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NGC 7456
A galaxy with lots to see
While it may appear unassuming at first glance, just another spiral galaxy among thousands in the Universe, this subject of the ESA/Hubble Picture of the Week has plenty to study. NGC 7456 is its name, located over 51 million light-years away in the constellation Grus (the Crane). In this image...
LMC N44C
Cloudy cluster
This new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope Picture of the Week features a cloudy starscape from an impressive star cluster. This scene is located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy situated about 160 000 light-years away in the constellations Dorado and Mensa. With a mass equal to...
GRB 250702BDE
GRB 250702B, an unusually long and repeating gamma-ray burst
The orange dot at the centre of this image is a powerful explosion that repeated several times over the course of a day, an event unlike anything ever witnessed before. The image, taken with ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), allowed astronomers to determine that the explosion didn’t take place...
GRB 250702BDE
Wider view of the area around the gamma-ray burst GRB 250702B
This image shows a wider area around the gamma-ray burst GRB 250702B, a high energy explosion that repeated several times over the course of a day. The image was taken on 3 July using the HAWK-I infrared camera on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT). The explosion is the orange source right at the...
HOPS-315
Jets of silicon monoxide in the baby star HOPS-315
This image shows jets of silicon monoxide (SiO) blowing away from the baby star HOPS-315. The image was obtained with the with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), in which ESO is a partner. The blue jet is moving towards us, and the red one is moving away. Observations...
HOPS-315
ALMA image of HOPS-315, a still-forming planetary system
This is HOPS-315, a baby star where astronomers have observed evidence for the earliest stages of planet formation. The image was taken with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), in which ESO is a partner. Together with data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), these...
Vela Supernova Remnant
This is all that’s left of a giant star
Around 11 000 years ago a massive star ended its life in a powerful explosion, known as a supernova. During explosions like this, shock waves ripple out through the surrounding gas, compressing it into intricate thread-like structures. The energy that’s released during a supernova then heats...
Gum 3
A Koi-smic fish
This Picture of the Week shows the brightly coloured Gum 3 nebula as seen with the VLT Survey Telescope (VST), hosted at ESO’s Paranal Observatory in the Chilean Atacama Desert. Attentive viewers may find that part of Gum 3 resembles a Koi fish in this VST image. Equipped with the OmegaCAM...
RCW 38
The RCW 38 cluster in infrared light
This is an 80-million-pixel picture of the star cluster RCW 38, located 5500 light-years away in the constellation Vela. RCW 38 is a young cluster containing about 2000 stars, and is bursting with star-forming activity. The picture was taken with ESO’s Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for...
IC 4212
IC 4212
IC 4212 is a barred spiral galaxy located in the constellation Virgo. It is situated close to the celestial equator, meaning it is at least partly visible from both hemispheres in certain times of the year.
NGC 520
NGC 520
A galactic collision of two galaxies which began more than 300 million years ago, NGC 520 is actually made up of two disk galaxies which will eventually merge together to form one larger, more massive system. NGC 520 was discovered by William Herschel in 1784 and is one of the largest and...
Infinity Galaxy
Chandra Joins In Discovery of Infinity Galaxy and Possible Newborn Black Hole
Scientists have discovered an oddly-shaped galaxy that may contain the first newborn supermassive black hole ever spotted.
MSH 15-52
X-ray, Radio Go 'Hand in Hand' in New NASA Image
In 2009, Chandra released a captivating image: a pulsar and its surrounding nebula that is shaped like a hand. Since then, astronomers have used Chandra and other telescopes to continue to observe this object.
NGC 2276
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...
NGC 1097
NGC 1097 at J
A Seyfert galaxy revealing its bright and active nucleus. This false-color image was made from several J-band (1.25 micron) observations and has a final FWHM of 0.5 arc seconds. This image was obtained with the Abu thermal infrared camera built by the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, on...
