Astronomers constantly use astonishing images of different celestial objects to capture peoples’ imaginations and bring astronomy closer to the general public. However, it is quite common that those images are presented showing just the name of the source and with no additional information regarding their nature. Why do scientists care about these images? Is it just to show people something pretty? Do they have some scientific value? These are questions that I asked myself when I was young and that every year my first year students ask me.
In this talk, I will use three different cases of really beautiful astronomy images to answer those questions. The goal of this talk is that later at home, whenever you find any astronomy related photograph, you will be able to understand why it looks the way it does and what it means.
This talk is aimed for people of all ages.
