NGC 1385
Same galaxy, different filters
This luminous tangle of stars and dust is the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1385, that lies about 30 million light-years from Earth. The same galaxy was the subject of another Hubble Picture of the Week, but the two images are notably different. This more recent image has far more pinkish-red and...
Abell 3192
One cluster or two?
This Hubble Picture of the Week features a massive cluster of brightly glowing galaxies, first identified as Abell 3192. Like all galaxy clusters, this one is suffused with hot gas that emits powerful X-rays, and it is enveloped in a halo of invisible dark matter. All this unseen material — not...
NGC 2814
“Late-type” galaxy?
This Hubble Picture of the Week features NGC 2814, an irregular galaxy that lies about 85 million light years from Earth. In this image, which was captured using Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), the galaxy appears to be quite isolated: visually, it looks a little like a loose stroke...
eMACS J1353.7+4329
Galactic monster mash
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured a monster in the making in this observation of the exceptional galaxy cluster eMACS J1353.7+4329, which lies about eight billion light-years from Earth in the constellation Canes Venatici. This disturbed collection of at least two galaxy clusters...
eMACS J1823.1+7822
Cosmic leviathan
A vast galaxy cluster lurks in the centre of this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Like a submerged sea monster causing waves on the surface, this cosmic leviathan can be identified by the distortions in spacetime around it. The mass of the cluster has caused the images of...
NGC 253
Can You Spot It?
Right in the middle of this image, nestled amongst a smattering of distant stars and even more distant galaxies, lies the newly discovered dwarf galaxy known as Donatiello II. If you cannot quite distinguish the clump of faint stars that is all we can see of Donatiello II in this image, then...
Galaxy
Hubble galaxy at redshift z = 0.65
This image, taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, shows a galaxy similar in mass to the Milky Way. The galaxy is seen as it was 6.1 billion years ago. Links: NASA press release A firestorm of star birth (artist’s illustration) The growth of Milky Way-like galaxies over time Hubble...
Galaxy
Ghostly galactic jellyfish
The jellyfish galaxy JO175 appears to hang suspended in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. This galaxy lies over 650 million light-years from Earth in the appropriately-named constellation Telescopium, and was captured in crystal-clear detail by Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3. A...
Galaxies
One Galaxy, Three Times
This star- and galaxy-studded image was captured by Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3), using data that were collected for scientific purposes. The object of interest was a galaxy that is visible in the bottom right corner of the image, named SGAS 0033+02. What makes this particular galaxy...
Galaxy
Hubble galaxy at redshift z = 2.4
This image, taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, shows a galaxy similar in mass to the Milky Way. The galaxy is seen as it was 10.9 billion years ago. Links: NASA press release A firestorm of star birth (artist’s illustration) The growth of Milky Way-like galaxies over time Hubble...
Galaxy
Hubble galaxy at redshift z = 1.3
This image, taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, shows a galaxy similar in mass to the Milky Way. The galaxy is seen as it was 8.9 billion years ago. Links: NASA press release A firestorm of star birth (artist’s illustration) The growth of Milky Way-like galaxies over time Hubble...
Galaxy
Hubble galaxy at redshift z = 2.8
This image, taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, shows a galaxy similar in mass to the Milky Way. The galaxy is seen as it was 11.3 billion years ago. Links: NASA press release A firestorm of star birth (artist’s illustration) The growth of Milky Way-like galaxies over time Hubble...
Galaxy
Hubble galaxy at redshift z = 0.26
This image, taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, shows a galaxy similar in mass to the Milky Way. The galaxy is seen as it was 3.1 billion years ago. Links: NASA press release A firestorm of star birth (artist’s illustration) The growth of Milky Way-like galaxies over time Hubble...
Galaxy
Hubble galaxy at redshift z = 2.0
This image, taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, shows a galaxy similar in mass to the Milky Way. The galaxy is seen as it was 10.3 billion years ago. Links: NASA press release A firestorm of star birth (artist’s illustration) The growth of Milky Way-like galaxies over time Hubble...
Stars
Hubble captures glittering crowded hub of our Milky Way
This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows a sparkling jewel box full of stars captured the heart of our Milky Way. Aging red giant stars coexist with their more plentiful younger cousins, the smaller, white, Sun-like stars, in this crowded region of our galaxy’s ancient central...
