Hot Blue Stars at the Core of Globular Cluster M15
A NASA Hubble Space Telescope (HST) image of the center of globular cluster M15 reveals anew population of about 15 very hot stars isolated at the core. The most likely explanation for their existence is that they are the 'naked cores' of stars that have been stripped of their outer envelope...
Hubble Images of Star Cluster Before and After Astronauts Fixed Hubble's Flaw
Right panel: Real image taken with the Wide Field/Planetary Camera-2 of a "globular duster" pinhole mask in the April 1993 WFPC2 Thermal Vacuum test at JPL (Pasadena, CA). The image is a 80 sec exposure through the F555W ("V") filter about 40x34" on a side, and approximates closely what...
Complex Cloud of Gas Heated by Shock Waves
A NASA Hubble Space Telescope image of a huge, complex cloud of gas heated by shock waves from jets of gas produced by the birth of a new star. Called Herbig-Haro object #2 (HH- 2) the cloud is a visible manifestation of physical processes that occur early in the evolution of a star. The...
NGC 7252: Spiral Disk and Globular Star Clusters at the Core of a Colliding Galaxy
A NASA Hubble Space Telescope (HST) image of the core of the peculiar galaxy NGC 7252 reveals a striking "mini-spiral" disk of gas and stars, and about 40 exceptionally bright and young globular star clusters. The visible light image was taken with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera (WFPC)...
A Double Nucleus in Active Galaxy Markarian 315
A NASA Hubble Space Telescope image of the core of the Seyfert galaxy Markarian 315 reveals two nuclei located approximately 6,000 light-years apart. (Seyfert galaxies are a class of spiral galaxy with extremely bright nuclei that are thought to be powered by massive black holes accreting...
The Cygnus Loop Supernova Remnant
This is an image of a small portion of the Cygnus Loop supernova remnant, taken with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera on NASA's Hubble Space Telescope on April 24, 1991. This research is being presented at the 181st Meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Phoenix, AZ on January 6,...
Hen 3-1357: A Young Planetary Nebula
This is a NASA Hubble Space Telescope picture of a recently-formed "planetary nebula," known as Hen 3-1357. This expanding cloud of gas was ejected from the aging star in the center. Much of the gas is concentrated in a ring which appears tilted 35 degrees. This research is being presented at...
The Stunning Colors of the Orion Nebula
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has uncovered the strongest evidence yet that many stars form planetary systems. Dr. C. Robert O'Dell of Rice University, Houston, Texas and colleagues have used Hubble to discover extended disks of dust around 15 newly formed stars in the Orion Nebula, a starbirth...
Gas Plume Near the Edge of the Orion Nebula
A NASA Hubble Space Telescope "true color" mosaic image of a small portion of the Orion Nebula, taken the Wide Field and Planetary Camera (in wide field mode). Hubble shows a wealth of detail never seen before in the nebula. New features include: elongated objects oriented on the brightest...
Gas Plume From a Newborn Star in the Orion Nebula
A NASA Hubble Space Telescope picture of a hypersonic shock wave (lower right) of material moving at 148,000 miles per hour in the Orion Nebula, a star-forming region 1,500 light-years away. Studies of similar objects infer that such highly supersonic shock waves are formed by a beam of...
Close-up of Three Protoplanetary Disks in the Orion Nebula
A NASA Hubble Space Telescope picture of three protoplanetary disks, called "proplyds" in the Orion Nebula, a star-forming region 1,500 light-years away. Each proplyd appears as thick disk with a hole in the middle where the cool star is located. Radiation from nearby hot stars "boils off" ...
A "Hubble Atlas" of Ancient Galaxies
Hubble Space Telescope's high resolution allows astronomers to classify galaxies in a cluster (CL 0939+4713) that existed four billion years ago, when the universe was two- thirds of its present age. The galaxies in this mosaic are arranged according to the well-established system developed...
Giant Disk of Cold Gas and Dust Fuels Possible Black Hole at the Core of NGC 4261
A Hubble Space Telescope image of a giant disk of cold gas and dust fueling a possible black hole at the core of the galaxy. Estimated to be 300 light years across, the disk is tipped enough (about 60 degrees) to provide astronomers with a clear view of its bright hub, which presumably...
A Cluster of Galaxies Four Billion Light-years Away
This is a NASA Hubble Space Telescope image of a portion of a remote cluster of galaxies (CL 0939+4713) that existed when the universe was two-thirds of its present age (redshift z = 0.4). Hubble's high resolution allows astronomers to study, for the first time, the shapes of galaxies which...
Distant Galaxy Clusters
This NASA Hubble Space Telescope image reveals one of the faintest and probably farthest clusters of galaxies ever seen. The cluster contains about 30 very faint objects which are unusually small and compact in appearance. (The larger objects are foreground galaxies located in a separate...
Radio Galaxy 4C41.17
Using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope an international team of astronomers Is uncovering intriguing new details about the most distant galaxy known, located more than ten billion light-years away.
Jupiter's Moon, Io, In Ultraviolet Light
This is a Hubble Space Telescope image of the geologically active trailing hemisphere of the Jovian moon lo. The ultraviolet light image as taken with the European Space Agency's Faint Object Camera on March 15, 1992, when lo was 414 million miles from Earth. No larger than Earth's moon, lo is...
The Core of Peculiar Galaxy Arp 220
An image of the central part of the ultra-luminuous infrared galaxy Arp 220 taken with the WFPC on the Hubble Space Telescope. HST reveals a new complex structure within one arc second of the nucleus. While part of the this structure was seen in radio interfero-metric maps, most of the...
X Structure at Core of Whirlpool Galaxy (M51)
This image of the core of the nearby spiral galaxy M51, taken with the Wide Field Planetary camera (in PC mode) on NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, shows a striking , dark "X" silhouetted across the galaxy's nucleus. The "X" is due to absorption by dust and marks the exact position of a black...
Optical Jet in Galaxy NGC 3862
A NASA Hubble Space Telescope image of the central region of the galaxy NGC 3862 reveals a jet-like feature previously unseen in optical wavelengths. The image was taken with the European Space Agency's Faint Object Camera in F196 mode at a wavelength of 3400 angstroms. The image's 0.06 arc...
Compact Core of Galaxy M32
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope clearly shows the central core of the elliptical galaxy M32. This green-light image was taken with HST's Wide Field and Planetary Camera (WFPC), in high resolution mode, on August 17, 1991. The steady increase in brightness of M32 towards its center is readily...
Color Images of Quasar B1208+101 Split by Gravitational Lenses
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope (HST) color views of the distant quasar 1208+101 indicate that its image has been split in two by a gravitational lens. The quasar was first observed with HST's Wide Field/Planetary Camera in July 1991 as part of the Snapshot Survey for gravitational lenses. The...
A Planetary Nebula (N66) in the Large Magellanic Cloud
The NASA Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has imaged N66, a planetary nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud (a satellite galaxy of our own Milky Way galaxy). The image was obtained at 10:41 p.m. EDT on June 26, 1991, using the European Space Agency's Faint Object Camera. This HST image is being...
Globular Clusters at the Core of NGC 1275
A 1992 Hubble Space Telescope image of NGC 1275.
Compact Core of Galaxy M87
A NASA Hubble Space Telescope (HST) view of a 4,000 light-year long jet of plasma emanating from the bright nucleus of the giant elliptical galaxy M87. This ultraviolet light image was made with the European Space Agency's Faint Object Camera (FOC), one of two imaging systems aboard HST. This...
Compact Core of Galaxy M87
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope clearly shows the central core and accompanying jet of the giant elliptical galaxy M87. This near-infrared image was taken with HST's Wide Field and Planetary Camera (WF/PC), in high resolution mode, on June 1, 1991. The image is being presented on Thursday,...
Compact Core of Galaxy M87
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope clearly shows the central core and accompanying jet of the giant elliptical galaxy M87. This near-infrared image was taken with HST's Wide Field and Planetary Camera (WF/PC), in high resolution mode, on June 1, 1991. The image is being presented on Thursday,...
Jupiter
This is the first true-color photograph of the giant planet Jupiter from the Wide Field Planetary Camera on NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. All features in this image are cloud formations in the atmosphere of Jupiter, which contain small crystals of frozen ammonia and traces of colorful chemical...
