#Photographs for the Unusual: Space 10/1

Pismis 24 IN NCG 6357 Nasa, ESA and IAA

This image looks like it was created in an artist’s imagination, but it was captured by the Hubble space telescope. The lower part is the vast nebula of gas and dust; the upper half shows the cluster of stars known as Pismis 24.

Photograph: Nasa, ESA and Jesús Maíz Apell

Unravelling Saturn’s rings

Using data from the Cassini spacecraft, this image has been coloured to show the size of the particles that make up Saturn’s rings. For example, purple areas are made up of particles larger than 5cm in diameter.

Photograph: NASA/JPL

Infinity Mirrored Room – The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away, 2013, Yayoi Kusama

Photograph: Victoria Miro, London; Yayoi Kusama Inc

Trip To The Moon, 1969, Hammond Inc

Photograph: David Rumsey Map Collection

Fallen Astronaut, Paul van Hoeydonck

This tiny statue and plaque were left on the moon by Apollo 15 commander, David Scott, without the knowledge of Nasa. The idea was initiated by Belgian artist Van Hoeydonck. Scott agreed to take the aluminium figure and added a memorial plaque with the names of the six Soviet cosmonauts and eight US astronauts who had died during the space race. Due to the moon’s lack of atmosphere, the figure should rest undisturbed for as long as the moon survives.

Photograph: Hadley Rille, the moon, 1971