does the Earth look like from more distant distances?

Apollo Snapshot

The only people who could see the entire Earth (roughly speaking in one frame) were 24 people from the Apollo crews. We are left with several classic photographs as a legacy from this program.

Here's a photo taken with Apollo 11, where the earth's terminator is clearly visible (and yes, we are not talking about a famous action movie, but about the line dividing the illuminated and unlit parts of the planet).

Photo of the Earth's crescent above the surface of the Moon taken by the crew Apollo 15.

Another Earthrise, this time over the so-called dark side of the Moon. Photo taken with Apollo 16.

"The Blue Marble"- another iconic photograph taken on December 7, 1972 by the crew of Apollo 17 from a distance of approximately 29 thousand km. from our planet. This was not the first image to show the Earth fully illuminated, but it became one of the most famous. The Apollo 17 astronauts are so far the last people who could observe the Earth from this angle. To mark the 40th anniversary of the photo, NASA remade this photo, stitching together a bunch of frames from different satellites into a single composite image. There is also a Russian analogue, taken from the Electro-M satellite.

When viewed from the surface of the Moon, the Earth is constantly located at the same point in the sky. Since the Apollos landed in equatorial regions, in order to make a patriotic avatar, the astronauts had to get the hang of it.

Moderate distance shots

In addition to the Apollo missions, a number of spacecraft photographed the Earth from a great distance. Here are the most famous of these pictures

A very famous photo Voyager 1, taken on September 18, 1977 from a distance of 11.66 million kilometers from Earth. As far as I know, this was the first image of the Earth and the Moon in one frame.

A similar photo taken by the device Galileo from a distance of 6.2 million kilometers in 1992

Photo taken on July 3, 2003 from the station Mars Express. The distance to Earth is 8 million kilometers.

And here is the most recent, but oddly enough the worst quality image taken by the mission Juno from a distance of 9.66 million kilometers. Just think - either NASA really saved money on cameras, or because of the financial crisis, all the employees responsible for Photoshop were fired.

Images from Martian orbit

This is what Earth and Jupiter looked like from Mars orbit. The pictures were taken on May 8, 2003 by the device Mars Global Surveyor, located at that time at a distance of 139 million kilometers from Earth. It is worth noting that the camera on board the device could not take color images and these were pictures in artificial colors.

Scheme of the location of Mars and the planets at the time of shooting

And this is how the Earth looks from the surface of the red planet. It's hard to disagree with this inscription.

Here's another image of the Martian sky. The brighter point is Venus, the less bright one (pointed to by the arrows) is our home planet.

For those interested, a very atmospheric photo of a sunset on Mars. Somewhat reminiscent of a similar shot from a movie Stranger.

Images from Saturn's orbit

Higher resolution

But the Earth in one of the pictures taken by the apparatus mentioned at the beginning Cassini. The image itself is composite and was taken in September 2006. It was made up of 165 photographs taken in the infrared and ultraviolet spectrum, which were then glued together and processed, making the colors look natural. In contrast to this mosaic, the July 19 survey will film Earth and the Saturn system for the first time in so-called natural colors, that is, as the human eye would see them. In addition, for the first time, the Earth and Moon will be captured by Cassini's highest-resolution camera ever.

By the way, here’s what Jupiter looks like from Saturn’s orbit. The image, of course, was also taken by the Cassini spacecraft. At that time, the gas giants were separated by a distance of 11 astronomical units.

Family portrait from "inside" the solar system

This portrait of the solar system was made by the apparatus MESSENGER, orbiting Mercury in November 2010. The mosaic, compiled from 34 images, shows all the planets of the solar system, except for Uranus and Neptune, which were too far away to be recorded. In the photographs you can see the Moon, the four main satellites of Jupiter and even a piece of the Milky Way.

Actually, our home planet .

Diagram of the location of the apparatus and planets at the time of shooting.