NGC 1232
NGC 1232 in Eridanus
NGC1232, an almost face-on spiral galaxy of type Sc in the constellation Eridanus, is about 50 million light-years away and about 100000 light-years across. This true-color picture was created from eleven images taken in the BVR pass-bands at the Kitt Peak National Observatory's 2.1-meter...
M109
M109, NGC 3992
M109 is a type SBc barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major. M109 is around 40 to 50 million light-years away in a loose galaxy grouping which includes M108 and possibly M106. This picture was created from observations using the T2KA CCD camera at the Kitt Peak National...
M110
M110, NGC 205
M110 is the second small companion (along with M32) to our sister galaxy, M31, the Andromeda Nebula. It is classified as type E5 or E6, often with the additional "p" for peculiar because of the structure clearly visible in this short exposure image, which is probably due to dust clouds. Because...
M108
M108, NGC 3556
M108 is a type Sc spiral galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major. Almost edge-on, it shows little or no bulge and no noticeably strong center, being a motley collection of features often referred to, in classic understatement, as very dusty. The spiral structure is not very clearly delineated,...
M101
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...
M88
M88, NGC 4501
None M88, a symmetrical type Sc spiral galaxy in the constellation Coma Berenices, is a member of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies. This picture is from the KPNO 0.9-meter telescope. The Virgo cluster also includes Messier galaxies M49, M58, M59, M60, M61, M84, M85, M86, M87, M89, M90, M91, M98,...
M96
M96, NGC 3368
The Sa spiral galaxy M96 is the second brightest member of the Leo I galaxy grouping, which includes M95 and M105, as well as various NGC and other galaxies. At a distance of about 38 million light-years, the faint outer regions just visible at the top and (particularly) the bottom of this...
M82
M82, NGC 3034
M82, an irregular galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major. This composite color image was created from CCD observations made at the Kitt Peak National Observatory's 0.9-meter telescope in late December 1994.
M74
M74, NGC 628
None A face-on type Sc spiral galaxy in the constellation Pisces, M74 is about 30 million light-years away and about 80000 light-years across. KPNO 4-meter Mayall telescope, 1975.
M49
M49, NGC 4472
None An elliptical galaxy of type E4 in the constellation Virgo, M49 is one of the many members of the Virgo Cluster. This short exposure picture shows the smooth mostly featureless structure typical of elliptical galaxies. This picture was taken in December 1996 at the KPNO 0.9-meter telescope:...
M60
M60, NGC 4649
M60 is a large elliptical galaxy in the constellation Virgo, being about 120000 light-years across. It stands out in even small telescopes due to the proximity of the late-type spiral NGC4647 (to the NW), but such apertures may only see the central brighter regions, making M60 look considerably...
M61
M61, NGC 4303
The SABbc spiral galaxy M61 is one of the larger galaxies in the Virgo cluster, with a core dimension some 100000 light-years (6 arc minutes) across, comparable to the size of our own Galaxy. This picture was taken in February 1996 at the KPNO 0.9-meter telescope. The Virgo cluster also...
NGC 598
M33, NGC 598
The Triangulum Galaxy, M33, a type Sc spiral, was imaged by the KPNO 4-meter Mayall telescope in 1975. A member of our Local Group of galaxies, it is just visible with the naked eye.
M31
A piece of M31
Part of the Andromeda Galaxy, M31, seen through a narrow filter near, but not at, the H-alpha emission line of ionized hydrogen.
LMC
The Large Magellanic Cloud
A nearby irregular galaxy, the LMC is visible to the naked eye from the Southern Hemisphere and is a satellite to our own Galaxy. The large gaseous nebula is 30 Doradus, the Tarantula Nebula. From the CTIO Curtis Schmidt telescope, 1975.
Abell 2151
Cluster of galaxies in Hercules
None Abell 2151, the Hercules cluster, is a small, irregular cluster, with a core membership of fewer than 100 galaxies, and no strongly dominant central galaxy. It is more than 360 million light-years away and probably contains 1000 billion solar masses of sundry materials. It contains the two...
