The best space photography books allow us to get a glimpse of the cosmos like never before. Heading towards the stars is not a reality for most of us, but being able to gaze upon beautiful photos allows us to get closer than ever. In this guide, we've rounded up our favorite space photography books, all gathering together beautiful astrophotography that we simply love.
Our guide includes a range of books, including Chris Hadfield's 'You Are Here', which documents his five-month stay on the International Space Station. We've also featured 'Planetfall: New Solar system Visions' by Michael Benson, a gorgeous coffee table book filled with glossy images of alien landscapes.
No matter what type of space photography you want to admire, you'll find something to suit here. These books are beautiful and are well deserving of a place on your bookshelf.
We are constantly reading new and classic space books to find our favorite takes on the universe. Our recently-read books in all categories can be found in our guide to the best space books. Or you can browse our ongoing space books coverage in full.
The quick list
A photographic journey through the Apollo 11 mission, including many unseen moments that paint an incredible picture of this important mission.
A collection of photos taken of Earth and the surrounding space from the International Space Station.
A collection of over 150 photographs taken by Tim Peake while on the International Space Station.
Don Pettit captured some incredible images over his three space missions, and the best of them are displayed in this beautiful book.
This fascinating book focuses entirely on abandoned facilities that were once part of NASA's space program.
This collection of photos and essays tells the story of STS-125, the last crewed mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope.
Chris Hadfield documents his time aboard the International Space Station with a gorgeous collection of photographs and notes.
This fascinating tour of the galaxy contains mesmerizing images of not only Earth but Mars, Saturn, Jupiter, the sun and asteroids.
Picturing Apollo 11
✅ You want to learn about Apollo 11: The book completely centers on this historicla mission.
❌ You want planetscapes: This focuses on the human aspect of the mission
🔎 Picturing Apollo 11: This is a gorgeous book that humanizes a historical space mission, with lots of behind-the-scenes and never-before-seen photographs. ★★★★½
In the new book Picturing Apollo 11: Rare Views and Undiscovered Moments (University Press of Florida, April 2019), spaceflight historian J.L. Pickering and journalist John Bisney paint an incredible, vivid picture of what it was really like to be a part of the Apollo 11 mission.
The book features a wealth of images from 1969, primarily from January through the lunar landing in July, which show lesser-seen scenes from the Apollo program. From difficult training moments to mundane meetings, the images in this book really humanize the larger-than-life Apollo 11 astronauts. It is easy to look back at Apollo 11 through a romanticized lens, but this book makes it clear just how gritty, funny and real the mission really was.
You'll find more information about Picturing Apollo 11 elsewhere on the website, along with some of the beautiful photos from the book.
Infinite Wonder
✅ You want to know more about the ISS: This is all about life on the International Space Station.
❌ You want photos of multiple planets: This is focused on views of Earth from the ISS.
🔎 Infinite Wonder: Most of us can't even imagine life on the ISS, but this book brings us closer to understanding what that must be like. ★★★★
Scott Kelly spent a record-breaking 340 days on the International Space Station, taking tens of thousands of images of the planet spinning below during his time there. This made him the perfect guide to show off the wonders of Earth.
This new large-format photobook, Infinite Wonder: An Astronaut's Photographs From a Year in Space, combines images he took of the Space Station and Earth with super-zoomed-in views of unusual parts of the planet's surface, as well as photos of his launch, landing and other parts of the historic mission.
The book combines large, colorful images with Kelly's descriptions of the mission and interesting Earth features, and it makes a great companion to his recent memoir "Endurance" or a good stand-alone showpiece.
Kelly has previously guided Space.com through some of his favorite photos, and has talked to us about the book. You can also look through a short gallery of photo picks.
Hello, Is This Planet Earth?
✅ You want unique perspectives on Earth: Tim Peake's collection of photos covers all corners of Earth as seen from the ISS.
❌ You want photos of wider space: This focuses solely on Earth.
🔎 Hello, Is This Planet Earth?: Tim Peake has documented his time on the ISS with this fantastic collection of photographs, along with notes and anecdotes of his time there. ★★★★
The photo book of British astronaut Tim Peake, Hello, Is This Planet Earth? takes its name from an unusual moment during his six months on the International Space Station — he tried to call his family on Christmas Eve in 2015, but dialed the wrong number instead, confusing the answerer with an unusual greeting. Yes, you guessed it: "Hello, is this Planet Earth?"
Hello, Is This Planet Earth? is filled with Peake's favorite photo selections from his time on the International Space Station. He's captured night and day, oceans and rivers, mountains and deserts, towns and cities, and the Earth overall, as well as the satellites, cargo craft and other gear that made appearances during his time on the space station.
His images are interspersed with descriptions of how he captured the photos and anecdotes about his time in space.
Read more about the book, or see a gallery of some of the book's images.
Spaceborne
✅ You want unique photos of Earth: Another collection of photos from the ISS, Pettit has used techniques like long exposure to get interesting and unique shots.
❌ You want to see more planets: Again, Spaceborne focuses on Earth.
🔎 Spaceborne: Another great collection of photos from the ISS, featuring unique compositions and a clever use of light. ★★★★
NASA astronaut Don Pettit's stunning space photographs fill the pages of Spaceborne, a glossy photo collection that spotlights the ever-changing Earth, streaking stars and the details of the International Space Station.
