Most astounding picture you've ever seen

[LarenzoAOG]

I got bored and started looking at pictures on Google this one made my jaw drop.

That is Saturn eclipsing the sun, taken by the Cassini space probe in 2006, that little blue dot seen by the second outer-most ring on the left side is where you and me live, Earth, about a billion miles away.

So now it's your turn to show me the most amazing photo you've ever seen, whether it's on Earth or out in space, just make sure it's real and amazing.

EDIT: Thanks guys, all these photos are awesome (Except you FortheLegion, that cat-facial-hair-shaolin-monk or whatever the hell it is makes me feel wierd) keep them coming, but please put them in spoilers, my decade old laptop has a hard enough time just opening pages, with all these pictures it's really having trouble.

 

[repeating integers]

Amazing picture, mate.

The various pictures of the Eagle Nebula do it for me.

 

[LarenzoAOG]

Amazing picture, mate.

The various pictures of the Eagle Nebula do it for me.

Gotta love the Pillars of Creation.

 

[GoAwayVifs]

This is the most amazing photograph:

The Hubble Ultra-Deep Flied. It was taken over the period of months. To the naked eye this picture is an area of complete nothingness roughly one thirteen-millionth of the sky. Every point of light in this photo is an entire galaxy. There are an estimated 10 000 galaxies in this picture. See that large spiral galaxy in the lower right corner? It is so large that according to the science of time it should not exist.

The images of the galaxies are 13 billion years old. 13 BILLION. For reference the universe is thought to be only about 14 billion years old.

 

[Latinidiot]

Man, I had this insane photo from the cliff of Dun Aenghus.

By the way, you know that those eagle nebula picks are, well, enhanced? With potoshop?

 

[repeating integers]

Man, I had this insane photo from the cliff of Dun Aenghus.

By the way, you know that those eagle nebula picks are, well, enhanced? With potoshop?

Explain, please?

 

[thenumberthirteen]

Keeping with the space theme:

<img height=500>http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/0212/jupiterIo_cassini_full.jpg

That's Jupiter, and the moon Io casting a striking shadow on the surface.

By the way, you know that those eagle nebula picks are, well, enhanced? With potoshop?

So are all modern photos of space. They're digital after all.

 

[rayen020]

saw this on yahoo one day. some guy got lucky and when he took a pic of the aurora borealis and the milky way side by side a shooting star cross his camera view producing a rare triple threat of cosmic events in one shot. it's now my computer back ground.

If you don't see the shooting star it's the little line across the top.

 

[thenumberthirteen]

This is the most amazing photograph:

The Hubble Ultra-Deep Flied. It was taken over the period of months. To the naked eye this picture is an area of complete nothingness roughly one thirteen-millionth of the sky. Every point of light in this photo is an entire galaxy. There are an estimated 10 000 galaxies in this picture. See that large spiral galaxy in the lower right corner? It is so large that according to the science of time it should not exist.

The images of the galaxies are 13 billion years old. 13 BILLION. For reference the universe is thought to be only about 14 billion years old.

That picture always makes me think of this song

<youtube=buqtdpuZxvk>

It really puts things into perspective.

 

[Latinidiot]

Man, I had this insane photo from the cliff of Dun Aenghus.

By the way, you know that those eagle nebula picks are, well, enhanced? With potoshop?

Explain, please?

Keeping with the space theme:

<img height=500>http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/0212/jupiterIo_cassini_full.jpg

That's Jupiter, and the moon Io casting a striking shadow on the surface.

By the way, you know that those eagle nebula picks are, well, enhanced? With potoshop?

So are all modern photos of space. They're digital after all.

First off, that image is beautiful. What I meant was that the nebula is a lot more nebulous. I gathered that this image, among others was almost an artist rendition.

 

[thenumberthirteen]

First off, that image is beautiful. What I meant was that the nebula is a lot more nebulous. I gathered that this image, among others was almost an artist rendition.

I wish I could remember where I saw it, but I read a really good article explaining how those pictures are made. Basically even basic digital photography is far more complex than you'd think. With the same data set an image can be displayed many different ways, and with telescopes being sensitive in different wavelengths of light there is no "true" picture.

 

[LarenzoAOG]

Man, I had this insane photo from the cliff of Dun Aenghus.

By the way, you know that those eagle nebula picks are, well, enhanced? With potoshop?

Explain, please?

All the different colors correspond to a different gas, I believe blue is hydrogen, basically it's not a picture as we know it, think of it as an infrared picture or some kind of spectrographical thing, the real Pillars don't really look like that.

Regardless it's fucking awesome.

 

[Shakomaru]

It's always astounded me how much cooler clouds get when you realize they're three dimensional

 

[LarenzoAOG]

This is the most amazing photograph:

The Hubble Ultra-Deep Flied. It was taken over the period of months. To the naked eye this picture is an area of complete nothingness roughly one thirteen-millionth of the sky. Every point of light in this photo is an entire galaxy. There are an estimated 10 000 galaxies in this picture. See that large spiral galaxy in the lower right corner? It is so large that according to the science of time it should not exist.

The images of the galaxies are 13 billion years old. 13 BILLION. For reference the universe is thought to be only about 14 billion years old.

While I think mine is more visually appealing, this one is many orders of magnitude more impressive.

Funny, I'm watching How the Universe Works and that same photo just came up.

 

[Latinidiot]

First off, that image is beautiful. What I meant was that the nebula is a lot more nebulous. I gathered that this image, among others was almost an artist rendition.

I wish I could remember where I saw it, but I read a really good article explaining how those pictures are made. Basically even basic digital photography is far more complex than you'd think. With the same data set an image can be displayed many different ways, and with telescopes being sensitive in different wavelengths of light there is no "true" picture.

That sounds very logcal. And prctical, because now I can believe that the photos are real, and that I'm not completely wrong! Winners all around!

 

[repeating integers]

saw this on yahoo one day. some guy got lucky and when he took a pic of the aurora borealis and the milky way side by side a shooting star cross his camera view producing a rare triple threat of cosmic events in one shot. it's now my computer back ground.

If you don't see the shooting star it's the little line across the top.

That is amazingly beautiful. Times like this, you see why some people believe in a God.

 

[Tharwen]

This one:

Spoiler

[http://img.ie/]

Nothing will ever compare to the emotions this picture evokes in me.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

Spoiler: In terms of space nebulas, this one inspires me with its beauty.

 

[Greni]

Awesome thread you made here.
This one always does it for me; nothing visually breathtaking, but simple and elegant, and made many people think: