Where to get large hires NASA images

The cosmos at our fingertips.
Post Reply
Pegasus
Ensign
Posts: 21
Joined: Mon Oct 24, 2005 2:48 pm

Where to get large hires NASA images

Post by Pegasus » Mon Oct 11, 2010 4:29 am

I have been using NASA's public domain images on the web for a while. I now want to use them for some printed material (for a project that I believe is within NASA's usage guidelines). However, I'm having trouble finding many of the NASA images that I already have in lowres or small size images.

I need images that ideally are minimum 300dpi and at least 1000px in one or both dimensions. I'm especially looking for oblique angles of the Earth from orbit showing the blue glow of the atmosphere, and some I've also seen with the Moon hovering just above the glow. I'm looking for just the Earth and/or Moon; that is, nothing man-made in the picture. I'm also aware of some images that seem to show either a solar eclipse shadow or a line where day becomes night on the Earth. I know there are a number of these kinds of images floating around; unfortunately, these seem to be especially hard to find now. Maybe I'm not using the right search terms (e.g. earth atmosphere moon). I have no idea which mission(s) might have taken the images, so I can't specify this in a search.

I've found a few sites that have long lists of the images they have, but no thumbnails (so I'll be ready to retire by the time I go through them all!). Most of the NASA image sites seem to have only a select few images to offer, and many of them only 640x480px. I would prefer larger or else my images will look very pixelated. I've even looked through some of the paying photo sites but haven't found any of this particular kind of image. NASA makes reference to some image labs that will do prints and scans, although I only see one listed. I'm not looking for a hardcopy, but a digital format. And it's very disappointing to think that hires images that used to be freely available might now be available only commercially.

I'm hoping someone here can help me find a source of these kinds of images, preferably free as my budget is pretty flat. Thanks in advance for any suggestions or links that anyone can share. :)

User avatar
bystander
Apathetic Retiree
Posts: 21593
Joined: Mon Aug 28, 2006 2:06 pm
Location: Oklahoma

Re: Where to get large hires NASA images

Post by bystander » Mon Oct 11, 2010 5:27 am


User avatar
BMAONE23
Commentator Model 1.23
Posts: 4076
Joined: Wed Feb 23, 2005 6:55 pm
Location: California

Re: Where to get large hires NASA images

Post by BMAONE23 » Mon Oct 11, 2010 4:43 pm

If you have the ability to print in large size color yourself Like an HP4000 printer then here are many large size images
http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/katalogos.php and contains 820+ pages with 16000+ images

Pegasus
Ensign
Posts: 21
Joined: Mon Oct 24, 2005 2:48 pm

Re: Where to get large hires NASA images

Post by Pegasus » Mon Oct 11, 2010 4:45 pm

Thank you, bystander. Much appreciated. I was only aware of one of those sites. They look promising for many images that can be helpful to my project.

Unfortunately, Hubble doesn't seem to "do" Earth or the Moon. So I still need sources of high quality pics of the Earth and our Moon, if anyone else can help with that. Thanks!

Pegasus
Ensign
Posts: 21
Joined: Mon Oct 24, 2005 2:48 pm

Re: Where to get large hires NASA images

Post by Pegasus » Mon Oct 11, 2010 5:15 pm

BMAONE23 wrote:If you have the ability to print in large size color yourself Like an HP4000 printer then here are many large size images
http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/katalogos.php and contains 820+ pages with 16000+ images
BMAONE23, thank you for the link. Their images all seem to be close-ups that focus on specific areas. Some of these images could be used as interesting background textures, but nothing that shows Earth or the Moon from a distance.

So I'm still looking for Earth and Moon images. I'm going to upload some examples of the kind of pics I'm looking for. Maybe someone will recognize them. Even just knowing which mission they were from would be helpful, since I would be able to narrow down my search.

Thanks again in advance! :)
Attachments
I think I've seen several variations on this image or similar images, which I would love to find in high res.
I think I've seen several variations on this image or similar images, which I would love to find in high res.
This looks like it's a zoom-in of a larger image, which I would love to find. I originally found this at jsc.nasa.gov.
This looks like it's a zoom-in of a larger image, which I would love to find. I originally found this at jsc.nasa.gov.
Since there are shadow lines on both sides of the Earth image, I'm wondering if this might show an eclipse shadow? I originally found this at jsc.nasa.gov.
Since there are shadow lines on both sides of the Earth image, I'm wondering if this might show an eclipse shadow? I originally found this at jsc.nasa.gov.

Pegasus
Ensign
Posts: 21
Joined: Mon Oct 24, 2005 2:48 pm

Re: Where to get large hires NASA images

Post by Pegasus » Mon Oct 11, 2010 9:19 pm

I was finally able to find all of these and more! And they have thumbnail browsing and hires formats, too. It takes a while to find what you're looking for, but they've got a huge library of images here:

http://nasaimages.org

Many thanks to the people who replied. Maybe this thread will help someone else looking for images. :)

User avatar
alter-ego
Serendipitous Sleuthhound
Posts: 1123
Joined: Mon Apr 21, 2008 4:51 am
Location: Redmond, WA

Re: Where to get large hires NASA images

Post by alter-ego » Wed Oct 20, 2010 7:48 pm

How about a large root beer?
0dsc01783.jpg
A pessimist is nothing more than an experienced optimist

Post Reply