And finally, the father of all family portraits and ultra-distant photographs is a mosaic of 60 photographs taken by the same Voyager 1 between February 14 and June 6, 1990. After the passage of Saturn in November 1980, the device was generally inactive - it had no other celestial bodies left to study, and there were still about 25 years of flight left before approaching the heliopause boundary.

After numerous requests, Carl Sagan managed to convince NASA management to reactivate the ship's cameras, which were turned off a decade ago, and take a photograph of all the planets in the solar system. The only things that were not photographed were Mercury (which was too close to the Sun), Mars (which, again, was hindered by the light from the Sun) and Pluto, which was simply too small.

"Take another look at this point. It's here. This is our home. This is us. Everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you've ever heard of, every person who has ever existed lived their lives on Our many pleasures and sufferings, thousands of self-confident religions, ideologies and economic doctrines, every hunter and gatherer, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilizations, every king and peasant, every couple in love, every mother and father, every capable child, inventor and traveler, every ethics teacher, every lying politician, every “superstar”, every “greatest leader”, every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived here - on a speck suspended in a ray of sunshine.

The earth is a very small stage in the vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood shed by all these generals and emperors so that, in the rays of glory and triumph, they might become the short-term masters of a grain of sand. Think of the endless cruelties committed by the inhabitants of one corner of this point on the barely distinguishable inhabitants of another corner. About how often disagreements are between them, about how eager they are to kill each other, about how hot their hatred is.

Our posturing, our imagined importance, the illusion of our privileged status in the universe - they all give in to this point of pale light. Our planet is just a lonely speck of dust in the surrounding cosmic darkness. In this grandiose emptiness there is not a hint that someone will come to our aid in order to save us from our own ignorance.

Earth is so far the only known world capable of supporting life. We have nowhere else to go—at least not in the near future. To visit - yes. Colonize - not yet. Whether you like it or not, the Earth is our home now."

Every day new real photos of Space appear on the website portal. Astronauts effortlessly capture majestic views of space and planets that appeal to millions of people.

Most often, high-quality photos of the Cosmos are provided by the NASA aerospace agency, making incredible views of stars, various phenomena in outer space and planets, including the Earth, freely available. Surely you have repeatedly seen photographs from the Hubble telescope, which allow you to see what was previously not accessible to the human eye.

Never-before-seen nebulae and distant galaxies, nascent stars cannot but surprise with their diversity, attracting the attention of romantics and ordinary people. Fabulous landscapes of gas clouds and star dust reveal mysterious phenomena.

the site offers its visitors the best photographs taken from an orbital telescope, which constantly reveals the secrets of the Cosmos. We are very lucky, as astronauts always surprise us with new real photos of Space.

Each year, the Hubble team releases an incredible photo to commemorate the anniversary of the space telescope's launch on April 24, 1990.

Many people believe that thanks to the Hubble telescope in orbit, we get high-quality images of distant objects in the Universe. The pictures are really very high quality and high resolution. But what the telescope produces are black and white photos. Where do all these mesmerizing colors come from then? Almost all this beauty appears as a result of processing photographs with a graphics editor. Moreover, this takes quite a lot of time.

Real photos of Space in high quality

Only a few are given the opportunity to go into space. So we should be grateful to NASA, astronauts and the European Space Agency for regularly delighting us with new images. Previously, we could only see something like this in Hollywood films. We present photos of objects outside the solar system: star clusters (globular and open clusters) and distant galaxies.

Real photos of Space from Earth

A telescope (astrograph) is used to photograph celestial objects. It is known that galaxies and nebulae have low brightness and require long exposures to photograph them.