Core of Globular Cluster 47 Tucanae
The core of the globular cluster 47 Tucanae, as imaged by the European Space Agency's Faint Object Camera (FOC) onboard NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Space Telescope's high spatial resolution and ultraviolet sensitivity make it a powerful tool for probing the centers of globular clusters....
Eta Carinae
A Hubble Space Telescope observation of the star Eta Carinae, made with the Wide Field/ Planetary Camera (WF/PC). An eruptive variable star, Eta Carinae has expelyled a large amount of gas into the surrounding interstellar medium. The HST resolves individual clumps as small as only about ten...
Eta Carinae
A Hubble Space Telescope observation of the star Eta Carinae, made with the Wide Field/ Planetary Camera (WF/PC). An eruptive variable star, Eta Carinae has expelyled a large amount of gas into the surrounding interstellar medium. The HST resolves individual clumps as small as only about ten...
Hubble's First Observation Of Jupiter
On March 11, 1991, the Wide Field/Planetary Camera on NASA's Hubble Space Telescope observed Jupiter for the first time. This "true color" picture of the southeast quadrant of the planet shows a striking oval-shaped dark ring on the left and the Great Red Spot just rotating out of view on...
Major Storm On Saturn
Hubble Space Telescope Image of Storm System on Saturn.
Mars Opposition -- Dec. 13, 1990
The images in this color composite were acquired on December 13, 1990, when Mars was 85 million kilometers (53 million miles) from Earth. This was two and one half weeks after opposition, when the angular size of Mars was about two thirds of its maximum at the best oppositions. The north pole...
Jupiter
This black and white picture of Jupiter, taken in green light at 1:14 a.m. on the 11th of March, 1991 by the Planetary Camera on NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, shows a wealth of fine detail in the clouds that cover the planet. The Great Red Spot is seen at the lower right, also on the right...
Gaseous Ring Around Supernova 1987A
HST has resolved, to an unprecedented detail of 0.1 arcsecond, a mysterious elliptical ring of material around the remnants of Supernova 1987A. In this image, taken with the European Space Agency's Faint Object Camera on August 23, 1990, the ring appears as a yellow ellipse. The tightly...
Starburst Galaxy NGC 1569
An infrared image of the nearby starburst galaxy NGC 1569. Starburst galaxies undergo periods of intense star formation. The starburst activity in NGC 1569 is concentrated into three giant regions which are clearly visible as three red knots in the false color image. These same starburst...
Braided Galactic Jet
This is a ten thousand light-year long jet of plasma observed by the European Space Agency's Faint Object Camera, aboard NASA'S Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The image, which is much sharper than previous pictures taken with ground based telescopes. reveals unprecedented detail in the jet....
Window-Curtain Structure of the Orion Nebula
Recent images made with the Wide Field/Planetary Camera on NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have revealed the structure of a thin sheet of gas located at the edge of the famous "Great Nebula" in Orion, an estimated 1500 light years from Earth. Astronomers, who compare the appearance of this...
Saturn's North Polar Hood
This enlargement of the Saturn image reveals unprecedented detail in atmospheric features at the northern polar hood. Saturn's north pole is presently tilted toward Earth by 24 degrees.
M15 Globular Cluster Core
This picture shows the central region of the globular cluster M15 as imaged by the Wide Field/Planetary Camera of the Hubble Space Telescope. M15 is a tightly bound cluster of about a million stars contained within our own galaxy. At the center of the image, the density of stars is roughly a...
M15 Globular Cluster Core
Core of globular cluster M15.
Orion Nebula: Hubble Space Telescope View Vs. Ground-Based View
This composite image shows the location of a one light-year square region in the Orion Nebula, which was imaged by WFPC. The area is near the edge of a cavity of ionized hydrogen, which is heated by ultraviolet radiation from a star cluster at the center of the nebula. (Ground-based Orion...
M15 Globular Cluster Core
This picture shows the central region of the globular cluster M15 as imaged by the Wide Field/Planetary Camera of the Hubble Space Telescope. M15 is a tightly bound cluster of about a million stars contained within our own galaxy. At the center of the image, the density of stars is roughly a...
