Hubble Images Comet Tempel 1 Just Before Deep Impact Probe Arrives
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has snapped an image of Comet 9P/Tempel 1 just days before the Deep Impact spacecraft is scheduled to rendezvous with the comet. This image, taken on the morning of June 30, 2005, shows an undisturbed and quiet comet. This Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) Wide...
Comet Tempel 1 - 1 Hour, 4 Minutes After Deep Impact Collision
A 2005 Hubble Space Telescope image of 9P/Tempel 1.
Comet Tempel 1 - 12 Minutes After Deep Impact Collision
A 2005 Hubble Space Telescope image of 9P/Tempel 1.
Comet Tempel 1 - 3 Minutes Before Deep Impact Collision
A 2005 Hubble Space Telescope image of 9P/Tempel 1.
Hubble View of Comet Tempel 1, Post-Impact with Fan-Shaped Debris
A 2005 Hubble Space Telescope image of 9P/Tempel 1.
Hubble View of Comet Tempel 1, Just After Impact
A 2005 Hubble Space Telescope image of 9P/Tempel 1.
Hubble View of Comet Tempel 1, Before Impact
A 2005 Hubble Space Telescope image of 9P/Tempel 1.
Hubble View of Comet Tempel 1 - After Outburst
A 2005 Hubble Space Telescope image of 9P/Tempel 1.
Hubble View of Comet Tempel 1 - Before Outburst
A 2005 Hubble Space Telescope image of 9P/Tempel 1.
Supernova Remnant LMC N 63A in X-Ray, Optical and Radio Radiation
Chandra has imaged the glowing shell created by the destruction of a massive star. X-rays from Chandra (blue), combined with optical (green) and radio (red) data, reveal new details in the supernova remnant, LMC N 63A. The X-ray glow is from material heated to about ten million degrees Celsius...
Supernova Remnant N 63A
A color composite of Spitzer infrared, Chandra X-ray and ground-based Halpha. The color assignments are: Chandra (all bands) (blue), CTIO ground-based H-alpha (green), Spitzer 4.5 micron (yellow) and Spitzer 8.0 micron (red).
Supernova Remnant N 63A Menagerie
A violent and chaotic-looking mass of gas and dust is seen in this Hubble Space Telescope image of a nearby supernova remnant. Denoted N 63A, the object is the remains of a massive star that exploded, spewing its gaseous layers out into an already turbulent region. The supernova remnant is a...
Looking 'Underneath' Quasar HE0450-2958
This image shows the quasar HE0450-2958 after advanced image processing known as MCS-deconvolution. Thanks to this technique, it is possible to remove the brilliant glare from the quasar itself. The most interesting feature in the image is the nearly total absence of starlight from a host...
Quasar Without Host Galaxy Compared with Normal Quasar
This figure shows two Hubble images of quasars from a sample of 20 relatively nearby quasars examined by a team of European astronomers with two of the most powerful astronomical facilities available, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and the European Southern Observatory's (ESO) Very Large...
Wide-Field Image of the Eagle Nebula
This wide-field image of the Eagle Nebula was taken at the National Science Foundation's 0.9-meter telescope on Kitt Peak with the NOAO Mosaic CCD camera. It shows the areas seen in greater detail with Hubble's Wide-Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) in 1995 and Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS)...
The Eagle Has Risen: Stellar Spire in the Eagle Nebula
Appearing like a winged fairy-tale creature poised on a pedestal, this object is actually a billowing tower of cold gas and dust rising from a stellar nursery called the Eagle Nebula. The soaring tower is 9.5 light-years or about 57 trillion miles high, about twice the distance from our Sun to...
Eagle Nebula (M16) Pillar Detail: Portion of Base
A detail of the Eagle Nebula (M16) showing a portion of a pillar of gas and dust. Denser clouds are silhouetted against glowing gas and material reflecting light from nearby stars.
Whirlpool Galaxy's (M51) Companion Nucleus and Dust Lanes
A small detail of the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) showing the central region of the companion galaxy (NGC 5195). Fine structures of dark dust clouds are seen silhouetted against the smaller galaxy's starlight.
Eagle Nebula (M16) Pillar Detail: Portion of Top
A detail of the Eagle Nebula (M16) showing a portion of a pillar of gas and dust. Light from nearby bright, hot, young stars is sculpting the cloud into intricate forms and causing the gas to glow.
Young, Hot Stars in a Spiral Arm of the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51)
A detail of the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) showing a small part of one spiral arm. It reveals brilliant, blue clusters of young, hot stars embedded in vast clouds of glowing gas and darker dust.
