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JADES-GS-z14-0
Wide-field view of the region of the sky around JADES-GS-z14-0
This wide-field view from the Digitized Sky Survey 2 shows the region of the sky around JADES-GS-z14-0, the most distant galaxy known yet. The galaxy is located at the centre of the frame, but it is too faint to be seen here. Observations with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array...
JADES-GS-z14-0
Furthest detection of oxygen in the early Universe
This image shows the precise location in the night sky of the galaxy JADES-GS-z14-0, an extremely tiny dot in the Fornax constellation. As of today, this is the most distant confirmed galaxy we know of. Its light took 13.4 billion years to reach us and shows the conditions of the Universe when...
JADES-GS-z14-0
Oxygen spectrum in most distant known galaxy
The inset in this image shows JADES-GS-z14-0 –– the most distant known galaxy as of today –– as seen with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). The two spectra shown here result from independent analysis of ALMA data by two teams of astronomers. Both found an emission line of...
Hubble observes new tidal disruption event (January 2025 image)
Lurking 600 million light-years away, within the inky black depths between stars, there is an invisible monster gulping down any wayward star that plummets toward it. The black hole revealed its presence in a newly identified tidal disruption event (TDE) where a hapless star was ripped apart...
LEDA 677373
A stubborn dwarf galaxy
The fuzzy collection of stars seen in this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image forms an intriguing dwarf galaxy named LEDA 677373, located about 14 million light-years away from us. Dwarf galaxies are small, faint collections of stars and gas. Their diverse properties make them intriguing...
NGC 3596
Face to face with a spiral’s arms
The spiral galaxy NGC 3596 is on display in this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope Picture of the Week, which incorporates six different wavelengths of light. NGC 3596 is situated 90 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Leo. The galaxy was discovered in 1784 by astronomer William...
NGC 1760
Early SPHEREx Observations: NGC 1760 at 3.29 microns
NASA's SPHEREx mission is observing the entire sky in 102 colors of infrared light not visible to the human eye. This image shows a section of sky in one wavelength (3.29 microns), revealing the glow of sooty, carbon-based dust particles known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (or PAH's). It is...
NGC 1760
Early SPHEREx Observations: NGC 1760 at 0.96 microns
NASA's SPHEREx mission is observing the entire sky in 102 colors of infrared light not visible to the human eye. This image shows a section of sky in one wavelength (0.96 microns), revealing the glow of ionized gaseous sulfur, heated by nearby stars to a degree that it has lost two of its...
NGC 1760
Early SPHEREx Observations: NGC 1760 at 0.98 microns
NASA's SPHEREx mission is observing the entire sky in 102 colors of infrared light not visible to the human eye. This image shows a section of sky in one wavelength (0.98 microns), of the star-forming nebula known as NGC 1760. At this wavelength there is very little glow from the gas and dust...
Andromeda Galaxy
Wide-field view of the Andromeda Galaxy
This ground-based image shows the full extent of the Andromeda Galaxy, also known as Messier 31 or M 31. The Andromeda Galaxy appears very large in the sky — several times the size of the full Moon (although much fainter). Hubble is designed to make highly detailed observations of much smaller...
Abell 1489
Cosmic Community of Abell 1489
Punctuating the deep black of this Image of the Week are hundreds of blobs of light, each one an entire galaxy in our Universe. Many of the yellowish points are members of the galaxy cluster Abell 1489, imaged here using the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) on Gemini North, one half of...
LEDA 42160
An unlikely spiral
This image shows LEDA 42160, a galaxy about 52 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Virgo. The dwarf galaxy is one of many forcing its way through the comparatively dense gas in the Virgo cluster, a massive cluster of galaxies. The pressure exerted by this intergalactic gas,...
Abell 1758
Northern part of Abell 1758
This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows the northern part of the galaxy cluster Abell 1758, A1758N. The cluster is approximately 3.2 billion light-years from Earth and is part of a larger structure containing two cluster sitting some 2.4 million light-years apart. But A1758N...
