“In space no one can hear you scream.” However, we’re here on Earth and don’t have to deal with Xenomorphs—yet—so we’re safe from space monsters. But you can still look to the stars to celebrate the spooky season this year. NASA has released all new retro-style Galaxy of Horror posters. They re-imagine very real, very terrifying cosmic phenomena into works of art.
NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA’s latest batch of gorgeous Galaxy of Horrors posters, designed in the style of vintage movie ads, could easily pass for real ’50s sci-fi films. The three new additions to the collection feature a dead galaxy, “an explosive gamma ray burst caused by colliding stellar corpses,” and “ever-elusive dark matter.” Each poster also includes details that reflect the real science behind each very rare event.
“One of the things I really like about these posters is that if you spend some time studying the art and then maybe go learn a little more about each of these topics, you’ll see there was a lot of thought by the artists about the choices they made to highlight the science,” said Jason Rhodes, an astrophysicist at JPL and consultant on the project, said in a press release.
NASA/JPL-Caltech
You can learn more about the science of each—and download the images for free— at NASA’s website.
The scientists and artists who worked on them obviously took some creative license, though. There’s no giant space spider crawling around dark matter’s web. At least we hope not. And there definitely wouldn’t be people around to see these cosmic events occur.
NASA/JPL-Caltech
“The poster art is a really fun way to imagine one of these happening,” said Judy Racusin, astrophysicist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and poster consultant. “But I wouldn’t want to be those space travelers!”
Neither would we. In space no one can hear you scream. Especially when a violent space phenomenon killed you in a nanosecond.
Featured Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech