The Flying Saucer protoplanetary disc around 2MASS J16281370-2431391
The young star 2MASS J16281370-2431391 lies in the spectacular Rho Ophiuchi star formation region, about 400 light-years from Earth. It is surrounded by a disc of gas and dust — such discs are called protoplanetary discs as they are the early stages in the creation of planetary systems. This...
The dwarf galaxy IC 1613
This image, captured with the OmegaCAM camera on ESO’s VLT Survey Telescope in Chile, shows an unusually clean small galaxy. IC 1613 contains very little cosmic dust, allowing astronomers to explore its contents with great clarity.
VLT image of the surroundings of VY Canis Majoris seen with SPHERE
The star VY Canis Majoris is a red hypergiant, one of the largest known stars in the Milky Way. It is 30–40 times the mass of the Sun and 300 000 times more luminous. In its current state, the star would encompass the orbit of Jupiter, having expanded tremendously as it enters the final stages...
The unique rocky comet C/2014 S3 (PANSTARRS)
Observations with ESO’s Very Large Telescope, and the Canada France Hawai`i Telescope, show that C/2014 S3 (PANSTARRS) is the first object to be discovered that is on a long-period cometary orbit, but that has the characteristics of a pristine inner Solar System asteroid. It may provide...
ALMA image of the disc around the young star TW Hydrae
ALMA’s best image of a protoplanetary disc to date. This picture of the nearby young star TW Hydrae reveals the classic rings and gaps that signify planets are in formation in this system.
Gemini GMOS image of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 7552
Gemini GMOS image of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 7552. Benjamin Reynolds, a 10th grade student at Sutherland Shire Christian School, suggested this target for Australia’s 2011 Gemini School Astronomy Contest and won. The picture consists of separate images taken with different filters: H-alpha...
NGC 7232/3
This image shows an interacting trio of galaxies known as the Lyon Group of Galaxies #455 (LGG 455). It is made up of the galaxies NGC 7232 (upper right), NGC 7233 (lower right), and NGC 7232B (left). The two brightest objects near the center of the image are foreground stars in our Milky Way....
The Green Bean galaxy J2240
CFHT color image, taken in g,r, and i filters, of J2240. The very strong [OIII] emission leads to the peculiar green color of the galaxy near the center of the field. In this object the ultra-luminous narrow-line region (NLR) is as large as the entire object, 130,000 light-years across. The...
Central region of GMOS-N observations of And XXIX
Central region of the GMOS-N observations of And XXIX against the less dense field of stars. The image is 4.3 arcminutes on a side, corresponding to 900 parsecs (or 3000 lightyears square) at the distance of And XXIX.
Gemini North image of the planetary nebula M97
Gemini North image of the planetary nebula M97, also knownas the Owl Nebula, imaged by the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) as part of a Canadian contest for high school students. The approximately 6,000year-old nebula is located about 2,600 light-years away, and has a diameter ofabout...
NGC 6751 Glowing Eye Nebula
Gemini South image of planetary nebula NGC 6751, the "Glowing Eye Nebula." The image is the result of the winning entry in the 2009 Gemini School Astronomy Contest, submitted by high school student Daniel Tran of PAL College, Cabramatta, NSW, Australia. Using narrow-band filters in the imaging...
ground- and space-based HST/WIYN composite image of M82
A ground- and space-based HST/WIYN composite image of M82 and its optically bright superwind. This has been colour-coded to show its supergalactic wind running left-right (north-south) and a nearly vertical disk of stars. Broad blue, green and red filters were used to render the relatively...
Gemini Researchers Receive Prestigious Canadian Award
NIRI/Altair + Laser-guide-star image of NGC 7027 from Gemini North. The image is a two-color composite, [Fe II] emission is coded in the white color, molecular hydrogen emission [H2 (S 1-0)] is shown in red. The central star of the system is apparent in the middle of the nebula. Details as...
Image of the late-type spiral NGC 4244
SDSS g-r-i’ band image of the late-type spiral NGC 4244 seen edge-on. The NSC is visible as a small, almost point-like, white spot at the center.
HST imaging of the core of PG1426+015
Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 optical image of PG1426. The SDSS image in Figure 1 shows more of the host galaxy structure. However, in the SDSS image the core of the source is saturated. Here we see the central few arcseconds of the system where the central supermassive black hole powering the...
Galaxy/Quasar PG 1426+015 by Sloan Digital Sky Survey
Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) image of the distant host galaxy/quasar PG 1426+015. The field shown is about 50 x 50 arsec2. See Figure 4 for an image of the same field taken with the Hubble Space Telescope.
McNeil's Nebula
A timely discovery by American amateur astronomer Jay McNeil, followed immediately by observations at the Gemini Observatory, has provided a rare glimpse into the slow, yet violent birth of a star about 1,500 light-years away. The resulting findings reveal some of the strongest stellar winds...