And this is where the problems begin. Due to the rotation of the Earth around its axis, even with a slight increase in the telescope, the daily movement of the stars is noticeable, and if the device does not have a clock drive, then the stars will appear in the form of dashes in the photographs. However, not all so simple. Due to the inaccuracy of aligning the telescope to the celestial pole and errors in the clock drive, the stars, writing out a curve, slowly move across the field of view of the telescope, and point stars are not obtained in the photograph. In order to completely eliminate this effect, it is necessary to use guiding (an optical tube with a camera is placed on the top of the telescope, aimed at the guiding star). Such a tube is called a guide. Through the camera, the image is sent to a PC, where the image is analyzed. If a star moves in the guide’s field of view, the computer sends a signal to the telescope mount motors, thereby correcting its position. This is how you achieve pinpoint stars in the picture. Then a series of photographs are taken with a long shutter speed. But due to the thermal noise of the matrix, the photos are grainy and noisy. In addition, spots from dust particles on the matrix or optics may appear in the pictures. You can get rid of this effect using a caliber.

Real photos of the Earth from Space in high quality

The richness of the lights of night cities, the meanders of rivers, the harsh beauty of mountains, the mirrors of lakes looking from the depths of continents, the endless oceans and a huge number of sunrises and sunsets - all this is reflected in real photographs of the Earth taken from Space.

Enjoy a wonderful selection of photographs from the portal site taken from Space.

The biggest mystery for humanity is space. Outer space is represented to a greater extent by emptiness, and to a lesser extent by the presence of complex chemical elements and particles. Most of all there is hydrogen in space. Interstellar matter and electromagnetic radiation are also present. But outer space is not only cold and eternal darkness, it is an indescribable beauty and breathtaking place that surrounds our planet.

The portal site will show you the depths of outer space and all its beauty. We offer only reliable and useful information, and show unforgettable high-quality space photos taken by NASA astronauts. You will see for yourself the charm and incomprehensibility of the biggest mystery for humanity - space!

We have always been taught that everything has a beginning and an end. But that's not true! Space has no clear boundary. As you move away from the Earth, the atmosphere becomes rarefied and gradually gives way to outer space. It is not known exactly where the boundaries of space begin. There are a number of opinions from different scientists and astrophysicists, but no one has yet provided concrete facts. If the temperature had a constant structure, then the pressure would change according to the law - from 100 kPa at sea level to absolute zero. The International Aeronautical Station (IAS) established the altitude boundary between space and the atmosphere at 100 km. It was called the Karman line. The reason for marking this particular height was the fact: when pilots rise to this height, gravity ceases to influence the flying vehicle, and therefore it goes to “first cosmic speed,” that is, to the minimum speed for transition to a geocentric orbit.

American and Canadian astronomers measured the onset of exposure to cosmic particles and the limit of control of atmospheric winds. The result was recorded at the 118th kilometer, although NASA itself claims that the boundary of space is located at the 122nd kilometer. At this altitude, the shuttles switched from conventional maneuvering to aerodynamic maneuvering and, thus, “rested” on the atmosphere. During these studies, the astronauts kept a photographic record. On the website you can view these and other high-quality photos of space in detail.

Solar system. Photos of space in high quality

The solar system is represented by a number of planets and the brightest star, the sun. The space itself is called interplanetary space or vacuum. The vacuum of space is not absolute; it contains atoms and molecules. They were discovered using microwave spectroscopy. There are also gases, dust, plasma, various space debris and small meteors. All this can be seen in the photos taken by the astronauts. Producing a high-quality photo shoot in space is very simple. At space stations (for example, VRC) there are special “domes” - places with the maximum number of windows. Cameras are mounted in these places. The Hubble telescope and its more advanced analogues greatly helped in ground photography and space exploration. In the same way, astronomical observations can be made at almost all waves of the electromagnetic spectrum.

In addition to telescopes and special instruments, you can photograph the depths of our solar system using high-quality cameras. It is thanks to space photographs that all humanity can appreciate the beauty and grandeur of outer space, and our portal “site” will demonstrate it clearly in the form of high-quality photos of space. For the first time during the DigitizedSky project, the Omega Nebula was photographed, which was discovered back in 1775 by J. F. Chezot. And when astronauts used a panchromatic context camera while exploring Mars, they were able to photograph strange bumps that were unknown to date. Similarly, the nebula NGC 6357, which is located in the constellation Scorpius, was captured from the European Observatory.

