MUSE image of the Orion Nebula
This colour composite of the Orion Nebula was created from data from the new MUSE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope. For each part of this spectacular star formation region this new instrument splits the light up into its component colours — revealing in detail the chemical and physical...
Wide-field view of the sky around the star cluster Westerlund 1
This wide-field view from the Digitized Sky Survey 2 is centred on the star cluster Westerlund 1 in the constellation of Ara (The Altar). This cluster appears as a dense orange clump at the centre of the picture. It is very young and contains massive and brilliant hot blue stars, but their...
MUSE image of the strange galaxy NGC 4650A
This picture is based on data on the polar ring galaxy NGC 4650A that were obtained soon after the MUSE instrument achieved first light in early 2014. This colour view was created by collapsing the 3D MUSE data into three sections that were coloured blue, green and red. This approximates the...
The star formation region Gum 41
This new image from the Wide Field Imager (WFI) on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile reveals a cloud of hydrogen and newborn stars called Gum 41. In the middle of this little-known nebula, brilliant hot young stars emit energetic radiation that causes the...
The contrasting galaxies NGC 1316 and 1317
This new image from the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile shows a contrasting pair of galaxies: NGC 1316, and its smaller companion NGC 1317 (right). Although NGC 1317 seems to have had a peaceful existence, its larger neighbour bears the scars of earlier...
Wide-field view of the sky around the galaxies NGC 1316 and 1317
This picture shows the sky around the pair of galaxies NGC 1316 and 1317. It was created from images forming part of the Digitized Sky Survey 2.
The field around yellow hypergiant star HR 5171
HR 5171, the brightest star just below the centre of this wide-field image, is a yellow hypergiant, a very rare type of stars with only a dozen known in our galaxy. Its size is over 1300 times that of the Sun — one of the ten largest stars found so far. Observations with ESO’s Very Large...
Wide-field view of part of the Taurus star formation region
This wide field image shows extensive dust and small clumps of star formation in part of the Taurus star formation region. A faint star at the centre of this picture is the young binary star system HK Tauri. ALMA observations of this system have provided the clearest picture ever of...
The Spiderweb Galaxy and its surroundings (full ACS view)
This image, taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, shows the full ACS overview of the region around the Spiderweb Galaxy (just to the right of the centre). The galaxy is sitting at the centre of an emergent galaxy cluster, surrounded by hundreds of other galaxies from the cluster.
Star cluster NGC 6193 and nebula NGC 6188
This image, taken by OmegaCAM on the VLT Survey Telescope at Paranal Observatory, shows a section of the Ara OB1 stellar association. In the centre of the image is the young open cluster NGC 6193, and to the right is the emission nebula NGC 6188, illuminated by the ionising radiation emitted by...
Wide-field view of the sky around the dark nebula LDN 483
This visible-light wide-field image of the region around the dark nebula LDN 483 was created from photographs forming part of the Digitized Sky Survey 2. LDN 483 appears at the centre.
Wide-field view of the Gum 15 star formation region
This relatively unknown wide-field view captures the spectacular celestial landscape around the central object Gum 15. Among many other objects the star cluster NGC 2671 is visible a little to the lower left of centre and at the lower right of the image some of the filaments forming part of the...
The star formation region NGC 2035 imaged by the ESO Very Large Telescope
The Large Magellanic Cloud is one of the closest galaxies to our own. Astronomers have now used the power of the ESO’s Very Large Telescope to explore NGC 2035, one of its lesser known regions, in great detail. This new image shows clouds of gas and dust where hot new stars are being born and...
Digitized sky survey image of the Eagle Nebula
This image is a colour composite of the Eagle Nebula (M 16) made from exposures from the Digitized Sky Survey 2 (DSS2). The field of view is approximatelly 3.8 x 3.3 degrees.
Wide-field view of the open star cluster Messier 67
This wide-field image of the sky around the old open star cluster Messier 67 was created from images forming part of the Digitized Sky Survey 2. The cluster appears as a rich grouping of stars at the centre of the picture. Messier 67 contains stars that are all about the same age, and have the...
Merging galaxies in the distant Universe through a gravitational magnifying glass
The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and many other telescopes on the ground and in space have been used to obtain the best view yet of a collision that took place between two galaxies when the Universe was only half its current age. The astronomers enlisted the help of a...
