Takes Two Antenna Galaxies to Tangle
A new image of two tangled galaxies has been released by NASA's Great Observatories.
A narrow asteroid belt filled with rocks and dusty debris, orbits a star similar to our own Sun when it was approximately 30 million years old (about the time Earth formed). Within the belt a hypothetical planet also circles the star.
The Spacious Structure of Asteroid 2011 MD
Observations from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope reveal new information about the structure of 2011 MD, a small asteroid being considered by NASA for its proposed Asteroid Redirect Mission, or ARM. This illustration shows two possible structures for such an asteroid.
Spitzer Cryogenic Telescope Assembly
The Spitzer Space Telescope cryogenic telescope assembly.
The Case of the Disappearing Continent
This swirling landscape of stars is known as the North America nebula. In visible light, the region resembles North America, but in this new infrared view from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, the continent disappears.
A Neptune-size planet with a clear atmosphere is shown crossing in front of its star in this artist's depiction. Such crossings, or transits, are observed by telescopes like NASA's Hubble and Spitzer to glean information about planets' atmospheres.
Spitzer's Sunflower
The various spiral arm segments of the Sunflower galaxy, also known as Messier 63, show up vividly in this image taken in infrared light by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.
Illustration of TRAPPIST-1 Planets as of Feb. 2018
This illustration shows the seven Earth-size planets of TRAPPIST-1. The image does not show the planets' orbits to scale, but highlights possibilities for how the surfaces of these intriguing worlds might look.
Galaxies Gather at Great Distances
Astronomers have discovered nearly 300 galaxy clusters and groups, including almost 100 located 8 to 10 billion light-years away, using the space-based Spitzer Space Telescope and the ground-based Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Tucson, Ariz. The new sample...
The Pinwheel Galaxy, M101, in the Infrared
The tangled arms of the Pinwheel galaxy, otherwise known as Messier 101, are decked out in red in this new infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.
Warm Mission Dreamy Stars of Orion
A colony of hot, young stars is stirring up the cosmic scene in this new picture from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.
An artists rendering of the most distant quasar
Quasars, as pictured here in this artist's concept, are bright, energetic regions around giant, active black holes in galactic centers. Although immensely powerful and visible across billions of light years, quasars are actually quite tiny, spanning a few light years, and their inner areas...
This graph of data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the spectra (middle four lines) of dusty disks around four brown dwarfs, or "failed stars," located 520 light-years away in the Chamaeleon constellation. The data suggest that the dust in these disks is crystallizing and clumping...
Two Galaxies Masquerading as One
What might look like a colossal jet shooting away from a galaxy turns out to be an illusion. New data from the National Science Foundation's Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), combined with an infrared view from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, reveals two galaxies, one lying behind the other,...
Spitzer Unveils a Cosmic "Cigar": Messier 82
This image shows the infrared view from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope of the galaxy Messier 82.
NASA's Great Observatories Celebrate the International Year of Astronomy
This image of the spiral galaxy Messier 101 is a composite of views from Spitzer, Hubble, and Chandra.
Ghost of Jupiter Nebula
The Ghost of Jupiter, also known as NGC 3242, is located roughly 1,400 light-years away in the constellation Hydra.
A Giant Gathering of Galaxies
The galaxy cluster called MOO J1142+1527 can be seen here as it existed when light left it 8.5 billion years ago. The red galaxies at the center of the image make up the heart of the galaxy cluster.
Young Stars in Their Baby Blanket of Dust: Rho Ophiuchi
Newborn stars peek out from beneath their natal blanket of dust in this dynamic image of the Rho Ophiuchi dark cloud from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.
This artist's concept shows a multitude of tiny diamonds next to a hot star. Diamonds are abundant in space, but they are tiny - about 25000 times smaller than a grain of sand.
Epsilon Eridani: Young Solar System in the Making
This artist's diagram compares the Epsilon Eridani system to our own solar system. The two systems are structured similarly, and both host asteroids (brown), comets (blue) and planets.
Andromeda in the Infrared
NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has captured stunning infrared views of the famous Andromeda galaxy to reveal insights that were only hinted at in visible light.