Pelican Nebula
Pelican Nebula Ionization Front
These images were obtained with the MOSAIC CCD camera at the prime focus of the Mayall 4-meter reflector, and show a 36 arc minute field of view that contains the well known Pelican nebula, located at the northwest rim of the giant HII region W80 (the North America/Pelican Nebula) in Cygnus....
ACO 568
Distant cluster of galaxies in Gemini
KPNO 4-meter Mayall telescope, 1975.
Hydra Cluster
Cluster of galaxies in Hydra
This distant cluster of galaxies in the constellation Hydra clearly shows the mythological water serpent. KPNO 4-meter Mayall telescope, 1974.
Coma Berenices
Cluster of galaxies in Coma Berenices
None The Coma Berenices cluster of galaxies contains more than 1000 galaxies, with a large number of E (elliptical) and S0 (lenticular) types. The color image was created from three separate exposures taken in blue, red and almost-infrared light, using the Kitt Peak National Observatory's...
IC 5070
The Pelican Nebula (IC 5070)
This image was taken with the KPNO/WIYN 0.9m telescope on May 24, 2002. It shows the “ionization front” in the Pelican nebula, a giant nearby star-formation region. The Pelican Nebula (IC 5070) is located in the constellation of Cygnus, the Swan. Its pillars are being sculpted by the intense...
NGC 2420
Solar composition star cluster
New observations of the richly populated star cluster NGC 2420 taken by the refurbished WIYN 0.9-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory suggest that the cluster contains a multitude of clues about the history and evolution of the Milky Way. NGC 2420 consists of approximately 1,000...
NGC 536
NGC 536: Hickson 10
This group of four galaxies is around 220 million light years away. The collection of spiral galaxies on the left side of the image include: (from top to bottom) NGC 542, NGC 536 and NGC 531. The warped arms of the latter two galaxies strongly suggests they are interacting with one another. NGC...
SN 2002ic
SN2002ic
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...
Abel 370
SAM images gravitational arcs in the Abel 370 cluster of galaxies
Nearly every "star" in this image is actually a galaxy. The SOAR Adaptive Module (SAM), built by CTIO/NOAO-S, is mounted on the SOAR 4.1 meter telescope: it creates an artificial laser guide star which enables the exquisite resolution seen here. The dark shadow on the left ( as seen in the full...
Galactic Center
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...
Rosette HH1
Rosette HH1
This is a zoomed in image of the area containing the Young Stellar Object Rosette HH1. The area is indicated by the box in Image 2 above.
M3
M3, NGC 5272
A sixth magnitude globular cluster in the constellation Canes Venatici, this ball of 500,000 stars is approximately 160 light-years across and 100,000 light-years from Earth. This image of M3 is a combination of a B-band image and a Z-band image (Z is approximately from 8500 to 9500 A) taken on...
M6
M6, NGC 6405; Butterfly Cluster
The open star cluster M6, or NGC6405, is also known as the Butterfly Cluster. M6 is visible to the naked eye in the constellation Scorpius. The visually most conspicuous star is rather reddish and is actually a slow, semiregular variable. M6 is variously estimated as between 50 and 100 million...
IC 1396
Van den Bergh 142 and IC 1396
IC 1396, also known as the Elephant Trunk Nebula, is another region of recent star formation. Many stars in this area are less than a couple hundred thousand years old - very young in the grand scheme of astronomy, where stars live to be billions of years old! The hot young stars are in the...
NGC 3842
NGC 3842
This collection of galaxies is part of a much larger cluster of galaxies (Abell 1367). From bottom left to top right the diagonal of galaxies includes NGC 3837, NGC 3842 (the large elliptical), NGC 3841, NGC 3845, NGC 3844, and NGC 3840 (the spiral at the very top right). All of these galaxies...
