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Image credits

Every picture on this site is a real photograph or scientific image from a public archive or a photographer who licensed it for reuse. Illustrations are labelled.

How we use images

Most of our photos come from the NASA Image and Video Library or NASA mission archives. NASA material is generally not copyrighted in the United States and is used here under NASA's media usage guidelines. That doesn't mean NASA endorses SpacePloer, and we don't use NASA logos or insignia.

Other images come from Wikimedia Commons. Public-domain images there are free to use. Creative Commons "BY" images require credit to the photographer, which we give here and in each caption. Images have been resized and compressed for the web but not otherwise altered.

ImageWhat it showsCreditLicense
The 1933 Draconid meteor storm, photographed Oct 9, 1933The 1933 Draconid meteor storm, photographed Oct 9, 1933Ferdinand QuénissetPublic domain
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Large Magellanic Cloud above Earth's airglow from the ISS (iss072e278609)Large Magellanic Cloud above Earth's airglow from the ISS (iss072e278609)NASA/Don PettitPublic domain (NASA)
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Meteor camera set up on a 2007 airborne Perseid observing flightMeteor camera set up on a 2007 airborne Perseid observing flightNASA Ames/Eric JamesPublic domain (NASA)
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Park Forest meteorite with fusion crust (fell 2003, Illinois)Park Forest meteorite with fusion crust (fell 2003, Illinois)James St. JohnCC BY 2.0
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Crescent Moon setting, seen from the ISS (iss043e039312)Crescent Moon setting, seen from the ISS (iss043e039312)NASA/Terry VirtsPublic domain (NASA)
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Full Moon near perigee rising behind the U.S. Capitol, Mar 9, 2020Full Moon near perigee rising behind the U.S. Capitol, Mar 9, 2020NASA/Joel KowskyPublic domain (NASA)
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Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex in infrared, WISE (PIA13974)Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex in infrared, WISE (PIA13974)NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLAPublic domain (NASA)
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Moonrise over the Potomac, July 16, 2019Moonrise over the Potomac, July 16, 2019NASA/Bill IngallsPublic domain (NASA)
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Artist's impression of Sirius A and Sirius B (illustration)Artist's impression of Sirius A and Sirius B (illustration)NASA, ESA and G. Bacon (STScI)Public domain
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Delta Cephei and its bow shock, Spitzer ("Standard Candle in the Wind")Delta Cephei and its bow shock, Spitzer ("Standard Candle in the Wind")NASA/JPL-Caltech/M. Marengo (Iowa State)Public domain
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Eta Carinae and the Homunculus Nebula, Hubble WFPC2 (PIA20294)Eta Carinae and the Homunculus Nebula, Hubble WFPC2 (PIA20294)NASA, ESA and the Hubble SM4 ERO TeamPublic domain (NASA)
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Zodiacal light over Skull Valley, Utah, Mar 1, 2021 (PIA24432)Zodiacal light over Skull Valley, Utah, Mar 1, 2021 (PIA24432)NASA/JPL-CaltechPublic domain (NASA)
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Dimorphos stacked from DART's final images, Sep 26, 2022Dimorphos stacked from DART's final images, Sep 26, 2022NASA/Johns Hopkins APL; stacking by EydeetPublic domain
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Europa in color from Galileo data (PIA19048)Europa in color from Galileo data (PIA19048)NASA/JPL-Caltech/SETI InstitutePublic domain (NASA)
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Atlas V launch carrying Lucy, Oct 16, 2021Atlas V launch carrying Lucy, Oct 16, 2021NASA/Bill IngallsPublic domain (NASA)
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Large and Small Magellanic Clouds from the ISS (iss071e418742)Large and Small Magellanic Clouds from the ISS (iss071e418742)NASAPublic domain (NASA)
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Sunrise over Earth's limb from the ISS (iss040e080833)Sunrise over Earth's limb from the ISS (iss040e080833)NASAPublic domain (NASA)
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