Strike!
The subject of this image is a group of three galaxies, collectively known as NGC 7764A. They were imaged by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, using both its Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). The two galaxies in the upper right of the image appear to be...
The Tortured Clouds of Eta Carinae
Massive stars can wreak havoc on their surroundings, as can be seen in this new view of the Carina nebula from NASAs Spitzer Space Telescope.
Lynds’ Dark Nebula 673
This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. LDN 673 is part of a giant cloud of dust and gas in the constellation of Aquilla. It is fragmented into many pieces, inside of which are forming stars. Some...
Emission Nebula Sh2-140
This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. Sh2-140 is an HII emission nebula on the southwest edge of the Lynds 1204 darn nebula. It is also on the edge the Cephus Ring, a ring of molecular gas and...
Star-forming region NGC 7129
NGC 7129 is a star-forming region and reflection nebula in the constellation of Cepheus. It is about 3000 light-years away from Earth. The stars in this nebula are very young, only about a million years old. The red blobs above and below the nebula are Herbig-Haro objects, which are the result...
A (Galactic) Arm’s Length Away
The two galaxies in this image — NGC 672 (top right) and IC 1727 (bottom left) — appear to be so close that they are almost elbowing each other, like playful children. In fact, the galaxies shown in this beautifully detailed image taken at the Kitt Peak National Observatory, a program of NSF’s...
The Veil Nebula, NGC 6960
This image of the Veil Nebula was taken with the Mosaic camera on the WIYN 0.9-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. The Veil Nebula (NGC 6960) is part of a supernova remnant known as the Cygnus Loop. It is the shattered remains of one, and possibly two, supernovae that exploded...
Silver Galactic Sliver
The Silver Sliver Galaxy — more formally known as NGC 891 — is shown in this striking image from the Mosaic instrument on the 4-meter Nicholas U. Mayall Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. NGC 891 is a spiral galaxy that lies almost perfectly edge-on to us,...
Hubble Gazes Sidelong at NGC 3568
In this image, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope captures a side-on view of NGC 3568, a barred spiral galaxy roughly 57 million light-years from the Milky Way in the constellation Centaurus. In 2014 the light from a supernova explosion in NGC 3568 reached Earth — a sudden flare of light...
Colorful Cosmic Reflections
This striking image, streaked with bright swathes of color, captures the beautiful reflection nebula NGC 2170. The diffuse clouds of interstellar dust in the nebula scatter and reflect light from nearby stars, creating this vividly colorful scene. Dust grains reflect blue light from hot stars...
Edge-on Spiral Galaxy NGC 3628
This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. NGC 3628 is a large, edge-on spiral galaxy. It is one of three galaxies in the "Leo Triplet". NGC 3628 has a warped disk and a long tidal tail (the faint blue...
A Vista of NGC 2626 with the SMARTS 0.9-meter Telescope
This image is so beautiful that it could almost be a painting, but it is real. It has been produced using observations made at the SMARTS 0.9-meter Telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), which is a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. It features a reflection nebula known as NGC...
IC 1340, part of supernova remnant Cygnus Loop
This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. IC 1340 is part of a large supernova remnant called the Cygnus Loop. It is located about 1,500 light-years from Earth. Astronomers estimate the supernova...
IC 1396 Southeast
This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. IC 1396 is a giant emission nebula that is over 3 degrees in diameter. It is illuminated by a hot, massive O-type star (HD 206267) near its center. The star...
Bubble Nebula (NGC 7635)
This central, cosmetically corrected view of NGC 7635 shows the nebulosity carved out by the winds of the massive central star and demonstrates the exquisite image quality of the new One Degree Imager camera on the WIYN 3.5-m telescope. A wide-view image of the nebula, demonstrating the large...
IC 1396 Northeast
This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. IC 1396 is a giant emission nebula that is over 3 degrees in diameter. It is illuminated by a hot, massive O-type star (HD 206267) near its center. The star...
Barred Spiral Galaxy, NGC 1313
This image of nearby spiral galaxy NGC1313 was taken with the National Science Foundation’s Blanco 4-meter telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. NGC1313 is a late-type barred spiral galaxy. In visible light, NGC1313 appears dominated by scattered regions of star...
Sculptor Galaxy, NGC 253
NGC 253 also goes by the name of “Sculptor Galaxy” after its parent constellation, or by the name “Silver Dollar Galaxy”, presumably after its visual appearance in the eyepiece. NGC 253 is classified as a starburst galaxy, but interestingly, only 1 supernova has been found within it. It is a...
Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 2442
GC2442 is a barred (SBbc) spiral galaxy in Volans with a visual magnitude of 10.4 at Right Ascension (2000.0): 07:36:19.0 and Declination (2000.0): -69:31:30. It is approximately 5x6 arcminute. In this image, North is toward the upper left, East is to the lower left The field is approx. 10 x 10...
NGC 891
This galaxy in Andromeda is perhaps the most beautiful example of a nearby spiral galaxy viewed edgewise. Note the small companion galaxies above and beneath the disk. This particular galaxy is of interest to astronomers that study the dynamics of material in the galactic plane of spiral...