NGC 4088
NGC 4088
This spiral galaxy is located about 50 million lightyears away in the constellation Ursa Major. It had the third brightest supernova to be detected in 2009. It is part of a group of up to 50 other galaxies. This image was taken as part of Advanced Observing Program (AOP) program at Kitt Peak...
Milky Way
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...
Sh2-71
SH2-71
SH2-71 is a complex bipolar planetary nebula. Its convoluted nature is probably due to the fact that the central star is a binary system. The overall luminosity of this nebula is over 1000 times that of our sun. The gases near the center are being pushed away from the central star are...
NGC 6140
NGC 6140
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 5907
NGC 5907
NGC 5907 is an edge-on spiral galaxy located about 50 million lightyears away from Earth in the constellation Draco. This image was taken as part of Advanced Observing Program (AOP) program at Kitt Peak Visitor Center during 2014.
NGC 6027
NGC 6027
This group of six galaxies has a controversial background that is similar to another famous group - Stephan's Quintet. In this example, five of the six galaxies show recessional velocities (redshifts) that are approximately equivalent. However the small spiral galaxy has a retreating velocity...
NGC 428
NGC 428
NGC 428 is approximately 70 million light years away. Its distorted shape leads astronomers to think that this galaxy may have absorbed another galaxy in its recent history. The many starforming regions and bright blue star clusters hint at the activity present in the disk of this galaxy. The...
Trapezium
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.
M4
M4, NGC 6121
M4, a globular cluster in the constellation Scorpius, is about 7000 light-years away from us, which makes it a good candidate for being our nearest globular cluster. M4 shows an unusual central bar structure, and would be much brighter if not for considerable intervening interstellar dust,...
Bubble Emission Nebula
M52 and the Bubble Nebula
Open star cluster M52 (NGC7654) and the Bubble emission nebula (NGC7635). This combination of CCD images from the Kitt Peak Burrell Schmidt telescope extends more than a degree across the sky (twice the diameter of the full moon). A closer view of M52 is also available, as well as an...
M20
M20 (NGC, Trifid) and M21 (NGC 6531)
TheTrifid Nebula, M20 (upper left, NE) and the open star cluster M21 (lower right, SW), are close enough together on the sky that they both appear in this wide-field, 51 arc minute square picture taken with the Burrell Schmidt telescope of Case Western Reserve University's Warner and Swasey...
NGC 6745
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 6914
NGC 6914 Widefield
This emission and reflection nebula lies about 6000 lightyears away in the constellation Cygnus the Swan. This image was taken as part of Advanced Observing Program (AOP) program at Kitt Peak Visitor Center during 2014.
NGC 5216
NGC 5216 and NGC 5218
In most pictures galaxies seem to be rather organized and substantial if not "solid-like" objects. However, no process better shows the ethereal and delicate nature of galaxies than when they collide. Unlike dancers on a dance floor, a galactic tango will strip stars and gas in a mutual...
NGC 4216
NGC 4216
NGC 4216 is an edge-on spiral galaxy located not far from the center of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies. If the redshift of this galaxy was used to calculate the distance, it would be much smaller than expected. This is due to the internal motions of galaxies inside the Virgo Cluster. The entire...
IC 4725
M25, IC4725
It is unclear why M25, a reasonably conspicuous open cluster in the constellation Sagittarius, did not rate an entry in the New General Catalogue and is thus relegated to only an Index Catalogue number. It is a middle-aged cluster at around 90 million years, somewhere around two thousand...
Eta Carinae
The Eta Carinae nebula, NGC 3372
The Eta Carinae nebula, NGC3372, also known as the Keyhole Nebula, as seen by the Curtis Schmidt telescope at the Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory in 1975. We also have an interesting narrow-band emission line image of this nebula. This gaseous bright nebula surrounds the peculiar...
NGC 5775
NGC 5775
This pair of galaxies is one of the most distinctive pairs of spiral galaxies in the Virgo cluster. NGC 5775 shows us its thin figure, while NGC 5774 displays its spiral arms face-on. These two galaxies are interacting. Close inspection reveals a very dim luminous chain which connects these...
