Earth's orbiting observatories and their literally awesome images
While the Voyager 1 probe, launched in 1977, cruises into interstellar space (the farthest man-made object from Earth) and missions like New Horizons capture snaps from the outskirts of the solar system, we've been keeping the heavy hitters close to home. Massive space telescopes that scan the cosmos with augmented eyes have been orbiting the Earth for years to get a clear view of the universe without atmospheric distortion. The Hubble Space Telescope's 1990 launch set a new precedent for these space-based observatories in terms of scale and abilities. These new instruments have helped scientists gather an incredible amount of data and mind-bending photos from deep space. With Pluto hogging the spotlight lately, we decided to take a look back at some of these powerful orbiting eyes and their visual achievements.
[Image credit: JPL]
![<p>NGC 6503, also known as the "Lost-In-Space galaxy" is located in a surprisingly sparse area of space called the Local Void. It's one of the few objects visible in an area nearly 150 million light-years wide devoid of stars and other galaxies.</p>
<p>[Image: NASA, ESA, D. Calzetti (University of Massachusetts), H. Ford (Johns Hopkins University), and the Hubble Heritage Team]</p>](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/IkJC6KnPvc.A0jsxA5yoCw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTgwMw--/https://s.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/TvHIhrLfhobM8qF0FV7D4w--~B/aD0xMTcxO3c9MTQwMDthcHBpZD15dGFjaHlvbg--/https://www.blogcdn.com/slideshows/images/slides/354/876/7/S3548767/slug/l/hubble-lostinspace-1400-1.jpg)
![<p>The Chandra and XMM-Newton, both X-ray telescopes, joined forces to create this shot of Puppis A -- the remnants of a supernova that could have been viewed from Earth 3,700 years ago. The colors represent different levels of X-ray energy, with red, green and blue as indicators from low to high.</p>
<p>[Image: Chandra and XMM-Newton - NASA/CXC/IAFE/G.Dubner et al & ESA/XMM-Newton]</p>](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/I9tE3OADsx_ehlDt21Yv5w--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTc1Mw--/https://s.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/izgUZqa._AF.PWnYl2MORg--~B/aD0xMDk4O3c9MTQwMDthcHBpZD15dGFjaHlvbg--/https://www.blogcdn.com/slideshows/images/slides/354/879/9/S3548799/slug/l/puppisa-1400-1.jpg)
![<p>The Helix Nebula is the remnant of a system where a sun-like star died off and ejected its gaseous mass outward. Taken in infrared, the blues and greens are leftovers from the first wave of ejecta, with red as the final layer to be discharged. The tiny white dot at the very center is a white dwarf -- what's left of the original star. </p>
<p>[Image: Spitzer Space Telescope - NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Ariz.]</p>](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/MNlFWi.I8aqH4tTH6icVrg--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTc5OA--/https://s.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/92e3MCKmQh5c9XqRJgZ2TA--~B/aD0xMTY0O3c9MTQwMDthcHBpZD15dGFjaHlvbg--/https://www.blogcdn.com/slideshows/images/slides/354/910/0/S3549100/slug/l/helix-nebula-1400-1.jpg)
![<p>If you were on Earth thousands of years ago, you might have been able to see the supernova that left these remnants with your naked eye. The Cygnus Loop Nebula appears in the ultraviolet spectrum as blue wisps of gas and dust, which continue to expand away from the epicenter of the blast.</p>
<p>[Image: GALEX - NASA/JPL-Caltech]</p>](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/ymzbmOKgxY0DzEZiH682tA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTk2MA--/https://s.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/mGT5YIOVdzq1jKoVmyC6lg--~B/aD0xNDAwO3c9MTQwMDthcHBpZD15dGFjaHlvbg--/https://www.blogcdn.com/slideshows/images/slides/354/882/4/S3548824/slug/l/633526main-pia15415-full-1400-1.jpg)
![<p>This is a high-energy view of the entire sky showing the brightest gamma-ray sources as a bright slash across the center of the image. It was taken with the Large Area Telescope (LAT) instrument on board the spacecraft.</p>
<p>[Image: Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope - NASA/DOE/Fermi LAT Collaboration]</p>](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/JOPYaNjcccLHjq7sAycTAw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU0MA--/https://s.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/nJFBX1QlN.JQDjnLdkrn6w--~B/aD03ODg7dz0xNDAwO2FwcGlkPXl0YWNoeW9u/https://www.blogcdn.com/slideshows/images/slides/354/883/9/S3548839/slug/l/femri-5-year-1400-1.jpg)
![<p>Herschel captured this view of the Horsehead Nebula located in the constellation Orion, which was released in 2013. It's actually a composite of various wavelengths represented by each of the various colors. Not to be outdone, the Hubble Space Telescope took its <a href="http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2013/04/Hubble_s_view_of_the_Horsehead_Nebula">own snap of the nebula</a> with its Wide Field Camera 3 at near-infrared wavelengths.</p>
<p>[Image: Herschel Space Observatory - ESA/Herschel/PACS, SPIRE/N. Schneider, Ph. André, V. Könyves (CEA Saclay, France) for the “Gould Belt survey” Key Programme]</p>](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/rAQbJc3rjCbhgI6B31XcbQ--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTM3OA--/https://s.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/iO8NUNBn0paBCCtzupGVKA--~B/aD01NTE7dz0xNDAwO2FwcGlkPXl0YWNoeW9u/https://www.blogcdn.com/slideshows/images/slides/354/885/9/S3548859/slug/l/herschel-horsehead-nebula-1400-1.jpg)
![<p>In 2011, the Kepler space observatory detected Kepler 16b, the first circumbinary planet (one orbiting two stars). A year later it discovered the Kepler-47 system, one in which two planets (Kepler 47b and 47c) are orbiting a binary system in the habitable zone. Unfortunately, they're both gas giants, but the <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2015/07/23/nasa-kepler-452b/">recent discovery</a> of 452b orbiting a sun-like star may be our best hope for a backup plan, if things on Earth don't pan out.</p>
<p>[Image: Kepler Space Observatory - NASA/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle]</p>](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/9bE5btW_sA5uW1B7UnIt4A--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU2MA--/https://s.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/U62wvs7.CT7hhka6YmBRTw--~B/aD04MTc7dz0xNDAwO2FwcGlkPXl0YWNoeW9u/https://www.blogcdn.com/slideshows/images/slides/354/887/2/S3548872/slug/l/681808main-k47system-planets-1400-1.jpg)
![<p>On June 25th this year, the SDO captured this image of an M7.9-class, mid-level solar flare.</p>
<p>[Image: Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) - NASA/SDO]</p>](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/1QM2tkXFd6yXv1y_cOaafw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTk2MA--/https://s.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/Up75GIYbCdJ6BCALHg9g_Q--~B/aD0xNDAwO3c9MTQwMDthcHBpZD15dGFjaHlvbg--/https://www.blogcdn.com/slideshows/images/slides/354/874/2/S3548742/slug/l/20141220-171-131blend-1400-1.jpg)