Or maybe you've heard about the famous photograph that showed traces of the former presence of water on Mars? More recently, the Mars Express spacecraft demonstrated the real colors of the planet. Channels, craters and a valley became visible, in which, most likely, liquid water was once present. And these are not all photographs depicting the solar system and the mysteries of space.

The science

Space full of unexpected surprises and incredibly beautiful landscapes that today astronomers can capture in photographs. Sometimes space or ground-based spacecraft take such unusual photographs that scientists still They've been wondering for a long time what it is.

Space photos help make amazing discoveries, see details of planets and their satellites, draw conclusions regarding their physical properties, determine the distance to objects, and much more.

1) Glowing gas of the Omega Nebula . This nebula, open Jean Philippe de Chaizeau in 1775, located in the area constellation Sagittarius Milky Way galaxy. The distance to us from this nebula is approximately 5-6 thousand light years, and in diameter it reaches 15 light years. Photo taken with a special digital camera during the project Digitized Sky Survey 2.

New images of Mars

2) Strange lumps on Mars . This photo was taken by the panchromatic context camera of the automatic interplanetary station Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which explores Mars.

Visible in the photo strange formations, which formed on lava flows interacting with water on the surface. Lava, flowing down the slope, encircled the bases of the mounds, then swelled. Lava Swelling- a process in which the liquid layer, which appears under the hardening layer of liquid lava, lifts the surface slightly, forming such a relief.

These formations are located on the Martian plain Amazonis Planitia- a huge territory that is covered with frozen lava. The plain is also covered a thin layer of reddish dust, which slides down steep slopes, forming dark stripes.

Planet Mercury (photo)

3) Beautiful colors of Mercury . This colorful image of Mercury was created by combining a large number of images taken by NASA's interplanetary station "Messenger" for a year of work in Mercury orbit.

Of course it is not the real colors of the planet closest to the Sun, but the colorful image reveals the chemical, mineralogical and physical differences in Mercury's landscape.

4) Space lobster . This image was taken by the VISTA telescope European Southern Observatory. It depicts a cosmic landscape, including a huge glowing cloud of gas and dust, which surrounds young stars.

This infrared image shows the nebula NGC 6357 in the constellation Scorpion, which is presented in a new light. The photo was taken during the project Via Láctea. Scientists are currently scanning the Milky Way in an attempt to map the more detailed structure of our galaxy and explain how it was formed.

Mysterious mountain of the Carina Nebula

5) Mysterious mountain . The image shows a mountain of dust and gas rising from the Carina Nebula. The top of a vertical column of cooled hydrogen, which is about 3 light years, is carried away by radiation from nearby stars. Stars located in the area of ​​the pillars release jets of gas that can be seen at the tops.

Traces of water on Mars

6) Traces of an ancient water flow on Mars . This is a high resolution photo that was taken January 13, 2013 using a spacecraft European Space Agency Mars Express, offers to see the surface of the Red Planet in real colors. This is a shot of the area southeast of the plain Amenthes Planum and north of the plain Hesperia planum.

Visible in the photo craters, lava channels and valley, along which liquid water probably once flowed. The valley and crater floors are covered in dark, wind-blown deposits.

7) Dark space gecko . The picture was taken with a ground-based 2.2-meter telescope European Southern Observatory MPG/ESO in Chile. The photo shows a bright star cluster NGC 6520 and its neighbor - a strangely shaped dark cloud Barnard 86.

This cosmic couple is surrounded by millions of luminous stars in the brightest part of the Milky Way. The area is so filled with stars that you can hardly see the dark background of the sky behind them.

Star formation (photo)

8) Star Education Center . Several generations of stars are shown in an infrared image taken by NASA's space telescope. "Spitzer". In this smoky area known as W5, new stars are formed.

The oldest stars can be seen as blue bright dots. Younger stars highlight pinkish glow. In brighter areas, new stars form. Red indicates heated dust, while green indicates dense clouds.

Unusual nebula (photo)

9) Valentine's Day Nebula . This is an image of a planetary nebula, which may remind some of rosebud, was obtained using a telescope Kitt Peak National Observatory in USA.