Composite view of the galaxy NGC 1433 from ALMA and Hubble
This detailed view shows the central parts of the nearby active galaxy NGC 1433. The dim blue background image, showing the central dust lanes of this galaxy, comes from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. The coloured structures near the centre are from recent ALMA observations that have...
The star cluster Messier 7
This new image from the Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile, shows the bright star cluster Messier 7, also known as NGC 6475. Easily spotted by the naked eye in the direction of the tail of the constellation of Scorpius (The Scorpion),...
Wide-field view of part of the Large Magellanic Cloud
This wide-field view captures several star formations regions in the constellation of Dorado (The Swordfish). These glowing clouds of gas are located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, one of the Milky Way’s satellite galaxies. The bright region a little to the left of centre is NGC 2035. This view...
Portrait of a dramatic stellar crib*
One square degree image of the Tarantula Nebula and its surroundings. The spidery nebula is seen in the upper-centre of the image. Slightly to the lower-right, a web of filaments harbours the famous supernova SN 1987A. Many other reddish nebulae are visible in the image, as well as a cluster of...
The distant active galaxy PKS 1830-211 from Hubble and ALMA
This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows the distant active galaxy PKG 1830-211. It shows up as an unremarkable looking star-like object, hard to spot among the many much closer real stars in this picture. Recent ALMA observations show both components of this distant...
ALMA view of molecular gas in the centre of NGC1433
This image from ALMA shows the distribution of molecular gas close to the supermassive black hole at the centre of the galaxy NGC 1433. As well as discovering the spiral structure ALMA observations have also revealed an unexpected small outflow of material from the central black hole.
The star cluster NGC 3572 and its dramatic surroundings
The Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile has captured the best image so far of the star cluster NGC 3572, a gathering of young stars, and its spectacular surroundings. This new image shows how the clouds of gas and dust around the cluster...
The Toby Jug Nebula as seen with ESO's Very Large Telescope
Located about 1200 light-years from Earth in the southern constellation of Carina (The Ship’s Keel), the Toby Jug Nebula, more formally known as IC 2220, is an example of a reflection nebula. It is a cloud of gas and dust illuminated from within by the central star, designated HD 65750.
Wide-field view of the sky around the distant active galaxy PKS 1830-211
This wide-field image shows the patch of sky around the distant active galaxy PKS 1830-211. This view was created from photographs forming part of the Digitized Sky Survey 2. This part of the sky in the constellation of Sagittarius (The Archer) lies close to the central regions of the Milky Way...
Bipolar planetary nebula NGC 6537
This image shows an example of a bipolar planetary nebula known as NGC 6537 taken with the New Technology Telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory. The shape, reminiscent of a butterfly or an hourglass, was formed as a Sun-like star approached the end of its life and puffed its outer layers into...
Wide-field view of the galaxy NGC1433
This wide-field image shows the patch of sky around the galaxy NGC 1433. This view was created from photographs forming part of the Digitized Sky Survey 2. The prominent red star to the left of the galaxy is HD 23719, which is just bright enough to be seen with the naked eye on a dark night.
Excerpts from a VST image of the Lagoon Nebula
These excerpts are small sections from a new VLT Survey Telescope (VST) image of the Lagoon Nebula. This giant cloud of gas and dust is creating intensely bright young stars, and is home to young stellar clusters. These data form part of a huge treasure trove of publicly available images from...
Wide-field image of the Spiderweb galaxy (ground-based image)
This image is a colour composite made from exposures from the Digitized Sky Survey 2 (DSS2). The field of view is 2.8 x 2.9 degrees.
Two very different glowing gas clouds in the Large Magellanic Cloud
ESO's Very Large Telescope has captured a detailed view of a star-forming region in the Large Magellanic Cloud — one of the Milky Way's satellite galaxies. This sharp image reveals two glowing clouds of gas. NGC 2014 (right) is irregularly shaped and red and its neighbour, NGC 2020, is round...
ALMA’s view of the outflow associated with the Herbig-Haro object HH 46/47
Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have obtained a vivid close-up view of material streaming away from a newborn star. By looking at the glow coming from carbon monoxide molecules in an object called Herbig-Haro 46/47 they have discovered that its jets are...
