Spaceships roaring across depthless vistas, weapons flaring into the vacuum. Can any visions really live up to our mental images of the glory of space opera? Hell yes, and here's the concept art to prove it.

We decided to cure our Monday blues by seeking out some of the coolest space-opera concept art on the Web, including the entries from two concept-art challenges and some matte paintings and CG illustrations by some of our favorite artists. Follow the links after each image to find way more awesomeness. If you want to view this in non-gallery format, click here.

Top image: Translight jump by Francis Tsai. More art at the link!