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Free space images: planets, galaxies and Earth

NASA is the largest free source of space pictures: Hubble and Webb views of galaxies and nebulae, the planets from passing probes, Earth from the International Space Station, rockets on the pad and astronauts at work. These collections group them by subject, with Wikimedia Commons adding images from other agencies and observatories. Every card shows the image's size and the credit NASA asks for.

Updated , from a live search of 33 sites.

3 collections

  • Earth from space: free photos from orbit

    Free photos of Earth taken from orbit by the ISS, satellites and Apollo: city lights at night, storms, coastlines and sunrise over the horizon, from NASA.

    15 images from 2 sources · 13 at 1080 px or larger

  • Free Mars photos from rovers and orbiters

    Free photos of Mars from NASA's rovers and orbiters: Perseverance and Curiosity panoramas, craters, dunes and the planet from orbit, with NASA's credits.

    28 images from 2 sources · 10 at 1080 px or larger

  • Hubble and Webb space images: galaxies, nebulae

    Free Hubble and Webb telescope images of galaxies, nebulae and star clusters from NASA, at full resolution, with NASA's credit and usage rules shown.

    36 images from 3 sources · 12 at 1080 px or larger

NASA's rules, briefly

NASA images are generally not copyrighted in the US and may be used commercially with credit. Don't use the NASA insignia or logotype as part of your branding, don't suggest NASA endorses you, and ask before identifiable astronauts or staff appear in an ad. That is why NASA images carry an editorial flag here. Images credited to partners such as ESA or a university may belong to them: those say 'check the terms'.

Photos, composites and illustrations

Many space pictures are composites of several exposures, colourised from invisible wavelengths, or artist's concepts of things no camera has seen. They are labelled as illustrations where the source says so. For a science article, say which it is in the caption.

Questions

Can I use NASA images on a product?
Usually yes, with credit, as long as the NASA logo isn't on it and nothing suggests NASA endorses the product. Check images credited to other organisations, which may be copyrighted by them.
Why do some galaxy images look different from others?
Telescopes see different wavelengths: Hubble mostly visible light, Webb infrared, Chandra X-rays. The colours are mapped to what the eye can see, so the same object can look very different.

Search space & science live

Each link runs a fresh search of every source for one kind of image. Results show their size and shape where known and carry a licence verdict; turn on Commercial-safe to keep only images you can use commercially.

Also known as: space photos, nasa images, astronomy pictures, galaxy images.

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