Spitzer Sees Flicker of Neutron Star Collision
NASAs Spitzer Space Telescope has provisionally detected the faint afterglow of the explosive merger of two neutron stars in the galaxy NGC 4993. The event, labeled GW170817, was initially detected nearly simultaneously in gravitational waves and gamma rays, but subsequent observations by many...
Spitzer Beyond
This artist's concept shows NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Spitzer begins its "Beyond" mission phase on Oct. 1, 2016. Spitzer is depicted in the orientation it assumes to establish communications with ground stations.
Distant Galaxy Cluster
This distant galaxy cluster was discovered using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.
'Cat's Eye' Planetary Nebula
The "Cat's Eye" nebula, or NGC 6543, is a well-studied example of a "planetary nebula." Such objects are the glowing remnants of dust and gas expelled from moderate-sized stars during their last stages of life.
Stars Gather in 'Downtown' Milky Way
A view from the bustling center of our galactic metropolis. Spitzer Space Telescope offers us a fresh, infrared view of the frenzied scene at the center of our Milky Way, revealing what lies behind the dust.
Coyote Head Nebula Does Not Approve
This striking star formation region, mapped in infrared light by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, was recently spotted by one of Spitzer's Twitter followers searching through the GLIMPSE360 panorama of our Milky Way galaxy.
Map of Exoplanets Found in Our Galaxy
Astronomers have discovered one of the most distant planets known, a gas giant about 13,000 light-years from Earth, called OGLE-2014-BLG-0124L. The planet was discovered using a technique called microlensing, and the help of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and the Optical Gravitational Lensing...
'Pandora's Cluster' Seen by Spitzer
This image of galaxy cluster Abell 2744, also called Pandora's Cluster, was taken by the Spitzer Space Telescope. The cluster is also being studied by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and Chandra X-Ray Observatory in a collaboration called the Frontier Fields project.
Spitzer View of the Center of the Milky Way
This dazzling infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows hundreds of thousands of stars crowded into the swirling core of our spiral Milky Way galaxy.
TRAPPIST-1 Planet Lineup - Feb. 2018
This artist's concept shows what the TRAPPIST-1 planetary system may look like, based on available data about the planets' diameters, masses and distances from the host star, as of February 2018.
Spitzer's Journey
This diagram shows how the different phases of Spitzers mission relate to its location relative to the Earth over time.
Circle of Ashes
This plot tells astronomers that a pulsar, the remnant of a stellar explosion, is surrounded by a disk of its own ashes. The disk, revealed by the two data points at the far right from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, is the first ever found around a pulsar. Astronomers believe planets might rise...
Spitzer Reveals a New Globular Cluster
This infrared image taken by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows a globular cluster previously hidden in the dusty plane of our Milky Way galaxy. Globular clusters are compact bundles of old stars that date back to the birth of our galaxy, 13 or so billion years ago. Astronomers use these...
Rings Around the Galaxy
Three newly-discovered streams arcing high over the Milky Way Galaxy are remnants of cannibalized galaxies and star clusters. The streams are between 13,000 and 130,000 light-years distant from Earth and extend over much of the Northern sky.
Spitzer Departing the Earth Soon After Launch
Spitzer departing the Earth soon after launch. Africa is prominently visible. The radio dish facilities at Hartebeesthoek, South Africa, played a vital role in early communications after launch.
Steamy Solar System
This diagram illustrates the earliest journeys of water in a young, forming star system.
Baby Stars Brewing in the Witch Head Nebula
Eight hundred light-years away in the Orion constellation, a gigantic murky cloud called the "Witch Head Nebula" is teeming with dust-obscured newborn stars waiting to be uncovered.
Silicate Crystal Formation in the Disk of an Erupting Star
This artist's concept illustrates how silicate crystals like those found in comets can be created by an outburst from a growing star.
This artist's concept illustrates how planetary systems arise out of massive collisions between rocky bodies. New findings from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope show that these catastrophes continue to occur around stars even after they have developed full-sized planets, when they are as old as one...
Ultrahot Jupiter WASP-121b
These simulated views of the ultrahot Jupiter WASP-121b show what the planet might look like to the human eye from five different vantage points, illuminated to different degrees by its parent star.