Sh2-174- an unusual ancient nebula. It was formed during the explosion of a low-mass star at the end of its life. What remains of the star is its center - white dwarf.

Usually white dwarfs are located very close to the center, but in the case of this nebula, its the white dwarf is located on the right. This asymmetry is associated with the interaction of the nebula with the environment that surrounds it.

10) Heart of the Sun . In honor of the recent Valentine's Day, another unusual phenomenon appeared in the sky. More precisely it was done photo of an unusual solar flare, which is depicted in the photo in the shape of a heart.

Saturn's satellite (photo)

11) Mimas - Death Star . Photo of Saturn's moon Mimas taken by NASA spacecraft "Cassini" while it approaches the object at the closest distance. This satellite is something looks like the Death Star– a space station from a science fiction saga "Star Wars".

Herschel Crater has a diameter 130 kilometers and covers most of the right side of the satellite in the image. Scientists continue to explore this impact crater and its surrounding areas.

Photos were taken February 13, 2010 from a distance 9.5 thousand kilometers, and then, like a mosaic, assembled into one clearer and more detailed photo.

12) Galactic duo . These two galaxies, shown in the same photo, have completely different shapes. Galaxy NGC 2964 is a symmetrical spiral, and the galaxy NGC 2968(top right) is a galaxy that has a fairly close interaction with another small galaxy.

13) Mercury colored crater . Although Mercury does not boast a particularly colorful surface, some areas on it still stand out with contrasting colors. The pictures were taken during the spacecraft mission "Messenger".

Halley's Comet (photo)

14) Halley's Comet in 1986 . This famous historical photograph of the comet as it made its final approach to Earth was taken 27 years ago. The photo clearly shows how the Milky Way is illuminated on the right by a flying comet.

15) Strange hill on Mars . This image shows a strange, spiky formation near the Red Planet's South Pole. The surface of the hill appears to be layered and shows signs of erosion. Its height is estimated 20-30 meters. The appearance of dark spots and stripes on the hill is associated with the seasonal thawing of a layer of dry ice (carbon dioxide).

Orion Nebula (photo)

16) Orion's beautiful veil . This beautiful image includes cosmic clouds and stellar wind around the star LL Orionis, which interacts with the stream Orion Nebula. The star LL Orionis produces winds that are stronger than those of our own middle-aged star, the Sun.

Galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici (photo)

17) Spiral galaxy Messier 106 in the constellation Canes Venatici . NASA Space Telescope "Hubble" with the participation of an amateur astronomer, took one of the best photographs of a spiral galaxy Messier 106.

Located at a distance of about 20 million light years away, which is not that far away by cosmic standards, this galaxy is one of the brightest galaxies, and also one of the closest to us.

18) Starburst galaxy . Galaxy Messier 82 or Galaxy Cigar located at a distance from us 12 million light years in the constellation Big Dipper. The formation of new stars occurs quite quickly in it, which puts it at a certain phase in the evolution of galaxies, according to scientists.

Because the Cigar Galaxy is experiencing intense star formation, it 5 times brighter than our Milky Way. This photo was taken Mount Lemmon Observatory(USA) and required a holding time of 28 hours.

19) Ghost Nebula . This photo was taken using a 4 meter telescope (Arizona, USA). The object, called vdB 141, is a reflection nebula located in the constellation Cepheus.

Several stars can be seen in the nebula area. Their light gives the nebula an unattractive yellowish-brown color. Photo taken August 28, 2009.

20) Powerful hurricane of Saturn . This colorful photo taken by NASA "Cassini", depicts Saturn's strong northern storm, which at that moment reached its greatest power. The contrast of the image has been increased to show troubled areas (in white) that stand out from other details. The photo was taken March 6, 2011.

Photo of the Earth from the Moon

21) Earth from the Moon . Being on the surface of the Moon, our planet will look exactly like this. From this angle, the Earth too phases will be noticeable: Part of the planet will be in shadow, and part will be illuminated by sunlight.

