Skip to main content
PC Gamer PC Gamer THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES
UK EditionUK US EditionUS CA EditionCanada AU EditionAustralia
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Games
  • Hardware
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Guides
  • Video
  • Forum
  • More
    • PC Gaming Show
    • Software
    • Movies & TV
    • Codes
    • Coupons
    • Magazine
    • Newsletter
    • Affiliate links
    • Meet the team
    • Community guidelines
    • About PC Gamer
PC Gamer Magazine Subscription
PC Gamer Magazine Subscription
Why subscribe?
  • Subscribe to the world's #1 PC gaming mag
  • Try a single issue or save on a subscription
  • Issues delivered straight to your door or device
From$1
Subscribe now
Don't miss these
Arc Raiders Lay of the Land: A scenic shot of the launch tower on the Spaceport map as the sunsets.
Action Huh, Arc Raiders' maps are heavily based on real-world locations: 'Spaceport was actually done in Tenerife'
Arc Raiders extraction characters
Games The best PC games to play right now
Terra Invicta ship artwork
Strategy If you've got a spare 200 hours, the massively ambitious sci-fi grand strategy from the creators of X-COM: The Long War just launched out of early access
PC Gamer's Game of the Year 2025
Games PC Gamer's Game of the Year Awards 2025
The official splashscreen for Steam, showing the logo at the centre and various games as horizontal tiles in the background.
Platforms 9 big things Steam needs to improve in 2026
Great God Grove art of a character smiling while holding another smaller character in their fist
Gaming Industry 30 hidden gems from 2025 to grab before the Steam Winter Sale ends
PC Gamer Top 100 2025
Games The top 100 PC games
The protagonist of Freelancer: The Nomad Legacy sits in a bar. An embossed brass image of a Chinese dragon hangs on the wall behind him.
Sim A classic space sim conceived by Star Citizen's creator just got an unofficial sequel after 15 years of development: 'The project was based on the crazy idea that Microsoft "axed" Chris Roberts' Freelancer'
A grinning Henry and Capon ride proud-looking steeds.
RPG The best RPGs on PC
Counter-Strike 2 header image
Games The best free PC games
Delita in Final Fantasy Tactics: Ivalice Chronicles remake as he rides a chocobo in the opening movie.
Games The best laptop games
Call-of-Duty-Black-Ops-7-David-Mason
Games New games 2025: The year's PC game releases
Games The best free games on Steam
Astarion thinking in Baldur's Gate 3.
Games Think you know gaming? Test your knowledge with PC Gamer's fiendish quizzes
TF2 christmas
Games What games did you play over the holidays?
Popular
  • CES 2026
  • GOTY Awards
  • Best PC gear
  • Arc Raiders
  • PC Gamer Quizzes!
  1. Games

57 amazing space screenshots for your desktop

Features
By Ian Birnbaum published 9 September 2016

Incredible sights from EVE, Star Citizen, Mass Effect, and more.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

It’s hard to picture space without getting a bit romantic and philosophical. Looking up at the stars is arguably humanity’s oldest form of entertainment. Space reminds us who we are, who we were, and who we’re trying to be. Space gives us distance and perspective from our pale blue dot, and it invites us to our most dangerous challenges.

A lot of our favorite games are set in space, and it’s no coincidence that many of those games are absurdly gorgeous. We want to look at beautiful space pictures all the time, so we rounded up the best shots on the web and brought them all to one place.

Some of these pictures have run on PC Gamer before, usually captured by screenshot maestro Andy Kelly in pixel-boosted 4K glory. We found others by crawling through subreddits and Steam community groups in search of awe-inspiring starships and nebulas. All of them are worthy of adorning your desktop.

Want 'em all? We've packaged the whole lot of hi-res images as a zip file.

Page 1 of 58
Page 1 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 2 of 58
Page 2 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 3 of 58
Page 3 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 4 of 58
Page 4 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 5 of 58
Page 5 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 6 of 58
Page 6 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 7 of 58
Page 7 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 8 of 58
Page 8 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 9 of 58
Page 9 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 10 of 58
Page 10 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 11 of 58
Page 11 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 12 of 58
Page 12 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 13 of 58
Page 13 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 14 of 58
Page 14 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 15 of 58
Page 15 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 16 of 58
Page 16 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 17 of 58
Page 17 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 18 of 58
Page 18 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 19 of 58
Page 19 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 20 of 58
Page 20 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 21 of 58
Page 21 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 22 of 58
Page 22 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 23 of 58
Page 23 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 24 of 58
Page 24 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 25 of 58
Page 25 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 26 of 58
Page 26 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 27 of 58
Page 27 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 28 of 58
Page 28 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 29 of 58
Page 29 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 30 of 58
Page 30 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 31 of 58
Page 31 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 32 of 58
Page 32 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 33 of 58
Page 33 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 34 of 58
Page 34 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 35 of 58
Page 35 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 36 of 58
Page 36 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 37 of 58
Page 37 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 38 of 58
Page 38 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 39 of 58
Page 39 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 40 of 58
Page 40 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 41 of 58
Page 41 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 42 of 58
Page 42 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 43 of 58
Page 43 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 44 of 58
Page 44 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 45 of 58
Page 45 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 46 of 58
Page 46 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 47 of 58
Page 47 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 48 of 58
Page 48 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 49 of 58
Page 49 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 50 of 58
Page 50 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 51 of 58
Page 51 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 52 of 58
Page 52 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 53 of 58
Page 53 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 54 of 58
Page 54 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 55 of 58
Page 55 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 56 of 58
Page 56 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 57 of 58
Page 57 of 58