Galaxies
Hubble Spies a Galactic Gem
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope observation has captured the galaxy CGCG 396-2, an unusual multi-armed galaxy merger which lies around 520 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Orion. This observation is a gem from the Galaxy Zoo project, a citizen science project in which...
Galaxies
Seeing Quintuple
Clustered at the centre of this image are six luminous spots of light, four of them forming a circle around a central pair. Appearances can be deceiving, however, as this formation is not composed of six individual galaxies, but only three: to be precise, a pair of galaxies and one distant...
Stars
Pillars of Creation (NIRCam and MIRI Composite Image)
By combining images of the iconic Pillars of Creation from two cameras aboard the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, the Universe has been framed in its infrared glory. Webb’s near-infrared image was fused with its mid-infrared image, setting this star-forming region ablaze with new...
Galaxy
Lens Flair
This intriguing observation from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows a gravitationally lensed galaxy with the long-winded identification SGAS J143845+145407. Gravitational lensing has resulted in a mirror image of the galaxy at the centre of this image, creating a captivating centrepiece....
NGC 2655
Stuck in the middle
This pretty, cloud-like object may not look much like a galaxy — it lacks the well-defined arms of a spiral galaxy, or the reddish bulge of an elliptical — but it is in fact something known as a lenticular galaxy. Lenticular galaxies sit somewhere between the spiral and elliptical types; they...
IRAS 16399-0937
A cosmic megamaser
This galaxy has a far more exciting and futuristic classification than most — it is a megamaser. Megamasers are intensely bright, around 100 million times brighter than the masers found in galaxies like the Milky Way. The entire galaxy essentially acts as an astronomical laser that beams out...
UZC J224030.2+032131
Seeing quadruple
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope picture may trick you into thinking that the galaxy in it — known as UZC J224030.2+032131 — has not one but five different nuclei. In fact, the core of the galaxy is only the faint and diffuse object seen at the centre of the cross-like structure formed by...
M 106
Hubble view of M 106
This image combines Hubble observations of M 106 with additional information captured by amateur astronomers Robert Gendler and Jay GaBany. Gendler combined Hubble data with his own observations to produce this stunning colour image. M 106 is a relatively nearby spiral galaxy, a little over 20...
MACS J1149.5+2223
A galactic gathering
Nearly as deep as the Hubble Ultra Deep Field, which contains approximately 10 000 galaxies, this incredible image from the NASA/ESA Space Telescope reveals thousands of colourful galaxies in the constellation of Leo (The Lion). This vibrant view of the early Universe was captured as part of...
Abell 2744
One of three magnified images of a distant galaxy (2)
This image, taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, shows one of three images of the same very distant galaxy whose light has taken 13 billion years to reach us. The galaxy has been magnified and multiply imaged by the lensing effect of the galaxy cluster Abell 2744. By measuring the...
Abell 2744
One of three magnified images of a distant galaxy (1)
This image, taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, shows one of three images of the same very distant galaxy whose light has taken 13 billion years to reach us. The galaxy has been magnified and multiply imaged by the lensing effect of the galaxy cluster Abell 2744. By measuring the...
Abell S1063
Parallel field of Abell S1063
This part of the sky was observed in parallel with the galaxy cluster Abell S1063 and is also part of the Frontier Fields programme. While one of Hubble’s cameras observed the galaxy cluster itself, another simultaneously captured the spectacular scene pictured above, of an “unremarkable” patch...
Abell 2744
One of three magnified images of a distant galaxy (3)
This image, taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, shows one of three images of the same very distant galaxy whose light has taken 13 billion years to reach us. The galaxy has been magnified and multiply imaged by the lensing effect of the galaxy cluster Abell 2744. By measuring the...
NGC 4298
A sea of galaxies
While one instrument of Hubble observed the target for its 27th anniversary — the galaxies NGC 4302 and NGC 4298 — another instrument simultaneously observed a nearby patch of the sky. These so-called parallel field observations increase the efficiency of how the telescope is used when making...
LEDA 36252
Ground-based view of LEDA 36252
This ground-based image shows the tadpole galaxy LEDA 36252 and its surroundings.
