M39, NGC 7092
M39 is a loose, widely spaced open cluster in the constellation Cygnus. Quite close to Earth at about 800 light-years away, M39 has around 30 members and is two to three hundred million years old. This picture is a combination of 33 dithered frames in BVR colors taken with the Mosaic camera at...
Spiral Galaxy IC 342
Spiral Galaxy IC 342 is located roughly 11 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Camelopardalis, “the giraffe.” Its face-on appearance in the sky — as opposed to our tilted and edge-on views of many other nearby galaxies, such as the large spiral galaxy Andromeda (M31) — makes IC...
Hubble Spies a Stately Spiral Galaxy
The stately sweeping spiral arms of the spiral galaxy NGC 5495 are revealed by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope’s Wide Field Camera 3 in this image. NGC 5495, which lies around 300 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Hydra, is a Seyfert galaxy, a type of galaxy with a...
NGC 7320 Stephan’s Quintet
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 NGC7320 (top-center) is thought by most astronomers to be in the foreground (about 8-times...
M27, NGC 6853, Dumbbell Nebula
The Dumbbell Nebula, Messier object 27 (M27), NGC 6853, in the constellation Vulpecula, as seen by the Kitt Peak 4-meter Mayall telescope in 1988. This false colour image was made from a combination of two CCD frames, taken at the Kitt Peak 4m telescope in 1988. Each image was processed to...
First Light Image Gemini South
This is the first light image from Gemini South. It shows a small section of the Trapezium region of the Orion Nebula as seen at infrared wavelengths using the Flamingos-I near infrared imager.
The great nebula in Orion, M42
This picture shows the great nebula in the constellation of Orion the Hunter. On a good clear night, from a dark site well away from the lights of modern civilization, this glowing cloud of gas and dust can be seen with the naked eye as a fuzzy patch surrounding the star Theta Orionis in the...
M27, NGC 6853, Dumbbell Nebula
The Dumbbell Nebula, Messier object 27 (M27), NGC6853, in the constellation Vulpecula, as seen by the Kitt Peak 4-meter Mayall telescope in 1973. The nebula is about 850 light-years away from Earth and about 1.5 light-years in diameter (although both distance and size are very poorly constrained).
Nebula Sh2-239
This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. Sh2-239 is a distinct nebula in which stars have been forming for quite some time. It contains two clusters of highly embedded very young stars as well as...
Hubble finds infant stars in neighbouring galaxy
The exquisite sharpness of the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has plucked out an underlying population of infant stars embedded in the nebula NGC 346 that are still forming from gravitationally collapsing gas clouds. They have not yet ignited their hydrogen fuel to sustain nuclear fusion. The...
Destined to Collide
The Triangulum Galaxy, otherwise known as Messier 33, lies almost 3 million light-years from Earth, and is a near neighbor of the Andromeda Galaxy. The galaxy is imaged here by the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope, located at Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), a Program of NSF’s...
Hubble Gazes into M74
The arms of the spiral galaxy M74 are studded with rosy pink regions of fresh star formation in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. M74 — also known as the Phantom Galaxy — lies around 32 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation Pisces, and is a familiar sight...
The Phantom Galaxy Across the Spectrum
M74 shines at its brightest in this combined optical/mid-infrared image, featuring data from both the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. With Hubble’s venerable Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and Webb’s powerful Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI)...
A Marvel of Galactic Morphology
The galaxy featured in this Picture of the Week has a shape unlike many of the galaxies familiar to Hubble. Its thousands of bright stars evoke a spiral galaxy, but it lacks the characteristic ‘winding’ structure. The shining red blossoms stand out as well, twisted by clouds of dust — these are...
Planetesimal Collision Around Star HD 166191 (Illustration)
Hubble Spies a Scintillating Globular Cluster
This scintillating image showcases the globular cluster NGC 6540 in the constellation Sagittarius, which was captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope’s Wide Field Camera 3 and Advanced Camera for Surveys. These two instruments have slightly different fields of view — which determines how...
Celestial Cloudscape in the Orion Nebula
This celestial cloudscape from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope captures the colourful region surrounding the Herbig-Haro object HH 505. Herbig-Haro objects are luminous regions surrounding newborn stars, and are formed when stellar winds or jets of gas spewing from these newborn stars form...
NGC 5236 (M83), SINGG Survey
Gas-rich galaxies display a wide range of structures and properties, but one thing they all seem to have are some newly formed stars. Images from the Survey for Ionization in Neutral Gas Galaxies (SINGG), an NOAO Survey Program (obtained with the CTIO 1.5m telescope), are designed to highlight...
A Crimson Nursery
RCW 120, also known as Sharpless 2-3, is an emission nebula and star-forming region located in the constellation Scorpius, about 4300 light-years away from Earth. The glowing nebula was captured here by the SMARTS 0.9-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program...
Portrait of a Globular Cluster
The globular cluster Terzan 2 in the constellation Scorpio features in this observation from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Globular clusters are stable, tightly gravitationally bound clusters of tens of thousands to millions of stars found in a wide variety of galaxies. The intense...