Open full-sized image

Page 58 of 58
Page 58 of 58
TOPICS
Best of
PRODUCTS
Elite: Dangerous Star Citizen Kerbal Space Program Mass Effect 3 Mass Effect Universe Sandbox Take On Mars EVE Online
Ian Birnbaum
Share by:
  • Facebook
  • X
  • Whatsapp
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • Flipboard
Share this article
Join the conversation
Follow us
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Read more
A blue sky background with text that reads: "PC Gamer Presents PC gaming Show: Most Wanted Powered by Xbox Game Pass"
Every game, trailer, and announcement in the 2025 PC Gaming Show: Most Wanted
 
 
A ship flies towards the atmosphere in No Man's Sky.
No Man's Sky embraces the 'thrill of space-walking' with new space wrecks to explore and salvage
 
 
A screenshot of a port of the original Doom, running on ESA's OPS-SAT satellite in 2024
The 25th anniversary of the ISS operationally in orbit reminded me the ESA once challenged an Assassin's Creed and Far Cry dev to get DOOM running on a satellite
 
 
No Man's Sky Mass Effect Normandy SR-1
No Man's Sky is rerunning all of its expeditions from 2025, while also giving players another chance to add Mass Effect's Normandy to their spaceship collection
 
 
Best open world games - A warrior on horseback looking at the Scadutree in Elden Ring
The best open world games
 
 
Knight in black armor with blue skin holding ice spear in tundra landscape
25 great Steam games you probably missed in 2025⁠—from freebies to $40
 
 
Latest in Games
Three adventurers in Hytale stand poised to do battle in an ancient ruin.
A dev on Minecraft-like Hytale has already used its creative tools to make a homebrew side-scroller
 
 
A Kroot hunting pack in Warhammer 40,000.
Warhammer World, Games Workshop's pub-slash-hobby store celebrating the venerable wargame, is coming to the US
 
 
Character holding out a Tick in the Tropics in Peak
'Don’t toil away on the things that don’t really matter': Peak creator says its rapid development cycle has 'proved that there are definitely different, but maybe better ways to make games'
 
 
Baldur's Gate characters
Larian says Divinity's character customisation will be 'even better' than Baldur's Gate 3's: 'More colors, more options, more control'
 
 
Monument Valley screenshot
After Netflix pulled the rug from under Monument Valley 3 six months after launch, its developer says it's a 'PC first' studio: 'we can build more direct relationships with our audience and community'
 
 
Image for Divinity: Original Sin 2's brilliant armor system is one of a kind in RPGs, and I'm bummed we'll apparently never see it again
Divinity: Original Sin 2's brilliant armor system is one of a kind in RPGs, and I'm bummed we'll apparently never see it again
 
 
Latest in Features
Four ghostly figures in Luto, viewed from the perspective of someone standing on the other side of a door and looking through broken glass.
Luto is an underappreciated 2025 horror gem with the perfect mixture of Stanley Parable narration and P.T. ambience
 
 
Deadlock, third-person MOBA
Valve spent 2025 ripping apart Deadlock and putting it back together, and it delivered better live service than most live service games
 
 
arc raiders flickering flame update
My Arc Raiders 2026 wishlist consists of new mobs, modes, and map conditions
 
 
The official splashscreen for Steam, showing the logo at the centre and various games as horizontal tiles in the background.
9 big things Steam needs to improve in 2026
 
 
Chosen Garden screenshots
I've just found a new cutesy Balatro, but instead of a deck of cards you get to tend to a garden and harvest flowers
 
 
US-TECHNOLOGY-AI-CES Attendees arrive for the Siemens' keynote presentation during the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada, on January 6, 2026. (Photo by Caroline Brehman / AFP via Getty Images)
Seems like everyone forgot the 'Consumer' part of the Consumer Electronics Show this year
 
 
  1. MSI and Asus gaming monitors on a green background with the PC Gamer recommended logo in the top right
    1
    Best gaming monitors in 2025: the pixel-perfect panels I'd buy myself
  2. 2
    The best fish tank PC case in 2025: I've tested heaps of stylish chassis but only a few have earned my recommendation
  3. 3
    Best gaming laptop 2025: I've tested the best laptops for gaming of this generation and here are the ones I recommend
  4. 4
    Best Hall effect keyboards in 2025: the fastest, most customizable keyboards for competitive gaming
  5. 5
    Best PCIe 5.0 SSD for gaming in 2025: the only Gen 5 drives I will allow in my PC
  1. Moody third person action game Hell is Us
    1
    Hell is Us review: a gorgeous adventure that gets in its own way a little too often
  2. 2
    Tokyo Xtreme Racer review: Embodying the stylish spirit of street racing
  3. 3
    Dogpile review: Canine charm elevates this bizarre roguelike deckbuilder about chucking pups in a pit
  4. 4
    AndaSeat Kaiser 3E XL gaming chair review
  5. 5
    MSI MPG 341CQR QD-OLED X36 gaming monitor review

PC Gamer is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

Add as a preferred source on Google
  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...