The Radio Galaxy PKS 0521-36
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has obtained the most detailed and highest resolution optical images of the radio galaxy PKS 0521-36. The observations were made with the European Space Agency's Faint Object Camera. The galaxy PKS 0521-36, which is at a distance of about one billion light years ...
Comet Levy
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has observed the inner core surrounding the icy nucleus of Comet Levy more clearly than can be done with ground-based telescopes The image was taken September 27th with the HST's Wide Field/Planetary Camera, when the comet was at a distance of about 160,000,000...
HST Image of R Aquarii
This is the first picture taken by HST of a recent nova, the star system R Aquarii. The two dark knots at the center of the image probably contain the binary star system itself, which consists of a red giant and white dwarf star. The knots are dark due to saturation effects produced by the...
Globular Star Cluster M14
This pair of images of a region in the globular star cluster M14, (located 70,000 light-years away) clearly demonstrate the high spatial resolution of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, as compared to the view from a ground-based telescope. The image on the left, taken with the 4-meter telescope...
Star Cluster R136 - Wide Field/Planetary Camera
This unprocessed image, taken with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, yields stellar diameters of 0.1 arcsecond, allowing many more stars to be distinguished than in previous ground-based telescope images.
Star Cluster R136
Computer processing of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) image sharpens the appearance of the cluster R136 by subtracting stellar halos introduced by spherical aberration in the HST optics.
Saturn
This color image of Saturn was taken with the HST's Wide Field and Planetary Camera (WF/PC) in the wide field mode at 8:25 A.M. EDT, August 26, 1990, when the planet was at a distance of 1.39 billion kilometers (860 million miles) from Earth. The color in the image is reconstructed by...
Gaseous Ring Around Supernova 1987A
HST has resolved, to an unprecedented detail of 0.1 arcsecond, a mysterious elliptical ring of material around the remnants of Supernova 1987A. In this image, taken with the European Space Agency's Faint Object Camera on August 23, 1990, the ring appears as a yellow ellipse. The tightly...
HST Image of a Galaxy's Nucleus
This Hubble Space Telescope view of galaxy NGC 7457, was taken on August 17, 1990 with the Wide Field/Planetary Camera. The picture on the left with high contrast shows the central portion of the galaxy. Predictably, the density of the starry population smoothly increases toward the galactic...
Right in the middle of this image, nestled amongst a smattering of distant stars and even more distant galaxies, lies the newly discovered dwarf galaxy known as Donatiello II. If you cannot quite distinguish the clump of faint stars that is all we can see of Donatiello II in this image, then...
The Halo of Galaxy Messier 87
The huge halo around giant elliptical galaxy Messier 87 appears on this very deep image. An excess of light in the top-right part of this halo, and the motion of planetary nebulae in the galaxy, are the last remaining signs of a medium-sized galaxy that recently collided with Messier 87. The...
Hubble celebrates its 33rd anniversary with NGC 1333
Astronomers are celebrating the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope’s 33rd launch anniversary with an ethereal photo of a nearby star-forming region, NGC 1333. The nebula is in the Perseus molecular cloud, and is located approximately 960 light-years away. Hubble’s colourful view, showcasing its...
The cluster that almost got away
A menagerie of interesting astronomical finds fill this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. As well as several large elliptical galaxies, a ring-shaped galaxy is lurking on the right of this image. A pair of bright stars are also visible at the left of this image, notable for their...
The Phantom Spiral
The galaxy Messier 74, also known as the "Phantom Galaxy," is seen in ultraviolet light in data from NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX). Located in the constellation of Pisces, Messier 74 is about 30 million light years away.
The Infrared Face of the Phantom Galaxy (M74)
Messier 74, also known as the Phantom Galaxy, is seen here in infrared light which showcases its sweeping spiral arms and star-forming regions. This image was created using archival data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, revealing dust clouds that, in visible light, appear dark.
Dusty, Forming Stars in the Phantom Galaxy (M74)
This infrared image of Messier 74, also known as the Phantom Galaxy and NGC 628, showcases its sweeping spiral arms and star-forming regions. The image was created using archival data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, which can reveal dust clouds that are dark and hard to see in visible light...
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