Andromeda Galaxy

22) New images of Andromeda . In a new image of the Andromeda Galaxy, obtained using Herschel Space Observatory, the bright streaks where new stars are forming are visible in especially detail.

The Andromeda Galaxy or M31 is the closest large galaxy to our Milky Way. It is located at a distance of about 2.5 million years, and is therefore an excellent object for studying the formation of new stars and the evolution of galaxies.

23) Star cradle of the constellation Unicorn . This image was taken using a 4-meter telescope Inter-American Observatory of Cerro Tololo in Chile January 11, 2012. The image shows part of the Unicorn R2 molecular cloud. This is a site of intense new star formation, especially in the red nebula region just below the center of the image.

Satellite of Uranus (photo)

24) Ariel's scarred face . This image of Uranus's moon Ariel is made up of 4 different images taken by the spacecraft. "Voyager 2". The pictures were taken January 24, 1986 from a distance 130 thousand kilometers from the object.

Ariel has a diameter about 1200 kilometers, most of its surface is covered with craters with a diameter of 5 to 10 kilometers. In addition to craters, the image shows valleys and faults in the form of long stripes, so the landscape of the object is very heterogeneous.

25) Spring "fans" on Mars . At high latitudes, each winter, carbon dioxide condenses from the Martian atmosphere and accumulates on its surface, forming seasonal polar ice caps. In the spring, the sun begins to heat the surface more intensely and the heat passes through these translucent layers of dry ice, heating the soil underneath.

Dry ice evaporates, immediately turning into gas, bypassing the liquid phase. If the pressure is high enough, the ice cracks and gas escapes from the cracks, forming "fans". These dark "fans" are small fragments of material that are carried away by the gas escaping from the cracks.

Galactic merger

26) Stefan Quintet . This group is from 5 galaxies in the constellation Pegasus, located in 280 million light years from the earth. Four of the five galaxies are undergoing a violent merger phase and will crash into each other, eventually forming a single galaxy.

The central blue galaxy appears to be part of this group, but this is an illusion. This galaxy is much closer to us - at a distance only 40 million light years. The image was obtained by researchers Mount Lemmon Observatory(USA).

27) Soap Bubble Nebula . This planetary nebula was discovered by an amateur astronomer Dave Jurasevich July 6, 2008 in the constellation Swan. The picture was taken with a 4-meter telescope Mayall National Observatory Kitt Peak V June 2009. This nebula was part of another diffuse nebula, and it is also quite faint, so it was hidden from the eyes of astronomers for a long time.

Sunset on Mars – photo from the surface of Mars

28) Sunset on Mars. May 19, 2005 NASA Mars rover MER-A Spirit I took this amazing photo of the sunset while being on the edge of Gusev crater. The solar disk, as you can see, is slightly smaller than the disk that is visible from Earth.

29) Hypergiant star Eta Carinae . In this incredibly detailed image taken by NASA's space telescope "Hubble", you can see huge clouds of gas and dust from the giant star Eta of Kiel. This star is located at a distance from us more than 8 thousand light years, and the overall structure is comparable in width to our Solar System.

Near 150 years ago a supernova explosion was observed. Eta Carinae became the second most luminous star after Sirius, but quickly faded away and ceased to be visible to the naked eye.

30) Polar Ring Galaxy . Amazing Galaxy NGC 660 is the result of the merger of two different galaxies. It is located at a distance 44 million light years from us in the constellation Pisces. On January 7, astronomers announced that this galaxy has powerful flash, which is most likely the result of the massive black hole at its center.

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We are very lucky as the astronauts on the International Space Station continue to amaze us with new photos of our beautiful planet.

Very few lucky people get the chance to observe the Earth from space. So, we are sincerely grateful to the astronauts, NASA and the European Space Agency, and, in case any of them are reading this, we once again say our sincere “thank you” to you! After all, previously we could only observe such species in films created at Hollywood film studios. But these photos are the real ones.