Infant Stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud
Hubble astronomers have uncovered, for the first time, a population of infant stars in the Milky Way satellite galaxy, the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC, visible to the naked eye in the southern constellation Tucana), located 210,000 light-years away. Hubble's exquisite sharpness plucked out an...
The Dusty Galaxy NGC 1316
Like dust bunnies that lurk in corners and under beds, surprisingly complex loops and blobs of cosmic dust lie hidden in the giant elliptical galaxy NGC 1316. This image made from data obtained with the NASA Hubble Space Telescope reveals the dust lanes and star clusters of this giant galaxy...
Galaxy NGC 1427A Plunges Toward the Fornax Galaxy Cluster
What happens when a galaxy falls in with the wrong crowd? The irregular galaxy NGC 1427A is a spectacular example of the resulting stellar rumble. Under the gravitational grasp of a large gang of galaxies, called the Fornax cluster, the small bluish galaxy is plunging headlong into the...
Debris Ring Around Star Fomalhaut (HD 216956)
A 2005 Hubble Space Telescope image of Fomalhaut, HD 216956.
Saturn Aurora __ January 28, 2004
A 2005 Hubble Space Telescope image of Saturn.
Saturn Aurora __ January 26, 2004
A 2005 Hubble Space Telescope image of Saturn.
Saturn Aurora __ January 24, 2004
A 2005 Hubble Space Telescope image of Saturn.
The Milky Way's Densest Star Cluster: The Arches Cluster
A 2005 Hubble Space Telescope image of Arches Cluster.
Light Echoes From Red Supergiant Star V838 Monocerotis - December 2002
A 2005 Hubble Space Telescope image of V838 Monocerotis.
Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 1300
One of the largest Hubble Space Telescope images ever made of a complete galaxy is being unveiled today at the American Astronomical Society meeting in San Diego, Calif. The Hubble telescope captured a display of starlight, glowing gas, and silhouetted dark clouds of interstellar dust in this...
Light Echoes From Red Supergiant Star V838 Monocerotis -- October 2002
A 2005 Hubble Space Telescope image of V838 Monocerotis.
Light Echoes From Red Supergiant Star V838 Monocerotis -- October 2004
A 2005 Hubble Space Telescope image of V838 Monocerotis.
Light Echoes From Red Supergiant Star V838 Monocerotis -- September 2002
A 2005 Hubble Space Telescope image of V838 Monocerotis.
Light Echoes From Red Supergiant Star V838 Monocerotis -- May 2002
A 2005 Hubble Space Telescope image of V838 Monocerotis.
Interacting Spiral Galaxies NGC 2207 and IC 2163
In the direction of the constellation Canis Major, two spiral galaxies pass by each other like majestic ships in the night. The near-collision has been caught in images taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and its Wide Field Planetary Camera 2. The larger and more massive galaxy is cataloged...
A Dying Star Shrouded by a Blanket of Hailstones Forms the Bug Nebula (NGC 6302)
The Bug Nebula, NGC 6302, is one of the brightest and most extreme planetary nebulae known. The fiery, dying star at its center is shrouded by a blanket of icy hailstones. This NASA Hubble Wide Field Plantery Camera 2 image shows impressive walls of compressed gas, laced with trailing strands...
I Zwicky 18: Possibly the Youngest Galaxy Ever Seen
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope snapped a view of what may be the youngest galaxy ever seen. This "late bloomer" may not have begun active star formation until about 13 billion years after the Big Bang. Called I Zwicky 18 [below, left], the galaxy may be as young as 500 million years old. This...
The Helix Nebula: a Gaseous Envelope Expelled By a Dying Star
This composite image is a view of the colorful Helix Nebula taken with the Advanced Camera for Surveys aboard NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and the Mosaic II Camera on the 4-meter telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. The object is so large that both telescopes were...
Location of Suspected Runaway Companion Star to Supernova Seen in 1572
A 2004 Hubble Space Telescope image of Tycho Supernova, SN1572.
Most Distant Galaxy Candidates in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field
A 2004 Hubble Space Telescope image of HUDF, Ultra deep field.
Planetary Debris Disk Encircling Yellow Dwarf Star HD 107146
This is a false-color view of a planetary debris disk encircling the star HD 107146, a yellow dwarf star very similar to our Sun, though it is much younger (between 30 and 250 million years old, compared to the almost 5 billion years age of the Sun). The star is 88 light-years away from Earth....
