Gold

Pipe Nebula

Juno: Jupiter and the Galilean moons from 10.9 million km away, June 21st 2016. The probe will enter orbit around Jupiter on July 4th. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

“Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than those you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from safe harbor. Catch the wind in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

— Mark Twain

Photos of space are everywhere online. Their beauty is dazzling, showing a universe awash in color and light. But if you’re a skeptic, you’ve likely wondered whether it all truly looks like that in real life. Michael Benson took data from NASA and ESA missions to make 77 images of everything from Pluto to Europa. In his exhibition Otherworlds: Visions of Our Solar System, Benson tries his best to create images that represent what a moon or planet might actually look like if you could peer at it out a spaceship window. Check out more photos and read about Benson’s project.

The Ringed Planet

Chocolate Quartz 

Locality:  Lian Ping Quartz Mine, Guangdong Province, China.

Mimetite

Locality: Filón Sur, Tharsis, Huelva, Andalusia, Spain

Cinnabar on Dolomite on Matrix

Locality:  Tongren Mine, Tongren Co., Tongren Prefecture, Guizhou Province, China.

Little Owl by Pim Leijen