Wide-field view of the sky around the star cluster NGC 3572
This wide-field image shows the patch of sky around the star cluster NGC 3572 and its associated gas clouds. This view was created from photographs forming part of the Digitized Sky Survey 2. The spikes and blue circles around the stars in this picture are artifacts of the telescope and the...
Image of HIP 102152
This image shows solar twin HIP 102152, a star located 250 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Capricornus (The Sea Goat). HIP 102152 is more like the Sun than any other solar twin — apart from the fact that it is nearly four billion years older, giving us an unprecedented chance to...
Composite image of Supernova 1987A
This image shows the remnant of Supernova 1987A seen in light of very different wavelengths. ALMA data (in red) shows newly formed dust in the centre of the remnant. Hubble (in green) and Chandra (in blue) data show where the expanding shock wave is colliding with a ring of material around the...
VISTA views the Trifid and reveals hidden variable stars (wider field view)
This extract from the VISTA VVV survey of the central parts of the Milky Way shows the famous Trifid Nebula at the bottom. It appears as faint and ghostly at these infrared wavelengths when compared to the familiar view at visible wavelengths. This transparency has brought its own benefits —...
Images of gas cloud being ripped apart by the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way
New observations from ESO’s Very Large Telescope show for the first time a gas cloud being ripped apart by the supermassive black hole at the centre of the galaxy. Shown here are VLT observations from 2006, 2010 and 2013, coloured blue, green and red respectively. Due to its distance, and the...
Wide-field view of the region around Sun-like star HIP 102152
This wide-field view captures the solar twin HIP 102152 in the constellation of Capricornus (The Sea Goat). Located 250 light-years from Earth, HIP 102152 is more like the Sun than any other solar twin — apart from the fact that it is nearly four billion years older, giving us an unprecedented...
Gas cloud being ripped apart by the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way
New observations from ESO’s Very Large Telescope show how a gas cloud now passing close to the supermassive black hole at the centre of the galaxy is being ripped apart. The horizontal axis shows the extent of the cloud along its orbit and the vertical axis shows the velocities of different...
The Gum 15 star formation region
This richly detailed new view from the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile shows the star formation region Gum 15. This little-known object is located in the constellation of Vela (The Sails), some 3000 light-years from Earth. The glowing cloud is a stunning example...
The birth of a monster star seen at different wavelengths of light
This composite shows the region around the massive star-forming region SDC 335.579-0.292 seen using NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope and ALMA. The Spitzer view is at infrared wavelengths (3.6, 4.5 and 8.0 microns) and the ALMA view is at wavelengths around three millimetres. The yellow blob at...
The globular star cluster Messier 54
This image from the VLT Survey Telescope at ESO’s Paranal Observatory in northern Chile shows the globular cluster Messier 54. This cluster looks very similar to many others, but it has a secret. Messier 54 doesn’t belong to the Milky Way, but actually is part of a small satellite galaxy, the...
Images of gas cloud being ripped apart by the black hole at the centre of the galaxy
These observations from ESO’s Very Large Telescope, using the SINFONI instrument, show how a gas cloud is being stretched and ripped apart as it passes close to the supermassive black hole at the centre of the galaxy. The horizontal axis shows the extent of the cloud along its orbit and the...
ALMA observes the birth of a monster star
Observations of the dark cloud SDC 335.579-0.292 using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter array (ALMA) have given astronomers the best view yet of a monster star in the process of forming. A stellar womb with over 500 times the mass than the Sun has been found and appears as the yellow...
Gas cloud being ripped apart by the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way (annotated)
New observations from ESO's Very Large Telescope show how a gas cloud now passing close to the supermassive black hole at the centre of the galaxy is being ripped apart. The horizontal axis shows the extent of the cloud along its orbit and the vertical axis shows the velocities of different...
VLT image of exoplanet HD 95086 b
This image from ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) shows the newly discovered planet HD95086 b, next to its parent star. The observations were made using NACO, the adaptative optics instrument for the VLT in infrared light, and using a technique called differential imaging, which improves the...
