Wednesday marks the 50th anniversary of the , when astronaut Ed White became the “first American to step outside his spacecraft and let go, effectively setting himself adrift in the zero gravity of space,” NASA writes. He floated around the Gemini spacecraft for 23 minutes.

Since then, our intimate knowledge of the vastness of space has expanded exponentially. NASA has engineered more than 250 spacewalks, and earlier in 2014, the agency sent a man to spend a full year on the International Space Station, something never-before attempted. Much of what we’ve learned has been captured in awe-inspiring images, like the 11 that follow.

A Glowing Nebula

A “” just sounds like it would be cool, and this new image from the European Southern Observatory doesn’t disappoint. The red here is a “cloud of glowing hydrogen gas,” with a “collection of blue foreground stars,” the ESO reports. The Very Large Telescope in Chile took this great shot.

(Credit: ESO)

The Sun’s Magnetic Field

What you’re looking at is , believe it or not. In this photo taken by NASA’s Atmospheric Imaging Assembly, which lives on the Solar Dynamics Observatory, the silver lines represent the sun’s magnetic field (aka coronal loops) and the blue and yellow, the field’s opposing polarities.

(Credit: NASA/SDO)

Floating in Space

The crew of mission STS-115 spent 12 days in space in 2006. Here, American astronaut Joseph R. Tanner installs a part called a , one of the 11 such structures. The goal of these was to help the ISS store and generate power, and to keep the solar arrays pointed toward the sun.

(Credit: NASA)

Solar Burst

When , the resulting images evoke bursts of exploding light. The one captured Jan. 12, 2015 — the first notable of the year, according to NASA — is no exception. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory photographed the event.

(Credit: NASA/SDO)

Thor’s Helmet

On the eve of the ESO’s 50th anniversary in 2012, the organization released this image of the Thor’s Helmet Nebula, which sits 15,000 light-years away from Earth. It’s also more than 30 light-years wide. The ESO calls the helmet itself a “.”

(Credit: ESO/B. Bailleul)

The Milky Way

This looks at the galaxy in infrared light, highlighting its millions of stars and the clouds of dust called nebulae. The constellation Cassiopeia, usually so vibrant and one of the most obvious in the sky, in this picture takes a back seat to the lesser known, shimmery gas balls.

(Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA)

Another Look at the Milky Way

This other-worldly image is a very different look at the from the one above, a snapshot in time of the antennas of the ALMA telescope framing the galaxy, with constellations Carina (The Keel) and Vela (The Sails) in the background.

(Credit: ESO/B. Tafreshi (twanight.org))

Mars Dust Storm

On Mars, winds can gust at speeds of up to 60 miles an hour, resulting in giant that leave behind massive craters. In this composite image of the Red Planet’s Becquerel crater within Arabia Terra, taken in 2006 and 2008, dust likely mixed with volcanic ash to create the darker colors we see.

(Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum))

Salute to the Flag

Apollo 16 commander, Astronaut John W. Young, takes a minute to on the moon. Pilot Charles M. Duke Jr., took the image of this very American moment in space. The 1972 Apollo 16 mission was the — and got them home safely.

(Credit: NASA)

Rosetta Close-up

At first glance it looks like a rock, but this comet is famous, , the first to have had a lander bounce and rest on its surface, in November 2014. This photo was taken on May 3, 2015, from about 80 miles away by Rosetta’s NAVCAM.

(Credit: ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM)

Hubble Captures Messier

In its 25 years of work, The Hubble Telescope has captured some really cool shots, like this one of , which lives 33,000 light-years away from Earth. The star cluster gets its name from French astronomer Charles Messier. Its number is 68 for the 68th entry in Messier’s catalog.

(Credit: ESA/Hubble and NASA)

MORE FROM WEATHER.COM: 100 More Photos from Hubble

April 24 marks the 25th anniversary of the Hubble Telescope. To celebrate, NASA and the European Space Agency, which jointly run the telecope, released this image of the star cluster Westerlund 2. (NASA/ESA/Hubble Heritage Team/A. Nota/Westerlund 2 Science Team)