NGC 4939
NGC 4939
NGC 4939 is a very pretty example of a spiral galaxy. The arms of this galaxy are unusually thin and long. There are many starforming regions dotting the spiral arms- but at a distance of 130 million light years away the majority of them are quite dim. If this galaxy was viewed face-on it would...
NGC 1365
NGC 1365 with JWST
In the MIRI observations of NGC 1365, clumps of dust and gas in the interstellar medium have absorbed the light from forming stars and emitted it back out in the infrared, lighting up an intricate network of cavernous bubbles and filamentary shells influenced by young stars releasing energy...
M93
M93, NGC 2447
M93 is an open star cluster in the constellation Puppis. A small but bright system, it contains maybe 100 members spread over some 25 light-years in diameter, at a distance of around 3500 light-years. CCD color composite from data taken on the nights of September 20th and 21st 1997 (UT), at the...
M103
M103, NGC 581
The irregular star cluster M103, or NGC581, is a distant cluster in the constellation Cassiopeia. One of the more remote open clusters, at about 8000 light-years, M103s relatively small angular size still corresponds to a sizable 14 light-year diameter (this image is only 8.6 arc minutes...
M92
M92, NGC 6341
M92 is a globular cluster in the constellation Hercules, slightly further away and a little younger than its near neighbor M13. M92 is about 28000 light-years away, over 100 light-years across, and approximately 15 billion years old. It's even visible to the naked eye under excellent sky...
M54
M54, NGC 6715
M54 is a globular cluster in the constellation Sagittarius. It is bright but small, and its core is not resolved here. M54 was always thought to be some 60000 light-years away, but there is now a claim that it is actually part of an extragalactic system, a member of the Local Group called the...
M45
M45, Pleiades
M45, a portion of the Pleiades open star cluster in the constellation Taurus, at a distance of some 410 light-years. The glow around the stars is interstellar dust which shines by reflected starlight. The entire group is contained within a span of 20 light-years, and is believed to be 20...
M30
M30, NGC 7099
M30, or NGC7099, a globular cluster in the constellation Capricornus, is about 75 light-years across and about 26,000 light-years away. This image was taken in July 1997 at the Kitt Peak 0.9-meter telescope, during the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program operated at the Kitt...
M26
M26, NGC 6694
M26 is an open cluster in the constellation Scutum. A fairly tight cluster, in this deep image it has to compete with a very populous background of Milky Way stars. It is about 5000 light-years away and around 90 million years old. This approximately true-color picture was created from images...
M29
M29, NGC 6913
M29 is an open cluster in the constellation Cygnus. Coarser and less impressive than some others, it is in a crowded area of our Galaxy, the Milky Way. Its distance is uncertain, being somewhere between 4000 and 6000 light-years, due to rather strong and poorly known absorption by intervening...
M18
M18, NGC 6613
M18 is an open cluster in the constellation Sagittarius. It is a widely spread poor cluster with fewer than a couple of dozen members, about 5000 light-years away and quite young, only around 30 million years old. This approximately true-color picture was created from images taken in June 1996...
NGC 7317
Stephan's Quintet (NGC 7317, NGC 7318A, NGC 7318B, NGC 7319, NGC 7320)
Stephan's Quintet, as its name implies, is a group of five galaxies (NGC7317, 7318A, 7318B, 7319 and 7320) in the constellation Pegasus. This unusual system has often been used as proof that the redshift is not truly a distance indicator, which would completely overturn current cosmology,...
Pisces Galaxy Cluster
Cluster of galaxies in Pisces
None Another distant cluster of galaxies. KPNO 4-meter Mayall telescope, 1975.
SMC
Small Magellanic Cloud
The Small Magellanic Cloud is an irregular dwarf galaxy in the constellation Tucana, and is a satellite of our own Milky Way Galaxy. The SMC is visible to the naked eye from the southern hemisphere. CTIO Curtis Schmidt telescope photograph.