The star cluster NGC 3293
In this image from the Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile young stars huddle together against a backdrop of clouds of glowing gas and lanes of dust. The star cluster, known as NGC 3293, would have been just a cloud of gas and dust itself...
ALMA image of the carbon monoxide snow line
This ALMA image shows the region where carbon monoxide snow has formed around the star. The carbon monoxide is shown here in green, and begins at a distance of more than 30 astronomical units from TW Hydrae. Aside from being necessary for planetary and comet formation, carbon monoxide is needed...
ALMA image of comet factory around Oph-IRS 48
This image from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) shows the dust trap in the disc that surrounds the system Oph-IRS 48. The high asymmetry of the dust emission between the southern and northern part of the disc (at least a factor of 130) is indicative of the presence of...
The star formation region NGC 6559
The Danish 1.54-metre telescope located at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile has captured a striking image of NGC 6559, an object that showcases the anarchy that reigns when stars form inside an interstellar cloud. This region of sky includes glowing red clouds of mostly hydrogen gas, blue...
The sky around the star formation region RCW 106
In this huge image of part of the southern constellation of Norma (The Carpenter’s Square) wisps of crimson gas are illuminated by rare, massive stars that have only recently ignited and are still buried deep in thick dust clouds. These scorching-hot, very young stars are only fleeting...
Wide-field view of NGC 2014 and NGC 2020 in the Large Magellanic Cloud
This wide-field view captures an odd couple in the constellation of Dorado (The Swordfish): NGC 2014 and NGC 2020. These two glowing clouds of gas, in the centre of the frame, are located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, one of the Milky Way’s satellite galaxies. Both are sculpted by powerful...
Wide-field view of the sky around the nearby brown dwarf pair Luhman 16AB
This wide-field view of part of the southern constellation of Vela is centred on the position of the brown dwarf pair Luhman 16AB. It was created from images forming part of the Digitized Sky Survey 2. As Luhman 16AB lies very close to the Solar System it moves relatively quickly across the...
The star-forming Cat’s Paw Nebula through ArTeMiS’s eyes
This image of the star formation region NGC 6334 is one of the first scientific images from the ArTeMiS instrument on APEX. The picture shows the glow detected at a wavelength of 0.35 millimetres coming from dense clouds of interstellar dust grains. The new observations from ArTeMiS show up in...
Bipolar planetary nebula Hubble 12
This image taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows an example of a bipolar planetary nebula. This object, which is known as Hubble 12 and also catalogued as PN G111.8-02.8, lies in the constellation of Cassiopeia. The striking shape of Hubble 12, reminiscent of a butterfly or an...
The Herbig-Haro object HH 46/47 seen with ESO’s New Technology Telescope
This image from ESO's New Technology Telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile shows the Herbig-Haro object HH 46/47 as jets emerging from a star-forming dark cloud. This object was the target of a study using ALMA during the Early Science phase.
Spiral galaxy NGC 1637
This image from ESO’s Very Large Telescope at the Paranal Observatory in Chile shows NGC 1637, a spiral galaxy located about 35 million light-years away in the constellation of Eridanus (The River). In 1999 scientists discovered a Type II supernova in this galaxy and followed its slow fading...
This image from ESO’s Very Large Telescope at the Paranal Observatory in Chile shows NGC 1637, a spiral galaxy located about 35 million light-years away in the constellation of Eridanus (The River). In 1999 scientists discovered a Type II supernova in this galaxy and followed its slow fading...
The dwarf galaxy UGC 5189A, site of the supernova SN 2010jl
This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows the irregular dwarf galaxy UGC 5189A. This star-forming galaxy was the site of the bright supernova SN 2010jl. VLT observations of this supernova have shown that these cosmic dust factories make their grains in a two-stage process,...
ALMA images of gravitationally-lensed distant star-forming galaxies
This montage combines data from ALMA with images from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, for five distant galaxies. The ALMA images, represented in red, show the distant, background galaxies, being distorted by the gravitational lens effect produced by the galaxies in the foreground,...
Wide-field view of the sky around Messier 33
This wide field view of the sky around the nearby galaxy Messier 33 was assembled from images forming part of the Digitized Sky Survey 2. The original photographs were taken over a period spanning more than 40 years, from 1949 until the early 1990s. As a result some of the nearer stars in the...
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