GRB990712
Gamma-ray burst host galaxy GRB990712
This is an image of Gamma-ray Burst Host Galaxy GRB990712. Long-duration gamma-ray bursts are powerful flashes of high-energy radiation that are sometimes seen coming from supernovae — the explosions of extremely massive stars. This image is one of a set of images taken by NASA’s Hubble Space...
GRB000926
Gamma-ray burst host galaxy GRB000926
This is an image of Gamma-ray Burst Host Galaxy GRB000926. Long-duration gamma-ray bursts are powerful flashes of high-energy radiation that are sometimes seen coming from supernovae — the explosions of extremely massive stars. This image is one of a set of images taken by NASA’s Hubble Space...
GRB980703
Gamma-ray burst host galaxy GRB980703
This is an image of Gamma-ray Burst Host Galaxy GRB980703. Long-duration gamma-ray bursts are powerful flashes of high-energy radiation that are sometimes seen coming from supernovae — the explosions of extremely massive stars. This image is one of a set of images taken by NASA’s Hubble Space...
GRB030329
Gamma-ray burst host galaxy GRB030329
This image shows a long duration gamma burst, as taken by the Hubble Space Telescope.
GRB990705
Gamma-ray burst host galaxy GRB990705
This is an image of Gamma-ray Burst Host Galaxy GRB990705. Long-duration gamma-ray bursts are powerful flashes of high-energy radiation that are sometimes seen coming from supernovae — the explosions of extremely massive stars. This image is one of a set of images, taken by NASA’s Hubble Space...
Cepheid
Cepheid variable star in galaxy M100
The interval it takes for the Cepheid to complete one pulsation is a direct indication of the stars's intrinsic brightness. This value can be used to make a precise measurement of the galaxy's distance, which turns out to be 56 million light-years from Earth. This image was taken on April 23,...
NGC 1140
A galactic nursery
This dramatic image shows the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope’s view of dwarf galaxy known as NGC 1140, which lies 60 million light-years away in the constellation of Eridanus. As can be seen in this image NGC 1140 has an irregular form, much like the Large Magellanic Cloud — a small galaxy...
Quasars
Sample galaxy 25783
Quasars are the brilliant beacons of light that are powered by black holes feasting on captured material, and in the process, heating some of the matter to millions of degrees. The brightest quasars reside in galaxies distorted by collisions with other galaxies. These encounters send lots of...
Quasars
Sample galaxy 36721
Black holes in the early universe needed a few snacks rather than one giant meal to fuel their quasars and help them grow, a new study shows. Quasars are the brilliant beacons of light that are powered by black holes feasting on captured material, and in the process, heating some of the matter...
Quasar
Sample galaxy 33160
This galaxy has so much dust surrounding it that the brilliant light from its quasar cannot be seen in these Hubble Space Telescope images. Quasars are the brilliant beacons of light that are powered by black holes feasting on captured material, and in the process, heating some of the matter to...
Quasars
Sample galaxy 29263
A distant, obscured quasar. Quasars are the brilliant beacons of light that are powered by black holes feasting on captured material.
NGC 1084
A spiral home to exploding stars
In this new Hubble image, we can see an almost face-on view of the galaxy NGC 1084. At first glance, this galaxy is pretty unoriginal. Like the majority of galaxies that we observe it is a spiral galaxy, and, as with about half of all spirals, it has no bar running through its loosely wound...
NGC 5364
A Grand Design of Imperfections
With its swirling arms and luminous core, NGC 5364 is unmistakably a spiral galaxy, lying in the constellation Virgo. But it’s not just any spiral galaxy imaged by the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) on the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a...
LEDA 58109
Follow the LEDA
This luminescent image features multiple galaxies, perhaps most noticeably LEDA 58109, the lone galaxy in the upper right. LEDA 58109 is flanked by two further galactic objects to its lower left — an active galactic nucleus (AGN) called SDSS J162558.14+435746.4 that partially obscures the...
SDSS J103512.07+461412.2
What’s in a name?
This Hubble Picture of the Week includes the pithily-named galaxy SDSS J103512.07+461412.2, visible in the centre of this image as a dispersed sweep of dust and stars with a denser, brighter core. SDSS J103512.07+461412.2 is located 23 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Ursa...