Iris Nebula NGC 7023
This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic Camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory on August 29th, 2009. NGC 7023, also known as the Iris Nebula because of its flower-like shape, is a bright reflection nebula. The bluish glow of the nebula...
Planetary Nebula Abell 74
This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. Abell 74 is an ancient planetary nebula. Because of its age it is a very faint target. Ancient planetary nebulae are often distorted in shape due to...
Wolf-Rayet star, WR 134
This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. WR 134 is the brightest star below the center of the image. It is a Wolf-Rayet star, which is a very hot, massive star that is blowing off its outer layers....
One of a Pair
In this image the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope peers into the spiral galaxy NGC 1317 in the constellation Fornax, more than 50 million light-years from Earth. This galaxy is one of a pair, but NGC 1317’s rowdy larger neighbour NGC 1316 lies outside Hubble’s field of view. Despite the absence...
A Spectacular Side-On Spiral
This astronomical portrait from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope showcases an edge-on view of the majestic spiral galaxy UGC 11537. Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 has captured the tightly wound spiral arms swirling around the heart of UGC 11537 at infrared and visible wavelengths, showing both...
Wolf–Lundmark–Melotte (WLM) Irregular Galaxy
This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic II camera on the Blanco 4-meter telescope at Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory. Wolf–Lundmark–Melotte (WLM) is an irregular galaxy located on the outer edges of the Local Group. WLM is about ten times smaller than our own...
M20: The Trifid Nebula
The Trifid Nebula or M20 is one of the most observed summer nebulae. It gets its distinct look from dust lanes that seem to divide the nebula into three parts. Located in the constellation Sagittarius, its distance is estimated at approximately 5,000 light years. This image was taken as part of...
NGC 205 (M110)
This dwarf elliptical galaxy is a satellite of the famous Andromeda galaxy (M31). Unlike most elliptical galaxies, NGC 205 shows evidence of recent star formation. Charles Messierʼs records suggest that he observed this galaxy with M31 and M32, but did not list it in his catalogue of comet-like...
NGC 7380
NGC 7380 is a typical star-forming region in the direction of an outer spiral arm of our galaxy (around 7000 light years distant). This field contains many young energetic stars that make the natal gas surrounding them glow an intense pink/red. The majority of stars in this newly formed group...
NGC 7139
This faint planetary nebula is located about 4300 lightyears away in the constellation Cepheus. This image was taken as part of Advanced Observing Program (AOP) program at Kitt Peak Visitor Center during 2014.
NGC 5850
The image shows NGC 5850 (lower left). This disrupted, barred spiral in the constellation Virgo was studied by Higdon, Buta and Purcell in "An Optical and HI Study of NGC 5850: Victim of a High-Speed Encounter?" The Astronomical Journal, January 1998. It's peculiar bar and ring morphology is...
NGC 5921
This barred, face-on spiral galaxy is located in the constellation Serpens Caput. This image was taken as part of Advanced Observing Program (AOP) program at Kitt Peak Visitor Center during 2014.
NGC 6962
Based on an estimated distance of 180 million light years away, NGC 6962 is an intrinsically large galaxy. Many other galaxies punctuate the field of the group; but NGC 6962 is by far the most prominent. In 2002 a supernova explosion took place in one the outer arms of this galaxy. The event...
M8: Lagoon Nebula
M8, the Lagoon Nebula, is a tremendous star forming region in our galaxy. Under dark skies it is easily seen with the unaided eye just above the "teapot" (spout) asterism of Sagittarius. A view through a small telescope (with the eye) shows the milky glow of nebulosity pervades the entire...
NGC 6365
This spiral galaxy is located in the constellation Draco. This image was taken as part of Advanced Observing Program (AOP) program at Kitt Peak Visitor Center during 2014.
NGC 7094
This planetary nebula is located in the constellation Pegasus, near the globular cluster M15. This image was taken as part of Advanced Observing Program (AOP) program at Kitt Peak Visitor Center during 2014.
NGC 7331
NGC 7331 is one of 18 galaxies chosen by the HST Extragalactic Distance Scale Key Project to calibrate secondary distance estimators. The project will use the Hubble Space Telescope to obtain an accurate distance to galaxies via Cepheid variables, with the ultimate goal of using these to...
NGC 7479
This fantastic barred spiral galaxy is located about 100 million lightyears away in Pegasus. This image was taken as part of Advanced Observing Program (AOP) program at Kitt Peak Visitor Center during 2014.
NGC 772
NGC 772 is a spiral galaxy located in the constellation Aries. It is located about 130 million light years away from Earth and it is about twice the size of our Milky Way Galaxy. This image was taken as part of Advanced Observing Program (AOP) program at Kitt Peak Visitor Center during 2014.
NGC 864
NGC 864 is a barred spiral galaxy in the direction of Cetus. It is estimated to be around 69 million light years away. As a morphological feature, bars in the centers of galaxies indicate a dynamic movement of gas (and stars). While NGC 864 possesses a weak bar- the effects of the structure can...
