NASA’s social media game has always been strong, and why wouldn’t it be? With outer-space images of far-away galaxies, planets, and what not, the international space agency has managed to keep both space fanatics and the internet on the hook. The year 2022 was quite significant for NASA if we talk about the images it released for the public. These pictures were not only ground-breaking but fascinating to look at. So, here we bring to you the top most viral images released by NASA in 2022 that took our breath away!
1. The Deepest Infrared Image of the Universe
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope took an accurate and the deepest infrared picture of the distant universe ever known to humankind. In this picture, from Webb’s first Deep Field is a galaxy known as SMACS 0723, according to NASA’s website. Thousands of other galaxies can be seen swarming along with it, even the faintest object can be easily located in the infrared. The galaxy cluster seen in this picture appeared 4.6 billion years ago. An in-depth analysis on this cluster is under process, as researchers are studying the data provided from Webb telescope.
2. Carina Nebula
This picture of glittering stars which appears like a landscape of mountains and valleys actually is of a young star forming region NGC 3323 labeled as Carina Nebula. This image was captured by NASA in infrared light and for the first time it revealed the areas of star birth which one not visible earlier.
3. The Smiling Sun
NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the Sun ”smiling”. This picture was taken in ultraviolet light, the dark spots visible on the sun are called coronal holes. It is located in the region where fast solar wind streams out into space. The image went viral as soon as it was shared by NASA.
4. Remains of a Supernova
This image depicts the residue of a supernova which is around 9,000 light years from our planet Earth. Blank space is spotted with tiny white stars in the image. A swirling network of colours of red, purple, green, yellow and blue makes up the core of the image adjoining the neutron star in blue.
5. Star-studded Cosmic Cloud
In this picture, a portion of the open cluster NGC 6530 is seen from NASA/ESA Hubble space Telescope. Under this cluster several stars are lying around 4,350 light years from Earth in the constellation named Sagittarius. The cluster is situated within a larger Lagoon Nebula, which is an enormous interstellar cloud of gas and dust, as per NASA’s website.