Disk of Debris Around Red Dwarf Star AU Microscopii
A visible-light image of a debris disk around the red dwarf star AU Microscopii. Planets may be forming, or might already exist, within it. The disk glows in starlight reflected by tiny grains of dust created by the collisions of asteroids and comets. Because it is composed of the pulverized...
Helix Nebula As Seen By Hubble and the Cerro Toledo Inter-American Observatory
A 2004 Hubble Space Telescope image of Helix Nebula.
Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy
This new image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows a small galaxy called the Sagittarius dwarf irregular galaxy, or "SagDIG" for short. SagDIG is relatively nearby, and Hubble's sharp vision is able to reveal many thousands of individual stars within the galaxy. The brightest stars in the...
Shock Wave in Kepler's Supernova Remnant
Detailed knots and filamentary ribbons of glowing gas are apparent in this Hubble Space Telescope image of Kepler's supernova remnant. This image was taken with Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) in August 2003. Filters onboard Hubble isolate visible light emitted by hydrogen,...
Three Moons Cast Shadows on Jupiter
At first glance, Jupiter looks like it has a mild case of the measles. Five spots - one colored white, one blue, and three black -- are scattered across the upper half of the planet. Closer inspection by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope reveals that these spots are actually a rare alignment of...
Close-Up Visible Light Image of Kepler's Supernova Remnant
A 2004 Hubble Space Telescope image of Kepler's Supernova Remnant, SN 1604, V 843 Ophiuchi, G004.5+06.8.
Visible Light Image of Kepler's Supernova Remnant
A 2004 Hubble Space Telescope image of Kepler's Supernova Remnant, SN 1604, V 843 Ophiuchi, G004.5+06.8.
Kepler's Supernova Remnant In Visible, X-Ray and Infrared Light
A 2004 Hubble Space Telescope image of Kepler's Supernova Remnant, SN 1604, V 843 Ophiuchi, G004.5+06.8.
Kepler's Supernova Remnant in Visible Light
A 2004 Hubble Space Telescope image of Kepler's Supernova Remnant, SN 1604, V 843 Ophiuchi, G004.5+06.8.
Hubble Ultra Deep Field Most-Distant Galaxy Candidates __ Close-up 3
A 2004 Hubble Space Telescope image of HUDF, Ultra Deep Field.
Hubble Ultra Deep Field Most-Distant Galaxy Candidates __ Close-up 2
A 2004 Hubble Space Telescope image of HUDF, Ultra Deep Field.
The Cat's Eye Nebula: Dying Star Creates Fantasy-like Sculpture of Gas and Dust
In this detailed view from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, the so-called Cat's Eye Nebula looks like the penetrating eye of the disembodied sorcerer Sauron from the film adaptation of "The Lord of the Rings." The nebula, formally cataloged NGC 6543, is every bit as inscrutable as the J.R.R....
Hubble Ultra Deep Field Most-Distant Galaxy Candidates __ Close-up 1
A 2004 Hubble Space Telescope image of HUDF, Ultra Deep Field.
Hubble Peers Inside Interstellar Bubble N44F
In this unusual image, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captures a rare view of the celestial equivalent of a geode - a gas cavity carved by the stellar wind and intense ultraviolet radiation from a hot young star. Real geodes are baseball-sized, hollow rocks that start out as bubbles in volcanic...
Spiral Galaxy NGC 3949: A Galaxy Similar to the Milky Way
Our Sun and solar system are embedded in a broad pancake of stars deep within the disk of the Milky Way galaxy. Even from a distance, it is impossible to see our galaxy's large-scale features other than the disk. The next best thing is to look farther out into the universe at galaxies that are...
N11, the Second-Largest Star Formation Region in the Large Magellanic Cloud
The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), located only 160,000 light-years from Earth, is the nearest galaxy outside the Milky Way in which stars are actively being formed. With its high resolution, the Hubble Space Telescope can study details of star formation in the LMC as easily as ground-based...
Astronomers Use Image to Measure Star's Mass
A 2004 Hubble Space Telescope image of MACHO-LMC-5, STAR-0516-7029.
Generations of Star Formation in the Large Magellanic Cloud
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captures this iridescent tapestry of star birth in a neighboring galaxy in this panoramic view of glowing gas, dark dust clouds, and young, hot stars. The star-forming region, catalogued as N11B, lies in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), located only 160,000...
An Eclectic Mix of Galaxies
Like a photographer clicking random snapshots of a crowd of people, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has taken a view of an eclectic mix of galaxies. In taking this picture, Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys was not looking at any particular target. The camera was taking a picture of a...
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