A Cosmic Draw
It is now widely accepted amongst astronomers that an important aspect of how galaxies evolve is the way they interact with one another. Galaxies can merge, collide, or brush past one another — each of which has a significant impact on their shapes and structures. As common as these...
Dust and Gas in the Large Magellanic Cloud
The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is a satellite of the Milky Way, containing about 30 billion stars. Seen here in a far-infrared and radio view, the LMCs cool and warm dust are shown in green and blue, respectively, with hydrogen gas in red.
Dust and Gas in the Andromeda Galaxy
The Andromeda galaxy, or M31, is shown here in far-infrared and radio wavelengths of light. Some of the hydrogen gas (red) that traces the edge of Andromedas disc was pulled in from intergalactic space, and some was torn away from galaxies that merged with Andromeda far in the past. This...
Dust and Gas in the Small Magellanic Cloud
The Small Magellanic Cloud is a satellite of the Milky Way, containing about 3 billion stars. This far-infrared and radio view of it shows the cool (green) and warm (blue) dust, as well as the hydrogen gas (red).
Dust and Gas in the Triangulum Galaxy
This image of the Triangulum galaxy, or M33, includes data from the ESA (European Space Agency) Herschel mission, supplemented with data from ESAs retired Planck observatory and two retired NASA missions: the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) and Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE). This...
NGC 1515
Intermediate barred spiral galaxy NGC 1515 composed of data taken with the Dark Energy Camera on the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab, as part of the Dark Energy Survey, a project that mapped millions of galaxies....
IC1396, The Elephant Trunk Nebula
This image of the Elephant Trunk Nebula was taken with the Mosaic camera on the WIYN 0.9-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory near Tucson, Arizona. The Elephant Trunk is a dense, elongated cloud of gas inside a bright cluster of stars known as IC 1396. The trunk conceals many young...
Snapshot of a Massive Cluster
The massive galaxy cluster Abell 1351 is captured in this image by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope’s Wide Field Camera 3 and Advanced Camera for Surveys. This galaxy cluster lies in the constellation Ursa Major in the northern hemisphere. This image is filled with streaks of light, which...
Delving into an Astronomical Treasure Trove
This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope captures the sparkling globular cluster NGC 6569 in the constellation Sagittarius. Hubble explored the heart of this cluster with both its Wide Field Camera 3 and Advanced Camera for Surveys, revealing a glittering hoard of stars in this...
A Hexagonal Galactic Center
NGC 7020, a barred lenticular galaxy in the southern constellation Pavo, holds a geometric mystery. Clear but subtle in this image from Gemini South, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab, the core of NGC 7020 is visibly hexagonal in shape. A hexagon is...
The Anatomy of a Black Hole Flare
This diagram shows how a shifting feature, called a corona, can create a flare of X-rays around a black hole. The corona (feature represented in purplish colors) gathers inward (left), becoming brighter, before shooting away from the black hole (middle and right). Astronomers don't know why the...
Artist illustration of a supermassive black hole. This active black hole is one of the most obscured known, meaning that it is surrounded by extremely thick clouds of gas and dust.
NuSTAR's View of Galaxy NGC 1068
Galaxy NGC 1068 is shown in visible light and X-rays in this composite image. High-energy X-rays (magenta) captured by NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, are overlaid on visible-light images from both NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey.
This artist's concept shows a black hole with an accretion disk -- a flat structure of material orbiting the black hole - and a jet of hot gas, called plasma.
A Hard X-ray Look at M51
Bright green sources of high-energy X-ray light captured by NASA's NuSTAR mission are overlaid on an optical-light image of the Whirlpool galaxy (the spiral in the center of the image) and its companion galaxy, M51b (the bright greenish-white spot above the Whirlpool), taken by the Sloan Digital...
Hard X-ray Observations of the Pulsar Wind Nebula G11.2-0.3
Researchers use NuSTAR’s ability to focus X-rays to study high-energy emission from the pulsar wind nebula G11.2-0.3 and the young pulsar PSR J1811-1925 powering it.
Particle Acceleration in the 30 Doradus C Superbubble
Using NuSTAR, researchers find that the 30 Dor C superbubble is an efficient particle accelerator, with the hard X-ray emission arising from electrons with up to 100 TeV energies.
Hubble Goes Galactic Birdwatching
This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows the barred spiral galaxy NGC 7496, which lies over 24 million light-years away in the constellation Grus. This constellation, whose name is Latin for crane, is one of four constellations collectively known as the Southern Birds. The...
Artist's rendering of a "hot Jupiter," with samples of "light curve" data from hot Jupiters obtained by the Spitzer Space Telescope. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech HIP 67522 b was identified as a planet candidate by NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satllite (TESS), which detects planets via the...
A Break in the Milky Way's Sagittarius Arm (diagram)
This diagram shows a contingent of young stars and star-forming gas clouds is sticking out of one of the Milky Way's spiral arms like a splinter protruding from a plank of wood. Stretching some 3,000 light-years, this is the first major structure identified with such a dramatically different...
