From the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex of IC 4603 to the Spirograph Nebula of IC 418, Elite Dangerous’s nebulae - the vast clouds of stardust that colour the galaxy - are some of its most awe-inspiring sights. As such, they also represent some of its best photography opportunities. Endlessly impressed by their skills in this field, we tasked our community of devoted players to swap their lasers for lenses once more and capture the beauty of this most beloved of cosmic phenomena. Below, you’ll find more than 50 prize-winning Elite Dangerous nebulae screenshots, and we suspect you’ll find them just as remarkable as we do. We’ve saved a couple of our favourites until last, so make sure you stick with us to the end.  

Block9’s Horsehead Nebula, by day and night

Block9 took their fleet carrier out on a grand voyage and, after landing on a distant planet, captured the famous Horsehead Nebula in the middle of the night, putting the nebula’s colours at the forefront: 

When morning came, they couldn’t help but pick up their camera one more time to capture the view at sunrise: 

Odinoji’s odyssey

Odinoji's shots, taken on a journey to Barnard’s Loop, are exceptional. Be sure to open their post to give each of them the attention they deserve. Follow their account while you’re at it!

Moonshade Gaming’s Trifid and Sadr nebulae

Moonshade Gaming tends to stick close to the Bubble, and so doesn’t come across nebulae all too often. But during a few short trips last year, they managed to capture the Trifid Nebula: 

“The pale blues shining from within the dark brown clouds just look so pretty, on approach and from within:”

They captured the Sadr Nebula too, “featuring a gas giant with colouring to match”:

Rac’s Catspaw Nebula

In the not too distant past, Rac teamed up with Esme Wyrd to explore the Catspaw Nebula, “It was a fun and beautiful trip to remember.” They flew different routes to get there but were met with the same stellar view:

Yan’s nebulous assortment:

yan57436 landed his ship on a planet inside the Pleiades Nebula, for a view that captures the Bernard’s Loop, Witch Head, Orion, and Pencil Nebula. It can't be viewed off Instagram, but you can check it out here.

CMDR Henckes’s Veil Nebula West

CMDR Henckes couldn’t decide between the midnight hues of the Veil Nebula West and the NGC 7822 Nebula. We can see why:

LiquidMorkite’s Eagle and Pleiades nebulae

LiquidMorkite's images of the Eagle and Pleiades nebulae show that commanders don’t need to venture too far from the Bubble to witness the galaxy’s majesty. 

MrBishB0sh’s Cinnabar and Thistle

MrBishb0sh treated us to two shots of two different nebulae. The first of which is Eodgorph PI-T e3-21, and is known as the Spear Thistle Nebula. It was taken from 4.1ly away on MrBishB0sh’s voyage to the centre of the galaxy. 

Earlier in their journey, they passed by Traikaae KT-P d6-10, also known as the Cinnabar Moth Nebula: 

AndyRice’s Orion Nebula

Framed by the hazy rings of the gas giant around which the Orion Nebulae Tourist Center orbits, AndyRice captured this epic shot:

USCSS’s Phroi Bluae dot

USCSS provides a selection of images of PHROI BLUAE QI-T E3-3454 located on the far side of the galaxy’s center. They discovered them on a trip to Beagle Point during September of 2024. You can find its location on the galaxy map here, seen as a distant pale blue dot here, from space here, or our personal favourite - from a planet’s surface - below:

Ilyssoll’s glimpse of the beyond

Rather than a closeup, Ilyssoll captured two distant nebulae that leave the mind wondering. 

“These nebulae are ones we can neither reach nor explore. They’re part of the skybox, but we’re left to imagine what it would look and feel like to be at their center. What if we had a second lost colony station in the heart of that majestic, terrifying astronomical anomaly?”

Cmdr Donald Duck’s nebula approach

During a short expedition, Jimmy0916 / Cmdr Donald Duck expertly captured the nebula NGC 7822, 2700ly to the galactic west of Sol. 

KPA1’s splitscreen stunner

We normally ask that our Elite Dangerous photographers disable the HUD, but we think it adds to the classic sci-fi feel of KPA1's well-composed shot of the Bubble Nebula. 

Stoikiy’s floating jellyfish

Following a recent expedition in their new ship, Stoikiy provided three nebulae screenshots, which you can find in their twitter post. We’d like to highlight the blended colours and jelly-fish like tendrils in our personal favourite below: 

CMDR_M’s flaming skies

CMDR_M spoiled us with a selection of goosebump-inducing shots. These first shots show the gap between the North America and Pelican nebulae:

And these next shots taken in the Sadr region show the Veil East Nebula. We love them so much we used one as the cover image for this article.

CMDR John Wick’s favourite feline

“Elite Dangerous doesn’t have dogs, but it has cats so it’s all good.” 

