Tilt-Shift Effect Applied to Photographs of the Cosmos to Create a ‘Tiny Universe’

Photographs of galaxies far far away rarely convey just how large what you’re looking at really is — after all, how can you even fathom something that is measured in light years across. But these photos of the cosmos do an even worse job. By applying the tilt-shift effect in post, these photos show galaxies and nebulae look like they could fit comfortably in the palm of your hand.

Credit for the idea belongs to Imgur user ScienceLlama, who took photographs from ESA, NASA and the Hubble Heritage Team and altered them by applying a tilt-shift effect in post. By narrowing the depth of field, ScienceLlama makes you feel like you’re staring at a little puff of pink smoke when, in reality, what you see is a nebula that is multiple light years across.

Here’s a look at some of the images he altered:

You can see much higher resolution versions of all of these images by visiting ScienceLlama’s original Imgur gallery here. Or, if you want to browse through many more images like this, just minus the tilt-shift, head over to any of the source links above for more spectacular photographs of the cosmos.

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Image credits: Photo credits included in captions, altered by ScienceLlama