Arms Wide Open
In this composite image of the Whirlpool Galaxy, the Very Large Array has captured the vastness of this colliding pair like no other telescope can. In white is how the galaxies appear to optical telescopes: one giant spiral galaxy with a smaller one hanging off an arm. The VLA sees a much bigger...
One of the Greats
Two things capture your attention in this spectacular Picture of the Week, which was taken using Hubbles Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3): the two enormous galaxies that flank the left and right sides of the image. The galaxy on the left is a lenticular galaxy, which rejoices in the name of 2MASX...
Rediscovered, Renamed, Reclassified
This image shows the globular cluster NGC 6380, which lies around 35 000 light-years from Earth, in the constellation Scorpio (The Scorpion). The very bright star at the top of the image is HD 159073, which is only around 4000 light-years from Earth, making it a much nearer neighbour to Earth...
Cosmic Lens Flare
The centre of this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope is framed by the tell-tale arcs that result from strong gravitational lensing, a striking astronomical phenomenon which can warp, magnify, or even duplicate the appearance of distant galaxies. Gravitational lensing occurs when...
M48, NGC 2548
M48 is an open cluster in the constellation Hydra. About 300 million years old and 1500 light-years away, M48 was unidentified until the 1950s due to a five-degree error in Messier's published position, making it perhaps the most missing of the 'missing' Messier objects. M48 contains close to a...
M47, NGC 2422
M47 is an open cluster in the constellation Puppis, and was known to several observers before being independently discovered by Messier. A coarse bright cluster of some 50 stars, it can be seen by the suitably primed naked eye at a good dark location, as a dim fuzzy spot. About 1600 light-years...
Spiral galaxy NGC 4013
NGC4013, a large, nearby, edge-on spiral galaxy.
Spiral galaxy M101 (NGC 5457)
Image of a southern section of M101, made from a combination of red (R) and almost-infrared (I) bands, displayed using false color.
Spiral galaxy M101 (NGC 5457)
Image of a northern section of M101, made from a combination of red (R) and almost-infrared (I) bands, displayed using false color.
IC 1396 North
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...
M101, NGC 5457
The giant pinwheel galaxy, M101, in the constellation Ursa Major. Of type Sc, and quite similar to our own Galaxy, it is seen almost face-on, showing the spiral arms and the intervening dust lanes (dark filaments) with great clarity in this 1975 image from the Kitt Peak 4-meter Mayall...
Interacting galaxies NGC 6745
This is a Hubble Heritage image created by current and former NOAO staff members. The text is modified from the STScI press release, number STScI-PRC00-34 (Heritage). NGC6745 in the constellation of Lyra is a striking example of a galaxy-galaxy collision. A large spiral galaxy, with its nucleus...
NGC 3582 in Sagittarius
NGC3582 is a minor nebula in the Sagittarius arm of the Milky Way galaxy. It is part of star-forming region RCW 57 in Carina. This image was taken in 2007 using the Mosaic-2 imager on the Blanco 4-meter telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory.
Emission Nebula Sh2-282
This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. Sh2-282 is an HII emission nebula. The red hydrogen gas is energized by the intense light from the bright blue stars that surround it. Several pillars can be...
Sh2-155, Cave Nebula
This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. Sh2-155, informally known as the "cave nebula," is dark cloud of gas embedded in a giant emission nebula. The top edge of the cloud is illuminated by several...
Emission Nebula IC 417
This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. Informally known as the spider, IC 417 is an emission nebula that is energized by embedded hot, massive blue stars. The bluish clouds of gas at the top of the...
Emission Nebula NGC 1491
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 1491 is an emission nebula. It is glowing deep red because the hydrogen gas in the nebula is energized by hot, massive stars embedded within. These stars...
IC 5067, Pelican Nebula
IC 5067, a star forming region in Cygnus, is also sometimes called the Pelican Nebula. This image was taken May 24, 2009 by Gregor Rothfuss, a first time visitor to the Kitt Peak Advanced Observing Program, with the help of Kitt Peak Visitor Center operator Flynn Haase. They used the VC 20-inch...
Sharpless 112, Emission Nebula
This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. Sharpless 112 is an emission nebula. It is glowing deep red because the hydrogen gas in the nebula is energized by the star BD +45 3216 embedded within. This...
Sharpless 157 (WR 157)
This image of Supernova 2002ic was taken at the Swope 1-meter telescope at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile on January 7, 2003. The supernova is the bright point of light in the center, at the intersection of two background galaxies. The host galaxy of the supernova is extremely faint and is...
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...