1. Maldives.

“We will open you to the sunny side of life” - this is the slogan that tour operators lure tourists to the Maldives. Well, from the window of the International Space Station they really do look amazing. Well, let's order a cocktail with slices of fruit and an umbrella in a glass, and go to the hammock to just relax while watching the amazing sunset?

2. Pacific Ocean, Hawaii.

Aloha! We are approaching the Hawaiian Islands. The large island is visible very clearly. Kilauea is known as the "world's only road volcano." It now produces 250-650 thousand yards of lava per day. This amount is enough to fill a 32 km long two-lane highway.

3. Southern Lights, New Zealand.

Don't you think that the southern lights in this photo resemble a laser show - amazing and mesmerizing?

4. Night view of the east coast of Spain.

Before you is the eastern coast of Spain at night, the Balearic Sea appears as a dark blur. At the top left is the island of Mallorca. Looking at Barcelona at night, you remember that for someone one of their cherished desires is to go to this city for the Barcelona match against Real Madrid.

5. Mannam Volcano, Papua New Guinea.

Mannam, also known as the "Great Volcano", is only 10 km in diameter. Mannam is a stratovolcano formed from changing layers of ash, lava and rocks from previous eruptions. It is one of Papua New Guinea's most active active volcanoes, and its eruptions frequently cause fatalities, including 13 deaths in December 1996, and four more in March 2007. In general, this photo resembles an excellent set for a film like “Jurassic Park” or “King Kong.”

6. International Space Station.

The ISS is located over the eastern coast of Argentina over the Gulf of San Matias. Looking at these photos can make you feel dizzy. Just imagine that you are up there, on board the International Space Station, looking at our planet upside down... - how is your vestibular system?

7. Beaver Lake in Arkansas, USA.

Beaver Lake is a man-made body of water in the Ozark Mountains located in northwest Arkansas, the birthplace of White River. Sometimes artificial reservoirs are wiped out by forest fires, but humanity continues to change the planet with amazing tenacity.

8. The East Coast of the USA and the last ray of light on the horizon.

The US East Coast, New York and Long Island are at the bottom left. Do you want to see this panorama with your own eyes? What was the matter? Only $20 million...

9. Earth and stars.

So this is what the Milky Way looks like when the light of night cities does not obscure it. I would like to quote Dr. McCoy from the world famous “Star Trek”: “In this galaxy there is a mathematical probability of having three million planets similar in type to Earth. And there are three million million galaxies in the universe like this one. And they probably contain at least one version of ourselves.”

10. Night clouds over Long Beach, California.

This is truly an amazing place - Long Beach. The place where you can meet the Queen Mary and the Aquarium of the Pacific. But the best thing to do here is to take a trip by sea, where you can watch the friendly gray whales. During migration, they swim close to the shore.

11. Great Britain and Ireland at night.

These regions gave the world the authors of Romeo and Juliet (William Shakespeare), Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen), Dracula (Bram Stoker) and Harry Potter (J. K. Rowling). The British Isles, where the royal wedding is now eagerly awaited, are simply amazing.

12. Launch of an automatic interorbital transport vehicle.
Arianespace and ESA launched an interorbital vehicle to the International Space Station. I wonder how far they were from each other?

13. Solar panels of the International Space Station.
The ISS solar panels are simply amazing. As the sun disappears below the horizon, the last sunlight colors the solar panels in amazing shades.

14. French Riviera at night.
The Cote d'Azur is not only super-expensive and super-popular, but also super-beauty, which is only emphasized by the reflection of the moon in the Mediterranean Sea. This may be the only place that can bear comparison with southern California.

15. Bright lights of Barcelona at night.

16. Supermoon.
On March 19, the inhabitants of planet Earth could observe a supermoon - a phenomenon during which the full moon approached our planet as close as possible. The moon photographed from the International Space Station is simply beautiful, but in this photo it even looks a little scary.

17. Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
Cape Cod, known locally as simply the Cape, is an island and cape in eastern Massachusetts. The sun is reflected in the water surface of the Atlantic Ocean, turning it into living gold, shading the amazing cape.

