The most beautiful space pictures you’ll ever see. Photographs of outer space are recorded for the purposes of science, but are also often breathtakingly beautiful images revealing the wonders of the universe.

The Helix nebula

Credit: ESO/VISTA/J. Emerson. Acknowledgment: Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit

Cluster and nebula NGC 1929

Credit: ESO/Manu Mejias

Omega nebula

Credit: ESO/INAF-VST/OmegaCAM. Acknowledgement: OmegaCen/Astro-WISE/Kapteyn Institute

NGC 2442

Credit: www.eso.org/public/news/eso1115/

NGC 2442

Credit: www.eso.org/public/news/eso1115/

Orion from Head to Toe

Credit: Rogelio Andreo  blog.deepskycolors.com

The hole in orion’s heart

Credit: Jesus Vargas and Maritxu Poyal

Spiral galaxy M96

Credit: ESO/Oleg Maliy

The Soap Bubble Nebula

Credit: T. A. Rector/University of Alaska Anchorage, H. Schweiker/WIYN and NOAO/AURA/NSF

NGC 7006

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA

The Triangulum Galaxy

credit: KPNO, NOAO, AURA, Dr. Philip Massey

Abell 2744, the Pandora Cluster

Credit: NASA, ESA, ESO, CXC, and D. Coe (STScI)/J. Merten (Heidelberg/Bologna)

Cluster Omega Centauri

Credit: ESO/INAF-VST/OmegaCAM. Acknowledgement: A. Grado/INAF-Capodimonte Observatory

Globular cluster NGC 1846

Credit: NASA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), with P. Goudfrooij (STScI)

thanks to thebadastronomer

The Very Large Array also called VLA consists of 27 radio antennas in a Y-shaped configuration on the Plains of San Agustin, New Mexico. The radio antennas are massive (230-ton) and each 25 meters (82 feet) in diameter. The scientific beauty of the array is that the antennas act as one. The VLA can cover frequencies between 0.073 and 50 GHz, and wavelengths between 400 and 0.7 centimeters. The VLA stands at an elevation of 6970 ft (2124 m) above sea level. It is a component of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO). The total cost of the VLA was $78,578,000 dollars in 1972.

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