N44 Superbubble Complex
In the area of NGC1929 in the LMC is found the complex nebula seen above. Known as the N44 superbubble complex, this turbulent emission nebula is dominated by a vast bubble about 325 by 250 light-years across. The bubbles interior is formed either by massive winds produced by a cluster of a few...
Galaxy collision in NGC 6745
What appears as a bird's head, leaning over to snatch up a tasty meal, is a striking example of a galaxy collision in NGC 6745. A large spiral galaxy, with its nucleus still intact, peers at the smaller passing galaxy (nearly out of the field of view at lower right), while a bright blue beak...
The magnificent starburst galaxy Messier 82
This mosaic image of the magnificent starburst galaxy, Messier 82 (M82) is the sharpest wide-angle view ever obtained of M82. It is a galaxy remarkable for its webs of shredded clouds and flame-like plumes of glowing hydrogen blasting out from its central regions where young stars are being...
Ring Nebula, M57 (NGC 6720)
The WIYN 3.5-meter telescope on Kitt Peak took this image of the Ring Nebula on April 2, 2002 in a three-minute exposure aided by the WIYN Tip-Tilt Module (WTTM). This new adaptive optics device helps correct for degradation of the image quality due to atmospheric effects and shaking of the...
Ring Nebula, M57 (NGC 6720)
This is a two-minute exposure taken on the night of September 26th 1994 (UT of observation 27/09/94:04:21). This photograph shows a region 150 arc seconds square. The black-and-white images have been compressed in brightness (approximately a double logarithm) to show both bright and faint...
M57, NGC 6720, Ring Nebula
The Ring Nebula, M57, NGC6720 This true color picture was taken using Ektachrome film at the prime focus of the Kitt Peak 4m telescope on September 1st 1973. This is unusual: normally color images are made by combining black and white images taken through different colored filters. The Ring...
Sequence of Brown Dwarfs and Planets in Visible Light
An artist's rendition comparing brown dwarfs to stars and planets on the same scale. On the far left is the limb of the Sun. To its right is shown a very low mass star (a so-called "late-M dwarf"), a couple of brown dwarfs (a hotter "L dwarf" and a cooler "T dwarf"), and the planet Jupiter.
Star Forming Region NGC 6357
Star forming region in Scorpius obtained with Gemini South using the University of Florida's "Flamingos-I" near-infrared imager/spectrograph. Technical Details: Made from J, H and K-short band images with a mean image quality of FWHM = 0.56 arcsec.
Spiral galaxy NGC 2276
his is a combination of several exposures taken on the night of October 11th 1994 (UT of observation 12/10/94:10:43 to 11:00) with the 1k detector. Images were taken through three different filters approximating red (three exposures for a total of six minutes), blue (two, total 140 seconds) and...
Ghost Nebula, vdB 141
This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic Camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. vdB 141 is a reflection nebula located in the constellation Cepheus. Sometimes referred to as the ghost nebula, its awkward name is its catalog number in...
Planetary Nebula HFG1
None This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. HFG1 is a planetary nebula in the constellation of Cassiopeia. It was produced by a binary star system (V664 Cas) that is moving rapidly through our...
vdB 152, Barnard 175
This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. Also known as Barnard 175, vdB 152 is a reflection nebula atop of a dark Bok globule. Embedded in the top right side of the nebula is the Herbig Haro object...
Planetary Nebula MWP1
None This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. MWP1 is a very usually shaped, unusually large, and unusually old, planetary nebulae. The progenitor star is also one of the hottest stars known, so hot...
Sh2-82, Cocoon Nebula
This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. Informally known as the 'little Trifid Nebula' and the 'Cocoon Nebula', Sh2-82 is a relatively small emission nebula (seen as red) surrounded by a blue...
Star PV Cep
This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. PV Cep is the star embedded in the cloud of gas near the center of the image. It is a star in the process of forming. As it forms, it is also ejecting hot...
Cygnus X-1 binary star system
This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. Cygnus X-1 is a binary star system that contains a black hole. The Cygnus X-1 system looks like a single star in this image. It is the brighter (bottom) of...
Baby Eagle Nebula, LBN 777
This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. LBN 777 is a portion of the large cloud of dust and gas known as the Taurus Molecular Cloud. The brownish color is caused by large dust grains embedded in the...
Wizard Nebula, NGC 7380
This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. Informally known as the Wizard Nebula, NGC 7380 is an open cluster of stars still embedded in the nebula out of which it formed. The stars are estimated to be...
Hockey Stick Galaxy NGC 4656
None 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 4656, also known informally as the "hockey stick galaxy," is a distorted edge-on spiral galaxy. Its distinctive shape is due to a recent gravitational...