18. Moscow at night
Moscow, a city of 11 million people, is not only the capital of Russia, but also the center of European culture. Russians are a passionate, proud, sexy and intelligent people, but at the same time sophisticated, intelligent, and with a wonderful sense of humor. And in this photograph we see the very heart of this superpower. And the heart is simply incredibly beautiful.

20. Sicily, Italy
Sicily is considered the birthplace of the mafia thanks to the Godfather film series. But in fact it is a beautiful and absolutely magical island, full of passionate people who love music and food, and live with desperate courage in the shadow of the ancient volcano Etna. In this image it is difficult to make out what exactly is being reflected from the Mediterranean Sea - sunlight or moonlight. In any case, the photo is amazing.

21. Lake Qadisiya on the Euphrates River owes its birth to the Haditha dam. From space, she looks like a Chinese dragon ready to attack. There are many amazing places in Iraq that, unfortunately, cannot be visited due to the ongoing military conflict that has been going on for many years. Perhaps someday we will be able to visit both there and other historical places.

22. Heart-shaped atoll, east of the Solomon Islands.
This atoll is especially loved by astronauts on the International Space Station. They sent this photo to Earth on Valentine's Day. An atoll is a coral island that partially or completely encloses a lagoon. If you look closely, you can see that this atoll is actually the tip of an old volcano.

23. San Quentin Glacier, Chile.
The San Quentin Glacier is the largest glacier in Chile. Like many glaciers around the world, in the twentieth century, San Quentin began to gradually shrink in size and lose mass. What caused this: natural factors or the consequences of human actions? It’s hard to say; it’s easier to enjoy the beauty of the amazing glacier.

24. Crete, Greece and Türkiye
Beautiful clear photo of Hellas (Greece), Turkey and the island of Crete. Crete has a rich mythology associated mainly with the Greek gods, but also with the Minoan civilization. Crete in Greek mythology is considered the birthplace of the god Zeus. Also here is the famous labyrinth of Knossos.

25. River Nile
The Nile is the longest river in the world (6650 km), located in North Africa. At the bottom of the photo you can see the place where the Blue Nile and White Nile merge.

26. Buenos Aires, Argentina, La Plata
La Plata is an estuary, a flooded mouth of a river, formed at the confluence of the Uruguay and Paraná rivers at the border of Argentina and Uruguay. The photo resembles a picture with a silvery vein coming from a large heart on the left.

27. Cyclone Diana off Mesero-east coast of Australia
In meteorology, a cyclone is an area of ​​closed circular motion rotating in the same direction as the Earth. We've seen photographs of cyclones and hurricanes before, but if you look closely, in this photograph you can see the planet below. Look into the center of the “eye”.

28. Desert of Somalia.
This amazing red "coral" north of Bakaadwein, west of Kalabadhlmag is the Somali Desert. It's a strange feeling, isn't it? -It seems as if the Earth itself is bleeding. Amazing photo.

29. Chaco National Park in Paraguay.
The Chaco is a plain whose area is approximately one million square kilometers. It covers parts of Paraguay, Bolivia, Argentina and Brazil. The clouds along the edges turn the planet below into the scales of a huge lizard. Maybe Godzilla is hiding out there somewhere?

30. Los Glaciares National Park, Argentina.
Lake Argentino is located in the Patagonian province of Santa Cruz. This is the largest lake in Argentina, with an area of ​​1,466 square kilometers. But, if you look closely, you can see the outlines of a body. It looks as if someone fell from the sky and left a dent.

31. Santiago, Cape Verde.
Cape Verde is an archipelago of 10 islands located in the center of the Atlantic Ocean, 570 km off the coast of West Africa. It has the word “green” in its name, but even so, the area is a little dry. Santiago is the largest island in the archipelago and appears a bit flat in the southeast. The transcontinental slave trade made the city of Cidade Velha, located here, the second richest city in the Portuguese kingdom.