SH 106: Bipolar Star-forming Region
Sharpless 106 (SH106) is a distant star-forming region around 2000 light years away. This stellar nursery is only three light years across but contains many hundreds of stars that have just begun life. Many of the new stars have fierce stellar winds that blow this gas outward at speeds in...
SH2-140
This nebula is along the northeast circumference of a very large molecular cloud called the Cepheus Bubble. This is a bubble of gas and dust that is around 500 light years across and approximately 2700 light years away. From our vantage point on earth, this bubble extends across 10 degrees of...
M20: The Trifid Nebula Wide
The Trifid Nebula or M20 is one of the most observed summer nebulae. It gets its distinct look from dust lanes that seem to divide the nebula into three parts. Located in the constellation Sagittarius, its distance is estimated at approximately 5,000 light years. This image was taken as part of...
M13
M13 is certainly the most famous globular cluster in the sky of the northern hemisphere. The visual appeal of a cluster like this is unmatched for most deep sky objects. This sphere of over 300,000 stars looks something like scattered diamonds in even relatively small telescopes. The stars in a...
Crab Nebula
Like few other celestial objects, the Crab nebula displays the death of a star in all of its beauty. Both colorful and convoluted filaments of gas expand violently away from the origin of the explosion. The cataclysmic end for this star was observed in 1054 AD by any of humanity that cared to...
NGC 6894
NGC 6894 is a seemingly typical planetary nebula. It has a diffuse spherical outer shell with a more convoluted inner structure. The overall pinkish color to this nebula may be due to the reddening of light caused by intervening clouds of gas and dust in this direction. This nebula also has a...
NGC 6814
A casual glance at the dark night sky seems to imply that most of the universe is accessible to us. The sky is filled with stars and even the most modest starcharts will show a region teeming with objects to be observed with binoculars and small telescopes. This is especially so in the...
NGC 6781
This is an almost a perfect bubble of gas cast off by a single star that has died. The bubble continues to expand; it is approximately two light years across now. Its imperfection (from our perspective) is due to photodissociation (yes... this is a real word) by interstellar UV radiation....
NGC 663
This is a fairly young (~20-25 million years) open cluster located in the constellation Cassiopeia. This image was taken as part of Advanced Observing Program (AOP) program at Kitt Peak Visitor Center during 2014.
NGC 6621
These two interacting spiral galaxies are located about 300 million lightyears away in the constellation Draco. We are seeing them about 100 million years after their closest approach, which triggered large outbursts of star formation. For another view, see the Hubble image of NGC 6621. This...
NGC 6537: The Red Spider
Interestingly enough, no annoying insects flew in front of the monitor during the creation of this image. This image was taken as part of Advanced Observing Program (AOP) program at Kitt Peak Visitor Center during 2014.
NGC 6384
NGC 6384 is a face-on spiral galaxy in the direction of the constellation of Ophiuchus. The many stars seen in this image are all in the foreground; they are all well within our own galaxy. NGC 6384 lies some 60 million light years beyond. This image was taken as part of Advanced Observing...
A ‘Monster’ Star-Forming Region
Do you see a monster in this picture? Do the bright spots near the top of the image look like the piercing eyes and elongated snout of Godzilla? In reality, this colorful image shows a nebula – a cloud of gas and dust in space – captured by NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope. Over billions of years,...
NGC 2264 in the Infrared
Newborn stars, hidden behind thick dust, are revealed in this image of a section of the Christmas Tree Cluster from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, created in joint effort between Spitzer's Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) and Multiband Imaging Photometer (MIPS) instruments.
This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope features the spiral galaxy Mrk 1337, which is roughly 120 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation Virgo. Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 snapped Mrk 1337 at a wide range of ultraviolet, visible and infrared wavelengths, producing...
Hubble Spies a Pair of Squabbling Galaxies
This observation from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope showcases Arp 86, a peculiar pair of interacting galaxies which lies roughly 220 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Pegasus. Arp 86 is composed of the two galaxies NGC 7752 and NGC 7753 — NGC 7753 is the large spiral...
Hubble Experiences Déjà vu
This jewel-bright Picture of the Week features the spiral galaxy NGC 2903. This image was captured using Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3), which were installed on Hubble in 2002 and 2009 respectively. Interestingly, Hubble has observed this particular...
Cosmic Fireworks
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope Picture of the Week features the galaxy NGC 6984, an elegant spiral galaxy in the constellation Indus roughly 200 million light-years away from Earth. The galaxy is a familiar sight for Hubble, having already been captured in 2013. The sweeping spiral arms...
Wide-Field View of CW Leonis
This image shows a wide field view of CW Leonis.
CW Leonis
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope celebrates Halloween this year with a striking observation of the carbon star CW Leonis, which resembles a baleful orange eye glaring from behind a shroud of smoke. CW Leonis glowers from deep within a thick shroud of dust in this image from the NASA/ESA...
Providers | Sign In
NASA’s Universe of Learning materials are based upon work supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number NNX16AC65A to the Space Telescope Science Institute, working in partnership with Caltech/IPAC, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, and NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The award is part of NASA’s Science Activation program, which strives to further enable NASA science experts and content into the learning environment more effectively and efficiently with learners of all ages.