Over the course of Pettit's three space missions, he captured hundreds of thousands of photographs documenting an astronaut's view — and the best of them are collected in this book.
Pettit's photographs of cities at night feature alongside Earth's natural wonders, auroras and glowing atmosphere, often framed by the space station's outstretched solar panels and modules. Long-exposure photos create psychedelic streaks on Earth and whirling star trails above, taking full advantage of an astronaut's unique vantage point, and Pettit talks readers through the sights and how he captured them.
Read Space.com's Q&A with Pettit on space photography, or see a gallery of Spaceborne images.
Abandoned in Place
✅ You want to see abandoned space tech: These views are utterly fascinating.
❌ You'd rather see natural views: This book doesn't concern itself with planetscapes.
🔎 Abandoned In Place: The views here are incredible, and offer us a glimpse of something we don't often see. ★★★★★
In Abandoned in Place, photographer Roland Miller takes readers on a tour of abandoned facilities that once served NASA's human spaceflight program.
The images of unused launch towers, empty science offices and antiquated technology are visually striking, and carry the ghosts of long-gone missions.
Miller is a photographer and teacher by day, but he has been photographing unused NASA facilities for thirty years as a side project. Some of the sites featured in the book — particularly those at Cape Canaveral, Florida — are being quickly eroded by saltwater, and Miller, a child of the Apollo era, said he started to feel a sense of obligation to preserve these monuments, which stand as a symbol of one of humanity's greatest accomplishments.
Read more about the book and see its haunting images, or read an op-ed by the author.
Infinite Worlds
✅ You want behind-the-scenes access to a full mission: This book tells the story of STS-125
❌ You're not interested in the Hubble Telescope: STS-125 was a mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope.
🔎 Infinite Worlds: This is a fantastic behind-the-scenes view at a specific mission, giving us an unparalleled glimpse into life at NASA. ★★★★
Packed from cover to cover with stunning images taken on the ground and in space, Infinite Worlds: The People and Places of Space Exploration tells the story of STS-125, the last crewed mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope.
Photographer Michael Soluri was granted nearly unrestricted access to the mission program leading up to the launch of STS-125, and the behind-the-scenes images featured in this book will thrill NASA fans.
These masterful photographs capture the bare reality of preparing for a crewed space mission. The book's text includes essays by the astronauts and other mission staff. It also features images taken by the crew during the mission, and of course, images by the Hubble Telescope. This is a fantastic addition to any spaceflight book collection.
You can see photos from Infinite Worlds or watch a video of Soluri discussing the book and the Hubble Telescope.
You Are Here
✅ You followed Chris Hadfield's social media: When he was on the ISS, Chris Hadfield racked up millions of followers online, and this book is an extension of that.
❌ You want to see more of space: Based from the ISS, You Are Here centers on images of Earth.
🔎 You Are Here: Chris Hadfield's adventures on the ISS were documented on social media, and this book delves deeper with gorgeous photos and anecdotes of his time there. ★★★★½
Chris Hadfield made a name for himself on social media during his five-month stay on the International Space Station in 2012-2013 by tweeting from space, recording humorous videos and even playing guitar. The Canadian astronaut, like most visitors to the space station, also took innumerable photos looking back down at Earth.
In You Are Here: Around the World in 92 Minutes, Hadfield has compiled his favorite photos into one tour over the surface of the Earth as seen from space.
Besides describing what's happening in the photos, he also compares them to more commonplace sights: desert sand like the storms of Jupiter, sprinkled icing over Australia, the "Eye of the Sahara" and more.
On the heels of An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth (Little, Brown, 2013), which offers advice and anecdotes from space, this book takes a step back and lets an astronaut's view (mostly) speak for itself.
Watch a video interview with Hadfield about the book.
Planetfall
✅ You want to see the planets: This book features gorgeous, alien landscapes across our Galaxy.
❌ You'd rather focus on Earth: There are other books on this list that focus on Earth.
🔎 Planetfall: This huge book is a celebration of our galaxy, featuring stunning landscape photos from a number of planets. ★★★★½
Planetfall: New Solar System Visions is an oversized tome filled with page after page of alien landscapes — its pages tour Earth, the moon, the sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and the asteroids and comets that inhabit our solar system.
Author Michael Benson, who published two previous books of celestial images, created the images by processing raw spacecraft data to reproduce what the human eye would see from each viewpoint in space.
The book is a celebration of the robotic probes and astronaut photographers that have set out to explore the solar system, and the enormous images put the viewer right among the dunes of Mars, on the Moon with Earth peeking over the horizon and alongside a tiny, steam-ejecting moon among the rings of Saturn. And as alien as those vistas look, it's surprisingly easy to feel like you're standing right there. —Sarah Lewin
Read a Q&A with author Michael Benson.
How we test
Our picks of the best space photography books have been carefully selected by our team of space experts and enthusiasts. We've read and enjoyed these books, selecting them based on just now how much we've enjoyed them, but also on their content. Being photography books, we've chosen them based on how eye-catching and beautiful their imagery is, but we've also taken into consideration their accompanying material.
These are all books from reputable sources, with most being put together by actual astronauts or people who have otherwise spent time on the International Space Station, or around NASA properties in some capacity.
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