Arp 217
The Bow and Arrow Galaxy
None This image was made by combining three CCD frames, taken at the Kitt Peak National Observatory's 0.9-meter telescope in April of 1987. By using different filters in front of the monochrome detector, corresponding approximately to the primary colors red, green and blue, it is possible to...
M87
M87, NGC 4486
A giant elliptical galaxy (E0) in the Virgo Cluster, M87 is a strong radio source, known as 3C274 or Virgo A. This image was taken at the KPNO 0.9-meter telescope in December 1996, and shows the inner regions of the galaxy, including the well-known jet. The full extent of the galaxy can be...
M85
M85, NGC 4382
A lenticular galaxy of type S0, M85 is the northernmost member of the Virgo Cluster, and is therefore situated in the constellation Coma Berenices. M85 is very similar to M84. This picture was made from observations taken at KPNO's 0.9-meter telescope in December 1996. The Virgo cluster also...
M84
M84, NGC 4374
M84 is an elliptical galaxy of type E1 and a member of the large Virgo Cluster of galaxies. There are also some suggestions that it is actually a face-on lenticular galaxy. Lenticulars, type S0, are mostly smooth and featureless, like elliptical galaxies, but have a significant amount of dust...
NGC 5985
NGC 5985
NGC 5985 (face-on spiral, upper-right) and NGC 5982 (elliptical) are two of three galaxies in what is sometimes called the Draco Triplet. The three are about 100 million lightyears away from Earth. This image was taken as part of Advanced Observing Program (AOP) program at Kitt Peak Visitor...
NGC 6015
NGC 6015
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 4656
NGC 4656: The Hockey Stick
NGC 4656 is the "disturbed" neighbor to NGC 4631. The gravitational tug-of-war warps the disk of this galaxy. The nearness of the galaxy (perhaps 25 million light years away) allows small knotted star forming regions to be resolved. There are also quite a few background galaxies in the picture....
NGC 4725
NGC 4725
This barred spiral galaxy is located about 40 million lightyears away in the constellation Coma Berenices. This galaxy most likely contains a supermassive black hole at the center. This image was taken as part of Advanced Observing Program (AOP) program at Kitt Peak Visitor Center during 2014.
NGC 2541
NGC 2541
At a distance of 24 million light years away, NGC 2541 is close enough to see the many HII regions that glow in the dim disk of this loose spiral. This particular galaxy is not alone in the sky towards the constellation of Lynx. Like our own Local Group of galaxies, NGC 2541 is part of a group...
NGC 578
NGC 578
At 70 million light years away, NGC 578 floats majestically amid many other far away galaxies. Small blue and pink regions hint at the sparkle and stellar life being created in this galaxy. One background galaxy (right of the center) is almost eclipsed by NGC 578- and seems to protrude from the...
Green Bean Galaxy
The Green Bean galaxy J2240
CFHT color image, taken in g,r, and i filters, of J2240. The very strong [OIII] emission leads to the peculiar green color of the galaxy near the center of the field. In this object the ultra-luminous narrow-line region (NLR) is as large as the entire object, 130,000 light-years across. The...
M97
Owl Nebula, M97, NGC 3587
This composite image of the Owl Nebula (also known as M97 or NGC3587) was created from three sets of narrowband images taken at the 0.6-meter Burrell Schmidt telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory in June 1991. The colors in the image correspond to oxygen [O III] in blue, nitrogen [N II]...
HCG 87
Looking Sharp: Images from New Gemini Spectrograph Rival View from Space
HCG 87 imaged with the Hubble Space Telescope
Gemini North
Trifid Nebula
mage of the central region of the Trifid Nebula (M20 in the Messier Catalogue) taken by the Gemini North 8-meter Telescope on Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii, June 5, 2002. Located in the constellation of Sagittarius, the beautiful nebula is a much-photographed, dynamic cloud of gas and...