Reflection Nebula IC426
None IC 426 is a reflection nebula in the constellation of Orion. Reflection nebulae often look a ghostly bluish color because they reflect scattered light from bright stars nearby (the red light is absorbed by dust in the nebula). Mintaka, the westernmost star in the belt of Orion, is thought...
IPHASX J205013.7+465518, the Ear Nebula
None This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. Informally known as the "Ear Nebula", this relatively old and very faint planetary nebula was discovered by the INT/WFC Photometric H-alpha Survey of the...
Spiral Galaxy NGC 6946
This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic Camera on theNicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory on September 5th, 2008. The face-on spiral galaxy NGC 6946 is fueled by the births and deaths of brilliant, massive stars. Over the past century,...
Spiral Galaxies NGC 3166 and NGC 3169
None 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 3166 (lower right) and NGC 3169 (upper left) are two spiral galaxies trapped in a death spiral. As these two galaxies begin to merge, they are...
Veil Filaments (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. It shows faint filaments that are part of a large supernova remnant called the Cygnus Loop. It is located about 1,500 light-years from Earth. These filaments...
Supernova Remnant, G70.5+1.9
This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. G70.5+1.9 is located near the edge of the giant HII emission nebula Sharpless 100 (Sh2-100). It is likely a supernova remnant, the leftovers of a star that...
Polar Ring Galaxy, NGC 660
None This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. It shows NGC 660 and its surroundings. NGC 660 is a striking example of a polar ring galaxy. In the distant background are thousands of other galaxies....
Peculiar Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 2146
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 2146, the large galaxy in the lower-right corner of the image, is classified as a peculiar barred spiral. It is also considered to be a starburst galaxy...
Arp 104 Keenans System (NGC 5216 & NGC 5218)
None This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. Arp 104, also known as Keenans System, consists of the two spiral galaxies NGC 5216 (bottom) and NGC 5218 (top). The two are connected by a thin stream of...
M13, NGC 6205
This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. M13 is a giant globular cluster that consists of several hundred thousand stars. The cluster is about 150 light years in diameter. Like in all globular...
Bipolar Planetary Nebula KjPn8 (PN G112.5-00.1)
This image was taken with the KPNO Mayall 4-meter telescope on November 5, 2010. Located in the constellation of Cassiopeia, KjPn8 (also known as PN G112.5-00.1) is a very unusual bipolar planetary nebula. Its complex structure is the result of irregular ejections of gas in different...
M3, NGC 5272
This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. M3 is a giant globular cluster that consists of several hundred thousand stars. It is slightly larger and more distant than M13. Like in all globular...
Dwarf Galaxy NGC 4214
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 4214 is a dwarf galaxy that is much smaller than our own galaxy, the Milky Way. Despite its small size, NGC 4214 is undergoing vigorous star formation,...
Galactic Center in Thermal IR
The center of our Milky Way Galaxy showing emission from hot gas that will either form stars or feed the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy. Technical Details: The image quality for this Brackett-alpha (hydrogen) line image is FWHM=0.35 arcsec. This image was obtained with the...
Galactic Center at 4 microns
This image shows the center of our own Milky Way Galaxy in the infrared at 4.05 microns, centered around the Brackett Alpha emission line. Despite being a combination of 42 separate frames, each separately calibrated for sky emission, the final picture still has a mean FWHM averaged over 24...
Galactic Center
This extremely high resolution image of the region around the galactic center (at lower right) shows new details including a bow-shock structure in an infrared source called IRS-8 (see close-up on this album). See Image Release for details Technical Details: Image is moasic of 4 images combined...
NGC 2467
An extremely active stellar nursery glows in deep reddish tones in this Gemini view of NGC2467 in the southern constellation of Puppis. The image displays a striking array of features that illustrate multiple phases of star birth. In the lower right, young stars are emitting hot radiation,...
NGC 2467
An extremely active stellar nursery glows in deep reddish tones in this Gemini view of NGC2467 in the southern constellation of Puppis. The image displays a striking array of features that illustrate multiple phases of star birth. In the lower right, young stars are emitting hot radiation,...
Einstein Cross
This picture of the gravitationally lensed quasar Q2237+0305 and the associated lensing spiral galaxy was taken by the 3.5-meter WIYN telescope, on the night of October 4, 1999. This system is also known as Huchra's Lens, after its discoverer, and the Einstein Cross, because it is such an...
UGC 2885
Galaxy UGC 2885 may be the largest one in the local universe. It is 2.5 times wider than our Milky Way and contains 10 times as many stars. This galaxy is 232 million light-years away, located in the northern constellation of Perseus.
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