The Cats Paw Nebula is one of CMDR John Wick's favourites, and he recommends it for any pilot looking for an accessible vacation: 

Eskimo1313’s fire and ice

Is there any colour combination so pleasing to the eye as midnight blue and burnt orange? Eskimo1313's quad shots of the Bubble Nebula would suggest not:

MrT’s ugly duckling

Poor old EGNAIX AA-A H91. MrT describes it as “probably one of the smallest and worst looking nebulae in Elite Dangerous.” Perhaps one day a cosmic event will turn it into a majestic swan:

Ingka’s cosmic rose

Talking of majesty, how about ingka's shot of Eorld Byoe YA-W e2-4084, captured from within the Rose Nebula:

Roin’s explorers’ blessing

Roin's shot of NGC 7822 has no thrills and doesn’t need them, it’s a classic example of a sight that Elite Dangerous explorers will travel far and wide to see: 

MQC’s magnum Ophiuchus

MQC headed out to IC 4604 to capture these gorgeous shots of the Rho Ophiuchus Nebula, also known as The Flying Saucer Nebula. If you visit their reward submission, you’ll also discover some gorgeous aquamarine shots of the Fly Trap Nebula. 

XCezor’s Californian vacation

XCezor headed out to the California Nebula, which they nickname the Interceptor Nebula due to its resemblance to a Thargoid Interceptor. Funnily enough, a few jumps away they were hyperdicted by an Interceptor. The momentary disabling of the ship granted the opportunity for the third shot in their collection. 

Beetlejude’s roadtrip 

Not content with just the astronomical equivalent of the Golden State, Beetlejude took a grand trip to the North America, Gorgon, Veil, and Sadr nebulae. 

“I like that the North America Nebula is so bright and contrasts with the orange and lime Sadr Nebula. I enjoy the sense of false perspective that the asteroids in the planetary ring provide, almost like a pond with lilypads. The second shot is a close up of the North America Nebula taken from just above the surface of a planet with a thin atmosphere. The nebula became more faint as I descended into the atmosphere, but I liked the altitude that I captured this one at; it made the nebula look like distant mountains.”

Jaques Ufaltred’s screenshot you can’t refuse

Horsehead isn’t the most charming name for a nebula as beautiful as this, but at least Jaques Ufaltred has done it justice. 

“Where is the nebula, you ask? Everywhere. [Insert Woody and Buzz meme here].”

CMDR_nailz_ puts a ring on it 

At least Shapley 1’s nickname - the Fine Ring Nebula - is more fitting. Here’s CMDR_nailz_ showing just how mighty fine it is:

JHenckes’s crimson cloud

What’s the Platonic ideal of a nebula? We’re a few philosophy doctorates short of qualified to answer that, but we suspect it might look a little something like JHenckes's shots below: 

jnTracks’s alien ant farm

Taken during a short break in Eulail QX-t d3-102 during a long journey in their Cobra MK3, jnTracks's nebula glows above termite-tower-like structures on a barren world.

Hunter’s perfect quarry

The North America Nebula returns. Hunter has captured his prey from four different angles. We particularly like the illusory from-the-cockpit image:

Dydo’s black hole remnants 

“The NGC 7822 Nebula is home to O-type stars, the most luminous and massive of the main-sequence stars. These characteristics also make them among the shortest-lived (one to ten million years). As a result, this nebula is filled with black hole remnants from the supernovae of O-type stars, making it an excellent candidate for studying this phenomenon.”

Alec_Turner’s favourites

Alec_Turner provided a multicoloured array of their favourite nebulae; a small sample of the diverse wonder the galaxy has on offer:  

“The first was taken on a trip to Colonia, the second and third from one of the prettiest systems I've visited (BD-12 1172 in the Spirograph Nebula), and the last I sadly don't remember, but I'm sure someone will recognise it.”

Let us know in the comments if you’re that special someone!

Doc’s distinguished delights

Doc can’t remember where his deep-space nebulae screenshots were taken either. If you recognise any of them, you know what to do!

Esme Wyrd’s survivors

Esme Wyrd sadly encountered every Elite explorer’s worst nightmare: a dead hard drive. Fortunately, they were able to salvage a few images, like the shots below of the Bubble Nebula and Robin’s Egg Nebula. 

CmdrTravisRobicheaux’s mirrored fates

CmdrTravisRobicheaux just submitted the one shot, and we love the sense of scale provided by the crop. It has the feel of a frozen lake reflecting a vivid sky. 

Slamscape’s showcase

Slamscape has gone on one too many exploration expeditions to know where they found the nebulae below. Wherever they are, we’d like to see them. 

Niceygy’s dust devil

One of the most unique shots in the whole collection, Niceygy's nebula photograph, taken along the Colonia bridge just before Rohini, makes us think of a desert sandstorm. 

LCU_No_Fool_Like_One’s masterpieces 

We weren’t lying when we told you that we saved a couple of our favourites until last. The majesty of LCU No Fool Like One nebulae screenshots speak for themselves. Our jaws hit the floor. 

Matt G’s fantastic finale

And last but lightyears from least, we have these sea green marvels from Matt G: 

“This is body B 4, an Earth-like world in EG-Y e151. This system is inside a planetary nebula, giving the space around it a wonderful green aura.” 

Did you enjoy these Elite Dangerous screenshots? Who are we kidding - we know you did. The good news is that there’s plenty more where that came from, check out our galleries of our Elite Dangerous landed-ship screenshots and our Elite Dangerous planets from space screenshots. We’ll be publishing plenty more, so be sure to favourite Just and get involved in our ever-present screenshot contests for your chance to win cash prizes!

Some text has been edited for brevity, clarity, or spelling, punctuation, and grammar. You can find the original wording here. Image credit: Frontier Developments and CMDR M.