Exposed Cranium Nebula
This planetary nebula, located roughly 5,000 light-years away in the Vela constellation, is host to a hot, massive dying star that is rapidly disintegrating, losing its mass.
Cool as a Stellar Cucumber
This image shows what astronomers think is one of the coldest brown dwarfs discovered so far (red dot in middle of frame). The object, called SDWFS J143524.44+335334.6, is one of 14 such brown dwarfs found by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope using infrared light.
Supernova Dust Factory in M74
Astronomers using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have spotted a "dust factory" thirty million light-years away in the spiral galaxy M74. The factory is located at the scene of a massive star's explosive death, or supernova.
Young Stars in Their Baby Blanket of Dust: Rho Ophiuchi
Newborn stars peek out from beneath their natal blanket of dust in this dynamic image of the Rho Ophiuchi dark cloud from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.
Forensic Evidence of a Galactic Collision
Astronomers have new evidence that the Andromeda spiral galaxy was involved in a violent head-on collision with the neighboring dwarf galaxy Messier 32 (M32) more than 200 million years ago. Infrared photographs taken with NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope ring deep within the Andromeda galaxy.
A Weakened Black Hole Allows Its Galaxy to Awaken
The Phoenix galaxy cluster contains the first confirmed supermassive black hole that is unable to prevent large numbers of stars from forming in the core of the galaxy cluster where it resides. Optical observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope provide evidence for further cooling of...
The Crab Nebula
This colorful photo shows a ground-based image of the entire Crab Nebula, the remnant of a supernova explosion witnessed over 900 years ago. The nebula, which is 10 light-years across, is located 7, 000 light-years away in the constellation Taurus. The green, yellow and red filaments...
ZTF First Light: Horsehead
The Horsehead nebula can be seen in this portion of the "first-light" image from ZTF.
Andromeda
A composite ZTF image of the Andromeda galaxy made by combining three bands of visible light. The image covers 2.9 square degrees, which is one-sixteenth of ZTF's full field of view.
ZTF First Light: Orion
ZTF took this "first-light" image on Nov. 1, 2017, after being installed at the 48-inch Samuel Oschin Telescope at Palomar Observatory.
Artwork showing a pair of white dwarfs in orbit around each other with an accretion disk. This illustrates what happens when one star begins to siphon material off its partner. The white dwarf stars are similar in size to earth but they are 200,000 times more dense. ZTF is well-suited to detect...
Artwork showing a pair of white dwarfs in orbit around each other. The middle panel shows the two dense, dead stars in orbit, while the third panel illustrates what happens when one star begins to siphon material off its partner. Earth is shown for referencewhile it is not much smaller than the...
ZTF First Light: Orion Constellation
The "first-light" image from ZTF is shown here (inset) within the Orion constellation.
Emission Versus Absorption
For this Picture of the Week, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope turned its powerful eye towards an emission line galaxy called NGC 3749. When astronomers explore the contents and constituent parts of a galaxy somewhere in the Universe, they use various techniques and tools. One of these is to...
A Rival to the Milky Way
The Universe is simply so vast that it can be difficult to maintain a sense of scale. Many galaxies we see through telescopes such as the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, the source of this beautiful Picture of the Week, look relatively similar: spiralling arms, a glowing centre, and a mixture...
Champions League
Within a galaxy hosting around 300 billion stars, here the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured a mere handful or two just about enough to form a single football team. These stellar teammates play under the banner of NGC 1333, the cloud of gas and dust which formed them and that they...
ALMA Image of Young, Massive Binary Star System
ALMA image of the IRAS-07299 star-forming region and the massive binary system at its center. The background image shows dense, dusty streams of gas (shown in green) that appear to be flowing toward the center of the system. Gas that is moving toward us -- as traced by the methanol molecule -- is...
Lonely Hearts Club
Galaxies may seem lonely, floating alone in the vast, inky blackness of the sparsely populated cosmos but looks can be deceiving. The subject of this Picture of the Week, NGC 1706, is a good example of this. NGC 1706 is a spiral galaxy, about 230 million light-years away, in the constellation...
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