Gemini North
IRS-8 Bow-Shock
RS-8 smaller field JHK' color composite and K' image with stars subtracted. See https://www.gemini.edu/gallery/media/irs-8-bow-shock for more information.
NGC 6070
NGC 6070
This spiral galaxy is located about 100 million lightyears away in the constellation Serpens. Back in 1998, this galaxy made APOD as one of the first-light images collected by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. This image was taken as part of Advanced Observing Program (AOP) program at Kitt Peak...
M38
M38, NGC 1912
M38 is an open cluster in the constellation Auriga. Of intermediate age (about 200 million years) and somewhat over 4000 light-years away, M38 lies close to M36 and M37 on the sky and was discovered by several people before Messier added it to his list. More fanciful eyes consider that its...
NGC 5792
NGC 5792
This spiral galaxy is located about 83 million lightyears away in the constellation Libra. This image was taken as part of Advanced Observing Program (AOP) program at Kitt Peak Visitor Center during 2014.
NGC 3198
NGC 3198
This barred spiral galaxy is located in the constellation Ursa Major. This image was taken as part of Advanced Observing Program (AOP) program at Kitt Peak Visitor Center during 2014.
M55
M55, NGC 6809
M55 is a globular cluster in the constellation Sagittarius. Quite large on the sky (about two thirds of the Moon's diameter), but with a very loose, almost non-globular, appearance, M55 is about 18000 light-years away and about 100 light-years across. This composite was created from images...
M52
M52, NGC 7654
The open cluster M52, or NGC7654, in the constellation Cassiopeia. The conspicuous red star a little right of center does not belong to the cluster, which is about 7000 light-years away. The Bubble Nebula is nearby. This picture was created by combining CCD images in red, green and blue colors...
M21
M21, NGC 6531
The open cluster M21, or NGC6531, in the constellation Sagittarius. This cluster shows a strong central concentration and a wide range of star brightnesses, despite its limited membership of probably fewer than 60 stars. Most likely quite young (for a star cluster, that means only a few million...
NGC 2237
Rosette Nebula, NGC 2237
The Rosette Nebula, NGC2237, in the constellation of Monoceros, as seen by the Curtis Schmidt telescope at the Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory. The nebula is about 2600 light-years away and about 55 light-years across. The central star cluster is known as NGC2244. North is at the top.
NGC 2237
Rosette Nebula, NGC 2237
The Rosette Nebula, NGC2237, in the constellation of Monoceros, as seen in close-up by the KPNO 4-meter Mayall telescope in 1974. The nebula is about 2600 light-years away and about 55 light-years across. The central star cluster is known as NGC2244. North is at the top.
Eagle Nebula
The Eagle Nebula, M16
The Eagle Nebula, Messier object 16 (M16), NGC 6611, as seen by the Kitt Peak 4-meter Mayall telescope in 1973. This picture shows an interesting emission nebula and its associated galactic star cluster in the constellation of Serpens (the Serpent). The star cluster was discovered in 1746 by...
M51
Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument’s Lenses See First Light
On April 1, the Mayall telescope at Kitt Peak emerged from hibernation—its dome reopened to the night sky, and starlight poured through the six large lenses of its powerful new research tool: the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI). Early next year, DESI will begin the greatest cosmic...
NGC 5965
NGC 5965
NGC 5965 is the edge-on spiral galaxy to the left, while the galaxy to the upper right is NGC 5963. Both located in the constellation Draco, NGC 5965 is about 150 million lightyears away and NGC 5963 is only around 40 million lightyears away. Back in 2006, these two galaxies made APOD. This...
NGC 4941
NGC 4941
This barred spiral galaxy is located about 64 million lightyears away in the constellation Virgo. This image was taken as part of Advanced Observing Program (AOP) program at Kitt Peak Visitor Center during 2014.