Stephan's Quintet as imaged by the Gemini North
Stephan's Quintet as imaged by the Gemini Observatory using the Multi-Object Spectrograph on Gemini North. The interacting members of the cluster are almost 300 million light years away. The galaxy NGC 7320 (top–center) is thought by most astronomers to be in the foreground (about 8 times...
Central part of the galaxy cluster RXJ0152.7-1357
The central part of the galaxy cluster RXJ0152.7-1357, which lies at a redshift of 0.83, is shown in this HST/ACS archival data view. The image covers 75 × 45 arcseconds, which corresponds to about 0.6 × 0.35 megaparsecs. Most of the galaxies in the cluster appear as yellow/orange objects in...
NIRI image superimposed
The same image with the NIRI image superimposed over the region it imaged. Note that the dust is invisible in the NIRI image and many of the blue stars shown in the WIYN image are much dimmer in the infrared.
Hokupa'a image of full field of Galactic Center
Hokupa'a image of full field of Galactic Center (JHK' color composite).
Gemini Deep Field is centered on z=4 quasar QSO PMN2314+0201
Gemini Deep Field is centered on z=4 quasar QSO PMN2314+0201.
IRS-8 Bow-Shock
RS-8 smaller field JHK' color composite and K' image with stars subtracted. See https://www.gemini.edu/gallery/media/irs-8-bow-shock for more information.
NGC 300
This image from NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer shows the galaxy NGC 300, located about seven million light-years away in the constellation Sculptor.
NGC 1316
This image from NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer shows the galaxy NGC 1316, located about 62 million light-years away in the constellation Fornax. The elliptical-shaped galaxy may be in the late stages of merging with a smaller companion galaxy.
A Lesson in Counting Stars
These two photographs were made by combining data from NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer spacecraft and the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. By combining the data, astronomers were able to learn that not all galaxies make stars of different sizes in the same quantities, as was...
NGC 4569
This image from NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer shows the galaxy NGC 4569, located about four million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. It is one of the largest and brightest spiral galaxies found in the Virgo cluster of galaxies, the nearest major galaxy cluster to our Milky Way galaxy.
NGC 1291
This image from NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer shows the galaxy NGC 1291, located about 33 million light-years away in the constellation Eridanus. NGC 1291 is notable for its unusual inner bar and outer ring structure.
Now You See a Tail, Now You Don't
NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer found a tail behind a galaxy called IC 3418.
Beyond the Borders of a Galaxy
The outlying regions around the Southern Pinwheel galaxy, or M83, are highlighted in this composite image from NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer and the National Science Foundation's Very Large Array in New Mexico.
Ghostly Remnant of an Explosive Past
This enhanced image from the far-ultraviolet detector on NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer shows a ghostly shell of ionized gas around Z Camelopardalis, a binary, or double-star system featuring a collapsed, dead star known as a white dwarf, and a companion star.
Scene of Multiple Explosions
This composite image shows Z Camelopardalis, or Z Cam, a double-star system featuring a collapsed, dead star, called a white dwarf, and a companion star, as well as a ghostly shell around the system. The massive shell provides evidence of lingering material ejected during and swept up by a...
GALEX Sees Comet Machholz
The figure shows a GALEX NUV grism observation of comet Machholz, recorded on March 1, 2005. The different colors in the image represent different intensities, with black being the lowest, purple a little higher, and yellow the highest.
Classic Galaxy With Glamour
This color composite image of nearby NGC 300 combines the visible-light pictures from Carnegie Institution of Washington's 100-inch telescope at Las Campanas Observatory (colored red and yellow), with ultraviolet views from NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer.
Cool Andromeda
In this new view of the Andromeda galaxy from the Herschel space observatory, cool lanes of forming stars are revealed in the finest detail yet.
Herschel's View of Rho Ophiuchi
This image shows Rho Ophiuchi, a vast stellar nursery where new stars take shape from billowing clouds of gas, as viewed by the Herschel Space Observatory.
Galactic Metropolis
The large white and yellow dots in this picture are stars in our galaxy, while the rest of the smaller dots are distant galaxies. The cluster, comprised of red dots near the center, includes more than 100 massive galaxies.
Herschel's View of the W3/W4/W5 Complex
The bubbles and wisps portrayed in this image by the Herschel Space Observatory reveal great turmoil in the W3/W4/W5 complex of molecular clouds and star-forming regions.
This composite image depicts infrared emission from a 2 arcminute by 2 arcminute region centred on the galaxy cluster XDCPJ0044.0-2033.
New images of huge filamentary structures of gas and dust from the Herschel space observatory reveal how matter is distributed across our Milky Way galaxy. Long and flimsy threads emerge from a twisted mix of material, taking on complex shapes.
Herschel's View of the Taurus Molecular Cloud
This mosaic combines several observations of the Taurus Molecular Cloud performed by the Herschel Space Observatory. Located about 450 light-years from us, in the constellation Taurus, the Bull, this vast complex of interstellar clouds is where a myriad of stars are being born, and is the closest...
