Pa’s space photos
The real sky behind the stories
From his backyard in southern Australia, Pa captures the wonders of the sky: the Moon, the Sun and distant clouds of glowing gas. These are his own photos, inspired by the same curiosity he shares with his grandson through Grandpa Rocket’s adventures. Take a look together and see what you can discover.
The Moon
Pa’s photo of a nearly full Moon. The dark patches are huge, flat plains of old lava, and the bright spots are craters. Grandpa Rocket’s very first stop!
The Sun
Pa’s photo of our nearest star. Can you spot the dark specks? They are sunspots: patches made cooler by strong magnetic fields, so they look darker than the Sun around them. They are still very hot!
Stars, nebulae and the Milky Way
The big pink cloud is the Lagoon Nebula, a place where new stars are being born, about 4,000 light-years away. The smaller one is the Trifid Nebula. Pa took this from his backyard with a small telescope.
The Helix Nebula
Also known as the “Eye of God,” this glowing ring looks like a giant eye in space. Its gas was shed by an aging star. Can you find the pink ring and blue-green center in Pa’s photo?
All photos on this page were taken by Pa. Please don’t copy or reuse them without asking.