Terzan 12
Glittering globular cluster Terzan 12
The glittering globular cluster Terzan 12 — a vast, tightly bound collection of stars — fills the frame of this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. This star-studded stellar census comes from a string of observations that aim to systematically explore globular clusters located...
UGC 2890
Aftermath of a cosmic explosion
The somewhat amorphous spiral galaxy UGC 2890 appears side-on in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, with bright foreground stars studding the image. This galaxy lies around 30 million light-years away in the constellation Camelopardalis. In 2009 astronomers spotted a...
UGC 7983
Visitor to a Galaxy
A host of astronomical objects throng this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Background galaxies ranging from stately spirals to fuzzy ellipticals are strewn across the image, and bright foreground stars much closer to home are also present, surrounded by diffraction spikes. In...
ZW II 96
Galactic Get-Together
A merging galaxy pair cavort in this image captured by the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. This pair of galaxies, known to astronomers as II ZW 96, is roughly 500 million light-years from Earth and lies in the constellation Delphinus, close to the celestial equator. As well as the wild...
Terzan 9
Cosmic Treasure Chest
This star-studded image shows the globular cluster Terzan 9 in the constellation Sagittarius, towards the centre of the Milky Way. The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope captured this glittering scene using its Wide Field Camera 3 and Advanced Camera for Surveys. Globular clusters are stable,...
GAMA 526784
Hubble Spies a Tenuous Diffuse Galaxy
The ultra-diffuse galaxy GAMA 526784 appears as a tenuous patch of light in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. This wispy object resides in the constellation Hydra, roughly four billion light-years from Earth. Ultra-diffuse galaxies such as GAMA 526784 have a number of...
ESO 495-21
A tiny galaxy with a big heart
Nestled within this field of bright foreground stars lies ESO 495-21, a tiny galaxy with a big heart. ESO 495-21 is just 3000 light-years across, a fraction of the size of the Milky Way, but that is not stopping the galaxy from furiously forming huge numbers of stars. There are also indicators...
DEM L 190
Revisiting a Celestial Fireworks Display
Shreds of the luridly coloured supernova remnant DEM L 190 seem to billow across the screen in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. The delicate sheets and intricate filaments are debris from the cataclysmic death of a massive star that once lived in the Large Magellanic Cloud,...
NGC 4548
Spiral Snapshot
The spiral galaxy M91 fills the frame of this Wide Field Camera 3 observation from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. M91 lies approximately 55 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Coma Berenices and — as is evident in this image — is a barred spiral galaxy. While M91’s...
NGC 3254
A Galactic Powerhouse
This image shows the spiral galaxy NGC 3254, observed using Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). WFC3 has the capacity to observe ultraviolet, visible and near-infrared light, and this image is a composite of observations taken in the visible and infrared. In this image, NGC 3254 looks like a...
NGC 5921
Hubble Spies a Serpentine Spiral Galaxy
The lazily winding spiral arms of the galaxy NGC 5921 snake across this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. This galaxy lies approximately 80 million light-years from Earth, and much like our own galaxy, the Milky Way, contains a prominent bar. Roughly half of all spiral galaxies...
NGC 4571
Hubble Spies a Stunning Spiral
This cosmic portrait — captured with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope’s Wide Field Camera 3 — shows a stunning view of the spiral galaxy NGC 4571, which lies approximately 60 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Coma Berenices. This constellation — whose name translates as...
NGC 3318
Sail of Stars
The spiral arms of the galaxy NGC 3318 are lazily draped across this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. This spiral galaxy lies in the constellation Vela and is roughly 115 million light-years away from Earth. Vela was originally part of a far larger constellation, known as Argo...
NGC 346
Webb Inspects NGC 346 (NIRCam Image)
This image features NGC 346, one of the most dynamic star-forming regions in nearby galaxies, as seen by the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. NCG 346 is located in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), a dwarf galaxy close to our Milky Way. [Image Description: A star forming region sweeps...
NGC 976
Galactic Tranquility
The lazily winding spiral arms of the spectacular galaxy NGC 976 fill the frame of this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. This spiral galaxy lies around 150 million light-years from the Milky Way in the constellation Aries. Despite its tranquil appearance, NGC 976 has played host...