Comet 'Bites the Dust' Around Dead Star
This artist's concept illustrates a comet being torn to shreds around a white dwarf called G29-38. NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope observed a cloud of dust around this white dwarf that may have been generated from this type of comet disruption.
A Break in the Milky Way's Sagittarius Arm
A contingent of young stars and star-forming gas clouds is sticking out of one of the Milky Way's spiral arms like a splinter protruding from a plank of wood. Stretching some 3,000 light-years, this is the first major structure identified with such a dramatically different orientation relative to...
Sectional View of the SPHEREx Spacecraft against a black background.
NGC 2346 - A Cosmic Butterfly’s Delicate Wings
The new image of NGC 2346 showing unprecedented resolution of the molecular hydrogen gas. The image is about 1 arc minute on a side: north is up, east is to the left. In contrast, the size of the full moon is 30 arc minutes
NGC 2523
NGC 2523 is the bright barred spiral galaxy on the right side of this image. If you were to turn NGC 2523 so that it was edge-on, it would look very much like NGC 2523B- the slender galaxy towards the left edge of the field. While these galaxies are not interacting with each other, they are...
NGC 246
NGC 246 is a rather lonely and large planetary nebula in Cetus. In this example the distorted sphere of gas has many thin and thicker regions giving it an irregular "texture." Like most spherical clouds of gas the outer edges seem brighter than the center which appears void. This is a...
NGC 2346
Butterfly in the sky.....but why? It is thought that this intriguing shape was formed by two different processes. First of all there are two stars that play the "starring" role. This pair used to orbit one another at a casual distance, but then one of them evolved into a red giant star and...
NGC 2336
The many delicate spiral arms of NGC 2336 give it the appearance of regal, understated beauty. The central region sports a bar in which stars orbit the center of the galaxy, not in circles as do the stars in the outer arms- but instead in "figure eights" and more complicated weave-like patterns...
NGC 2327
NGC 2327 is a small part of the much larger Seagull Nebula. This image was taken as part of Advanced Observing Program (AOP) program at Kitt Peak Visitor Center during 2014.
NGC 2261: Hubbleʼs Variable Nebula
Comet!? No- this object was put into the correct category as a diffuse nebula. The bright star at the tip of the cloud of gas is called R Monocerotis. It is a variable star that is actually in the background of the cloud of gas. The gas cloud is around 1 light year in extent and due to the...
Orion Bullets Mosaic
This near-infrared image shows supersonic 'bullets' of gas and the wakes created as they pierce through clouds of molecular hydrogen in the Orion Nebula. The bullets are speeding outward from the cloud at up to 400 kilometers (250 miles) per second. This is more than a thousand times faster...
NGC 2170
NGC 2170 is located about 2400 lightyears away in the constellation Monoceros. It is both an emission and reflection nebula, housing hundreds of newborn stars. This image was taken as part of Advanced Observing Program (AOP) program at Kitt Peak Visitor Center during 2014.
NGC 2146
Located in Camelopardis, this galaxy has been violently perturbed by an interaction with a nearby galaxy. This is an example of a "peculiar galaxy" and is a strong source of radio emission. It is believed to be in the final stages of a collision and merger and may be interacting with NGC2146A,...
NGC 1931
This is both an emission and reflection nebula, seen about 7000 lightyears away in the constellation Auriga. It is a summer parallel to the winter Orion Nebula. This image was taken as part of Advanced Observing Program (AOP) program at Kitt Peak Visitor Center during 2014.
Supernova Remnant DEM L316
The Gemini South Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) recently captured a dramatic image of a vast cloud complex named DEM L316 located in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The peanut-shaped nebula appears to be a single object, but the latest research indicates that it is really comprised of two...
Dancing Galaxies NGC 6872 & IC 4970
Image of NGC 6872 (left) and companion galaxy IC 4970 (right) locked in a tango as the two galaxies gravitationally interact. The galaxies lie about 200 million light-years away in the direction of the constellation Pavo (the Peacock). Minimum Credit: Gemini Observatory/AURA/Australian Gemini...
World’s most powerful digital camera opens eye, records first images in hunt for dark energy
Zoomed-in image from the Dark Energy Camera of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1365, in the Fornax cluster of galaxies, which lies about 60 million light years from Earth.
M45: The Pleiades
This very bright open cluster has a large angular extent, making it a great binocular object. If you viewed this object through a large telescope, you would only see a few stars, not the entire cluster. Perhaps the most famous open cluster, this is easily visible with the naked eye. In fact,...
M58
This barred spiral galaxy is one of the brighter galaxies in the Virgo Cluster. It is located 60 million light years away. Other barred spiral galaxies in the Messier list include M91, M95 and M109. This image was taken as part of Advanced Observing Program (AOP) program at Kitt Peak Visitor...
M44: The Beehive Cluster
M44 is a beautiful open cluster in the center of the constellation Cancer. It can be seen as a faint nebulosity with the naked eye under good viewing conditions, and is easily resolved with a small pair of binoculars or telescope. In fact, this is one object frequently better suited for...
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