Jacques Donnez at the Catholic University of Louvain (Belgium) was able to capture the process of ovulation. The photos of the process, which has never been so clearly documented, were a “happy accident.” Earlier photos were kinda grainy and meh. These are for REAL!!

Donnez was preparing to do a partial hysterectomy on a 45 year old woman, according to New Scientist magazine. The egg’s escape from the ova used to be considered a “sudden, explosive event” but the photos show that it’s actually a 15 minute process.

Check out the full article for the photos (yeah, ovaries look like inside-out nipples…)

Photo by fdecomite