M44
M44, NGC 2632
M44, the Beehive CLuster, also known as Praesepe (Latin for manger), is an easy naked eye object more than twice the size across of the full moon, and has thus been noted since prehistoric times. It was one of the first objects on which Galileo trained his newly acquired telescope. M44 is one...
M12
M12, NGC 6218
M12 is a globular cluster in the constellation Ophiuchus, very similar to its near neighbor M10, although much less centrally concentrated. M12 is around 70 light-years across and some 15000 light-years away. This approximately true-color picture was created from images taken in June 1995 using...
M11
M11, NGC 6705
M11 is one of the richest and most compact open clusters, with nearly 3000 stars packed into only twenty-odd light-years. This color composite was created from CCD images taken at the Burrell Schmidt telescope of the Warner and Swasey Observatory of the Case Western Reserve University, located...
Hubble's Variable Nebula
NGC 2261, Hubble's Variable Nebula
This image of Hubble's Variable Nebula in the constellation of Monoceros was taken with the Kitt Peak National Observatory's 0.9-meter telescope in March 1995. This deep version of the image shows the faint tail extending down to the south from the nebula. To the north, almost directly above...
NGC 4889
NGC 488
At an estimated distance of 90 million light years away NGC 488 is an intriguing galaxy despite its distance from us. This galaxy displays subtle and tightly wound blue spiral arms with a yellowish core. Astronomers that have recently observed this galaxy note that the stars in the disk are...
NGC 613
NGC 613
NGC 613 seems like a good southern counterpart to the more famous barred spiral galaxy, NGC 7479. Astronomers studying this galaxy are interested in the processes that take place along the bar of the galaxy. One recent paper suggests that this galaxy could have two bar-like structures in its...
Caldwell 1
NGC 188, Caldwell 1
NGC188 is an open star cluster in the constellation Cepheus. With a membership of around 120, it may be the oldest known open cluster, although age estimates have varied from as much as 24 billion years (which some may notice is a bit of an anomaly when compared to the current estimates of the...
Hubble Space Telescope
HST imaging of the core of PG1426+015
Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 optical image of PG1426. The SDSS image in Figure 1 shows more of the host galaxy structure. However, in the SDSS image the core of the source is saturated. Here we see the central few arcseconds of the system where the central supermassive black hole powering the...
SN 2003gd
Massive Old Star Reveals Secrets On Deathbed
Image from the Isaac Newton Telescope with the Wide Field Camera taken on 25th August 2003 by Jonathan Irwin (IoA). It shows the position of the fading supernova which by then was some six months old.
NGC 1333
The NGC 1333 cluster
The NGC1333 cluster in the constellation Perseus is embedded deeply in the Perseus giant molecular cloud, at a distance of 1,000 light-years from Earth. It is the home to several hundred young and forming stars with ages less than about one million years. The cold molecular gas in he cloud...
M67
M67, NGC 2682
M67 is an open star cluster in the constellation Cancer. One of the oldest known such clusters, M67 is believed to be 10 billion years old. It contains approximately 500 stars within its 12 light-year diameter and is located some 2500 light-years away. KPNO 4-meter Mayall telescope, 1975.
M53
M53, NGC 5024
M53 is a globular cluster in the constellation Coma Berenices. It is an outlying globular, being about 60000 light-years distant both from us and from the Galactic Center. This composite was created from images taken in July 1997 at the KPNO 0.9-meter telescope, during the Research Experiences...
M34
M34, NGC 1039
The open cluster M34, 1400 light-years away in the direction of the constellation Perseus, contains about a hundred stars in a region some dozen light-years across, and is visible to the naked eye under good conditions. This approximately true-color picture was created from images taken in July...
M5
M5, NGC 5904
M5 is perhaps the most spectacular globular cluster visible from the northern hemisphere, and can even be seen under excellent conditions with the naked eye, in the constellation Serpens. It is elongated, one of the largest and one of the oldest clusters (maybe 13 billion years), and at a...