Herschel's View of Orion B
Pictured in this image by the Herschel Space Observatory is the Orion B molecular cloud, a vast star-forming complex in the constellation Orion, the Hunter. Invisible to our eyes, these interstellar clouds are located near Alnitak, one of the stars in Orion's Belt.
Herschel's View of the Taurus Molecular Cloud Annotated
This annotated mosaic combines several observations of the Taurus Molecular Cloud performed by the Herschel Space Observatory. Located about 450 light-years from us, in the constellation Taurus, the Bull.
Herschel's View of the Pinwheel Galaxy
This image shows the Pinwheel Galaxy, also known as M101, as viewed by the Herschel Space Observatory. Lying more than 20 million light-years from us, this spiral galaxy is similar in shape to our Milky Way, but it is almost twice as large.
Herschel's View of NGC 1097
Portrayed in this image by the Herschel Space Observatory is NGC 1097, a barred spiral galaxy located some fifty million light-years from us, in the southern constellation Fornax, the Furnace.
Celestial fossils
This densely populated group of stars is the globular cluster known as NGC 1841, which is found within the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a satellite galaxy to the Milky Way galaxy that lies about 162 000 light-years away. Satellite galaxies are galaxies that are bound by gravity in orbits...
A stellar graveyard in the sky
What’s left over after a massive star reaches the end of its life I hear you ask? Take a look for yourself. This Picture of the Week shows a small but very intricate portion of the Vela supernova remnant, the violent and yet beautiful aftermath of an explosive stellar death. This dramatic...
Glowing rosy in the dark
There are two different types of nebulae brought to you in this Picture of the Week. Each appears with a distinct colour in the visible sky and are captured here using the wide-field camera OmegaCAM on the VLT Survey Telescope (VST), hosted at ESO’s Paranal Observatory in the Chilean desert....
It’s full of stars!
This Picture of the Week — taken with ESO’s Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope (VISTA) at Paranal Observatory in Chile — might look like a scene from a snowy winter's night, but it’s not. It’s an infrared image of NGC 6723, a globular cluster located about 28 000 light years from Earth in...
There are several galaxies in this Picture of the Week, but the most fascinating is probably the one surrounded by four light-blue dots, resembling a flower with blue petals. But, are these dots real? Yes and no… Taken with ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), this image shows a so-called Einstein...
Plunge into a stellar ocean
In this Picture of the Week, we take a deep plunge into the ocean of stars in the IC4701 nebula. This nebula is located in the Sagittarius constellation, and it is twice as wide as the full Moon in the sky. The energetic light from newly-born stars ionizes the hydrogen gas in the nebula,...
Wispy dark clouds
The dark clouds in this image, taken from ESO’s Paranal Observatory in Chile, almost resemble something supernatural, like the wispy trails of ghosts in the sky. But there is no need to call the ghostbusters! These clouds, known as Barnard 92 (right) and Barnard 93 (left) are dark nebulae: they...
A cosmic master of disguise
Can you see the chameleon in this picture? No? Well, it's camouflaged! Yes, we are joking, but this Picture of the Week actually shows the Chamaeleon Cloud, or IC 2631. In the southern hemisphere, this cloud is visible in the sky for most of the year, and in this image, captured by ESO’s...
Giant cosmic networks
Sometimes dramatic events are needed to create something stunning. This beautiful structure of filaments and clouds in the southern constellation of Vela are all that remains of a massive star that died in a powerful explosion known as supernova. This is a small section of a larger image taken...
A scarlet cosmic sea
In this colorful Picture of the Week we see a portion of the Gum 10 nebula through the eyes of ESO’s Very Large Telescope in Chile. Gum 10 was discovered by the Australian astronomer Colin Stanley Gum, who in 1955 published a catalogue with more than 80 similar diffuse nebulae. The energetic...
A stellar sprinkler (alternative colour view)
This is the young stellar object 244-440 in the Orion Nebula observed with ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) –– the sharpest image ever taken of this object. The data were obtained with the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) instrument, with red, green and blue colours mapping the...
A stellar sprinkler
This Picture of the Week shows the young stellar object 244-440 in the Orion Nebula observed with ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) –– the sharpest image ever taken of this object. That wiggly magenta structure is a jet of matter launched close to the star, but why does it have that shape? Very...
A hypnotising galaxy
Fall deeper into the entrancing NGC 4303, a spiral galaxy located approximately 55 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Virgo. This image combines data taken at radio and visible wavelengths, and is helping astronomers understand how stars form in galaxies. The hypnotising golden...
Closest pair of supermassive black holes as seen by MUSE
In this Picture of the Week we peer closer into the galaxy UGC 4211, where astronomers have discovered two supermassive black holes on the verge of merging, separated by just 750 lightyears — the closest to have been found to date and less than half of the previous record. They used ESO’s Very...
Closest pair of supermassive black holes as seen by MUSE
In this Picture of the Week we peer closer into the galaxy UGC 4211, where astronomers have discovered two supermassive black holes on the verge of merging, separated by just 750 lightyears — the closest to have been found to date and less than half of the previous record. They used ESO’s Very...
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