NGC 4631
The belly of the cosmic whale
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has peered deep into NGC 4631, better known as the Whale Galaxy. Here, a profusion of starbirth lights up the galactic centre, revealing bands of dark material between us and the starburst. The galaxy’s activity tapers off in its outer regions where there...
Messier 87
A cosmic searchlight
Streaming out from the centre of the galaxy M87 like a cosmic searchlight is one of nature's most amazing phenomena, a black-hole-powered jet of electrons and other sub-atomic particles traveling at nearly the speed of light. In this Hubble telescope image, the blue jet contrasts with the...
UGC 7342
Hubble view of green filament in galaxy UGC 7342
This new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows ghostly green filaments, lying within galaxy UGC 7342. This filament was illuminated by a blast of radiation from a quasar — a very luminous and compact region that surrounds the supermassive black hole at the centre of its host galaxy. Its...
NGC 6786
NGC 6786
This Hubble image displays a beautiful pair of interacting spiral galaxies with swirling arms. The smaller of the two, dubbed LEDA 62867 and positioned to the left of the frame, seems to be safe for now, but will probably be swallowed by the larger spiral galaxy, NGC 6786 (to the right),...
VCC 1993
VCC 1993 in the Virgo cluster of galaxies
Virgo cluster galaxy VCC 1993. Hubble's "eye" is so sharp that it was able to pick out the fuzzy globular clusters, which, at that distance, look like individual stars bunched up around the galaxies, instead of groupings of stars.
Bug Nebula
Butterfly emerges from stellar demise in planetary nebula NGC 6302
This celestial object looks like a delicate butterfly. But it is far from serene. What resemble dainty butterfly wings are actually roiling cauldrons of gas heated to nearly 20 000 degrees Celsius. The gas is tearing across space at more than 950 000 kilometres per hour — fast enough to travel...
UGC 8091
Dwarf irregular galaxy UGC 8091 (wide-field view)
For the end of the year and the holiday season Hubble has captured the festive bundle of lights known as UGC 8091. UGC 8091, also known as GR 8, lies around seven million light-years from Earth in the constellation Virgo. It is a dwarf irregular galaxy: a comparatively small, low-mass galaxy...
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...
NGC 3717
A Spiral in Profile
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope sees galaxies of all shapes, sizes, brightnesses, and orientations in the cosmos. Sometimes, the telescope gazes at a galaxy oriented sideways — as shown here. The spiral galaxy featured in this Picture of the Week is called NGC 3717, and it is located about...
IC 335
The beautiful side of IC 335
This new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows the galaxy IC 335 in front of a backdrop of distant galaxies. IC 335 is part of a galaxy group containing three other galaxies, and located in the Fornax Galaxy Cluster 60 million light-years away. As seen in this image, the disc of IC 335...
NGC 4522
Hubble views NGC 4522
Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) allows astronomers to study an interesting and important phenomenon called ram pressure stripping that is so powerful, it is capable of mangling galaxies and even halting their star formation. NGC 4522 is a spectacular example of a spiral galaxy that...
NGC 1132
The gargantuan galaxy NGC 1132
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured a new image of the galaxy NGC 1132 which is, most likely, a cosmic fossil - the aftermath of an enormous multi-galactic pile-up, where the carnage of collision after collision has built up a brilliant but fuzzy giant elliptical galaxy far...
IXO 5
Hubble image of NGC 1073
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has taken a picture of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1073, which is found in the constellation of Cetus (The Sea Monster). Our own galaxy, the Milky Way, is thought to be a similar barred spiral, and the study of galaxies such as NGC 1073 can help astronomers...
NGC 2623
Hubble views results of NGC 2623 merger
Not surprisingly, interacting galaxies have a dramatic effect on each other. Studies have revealed that as galaxies approach one another massive amounts of gas are pulled from each galaxy towards the centre of the other, until ultimately, the two merge into one massive galaxy. NGC 2623 is in...
Carina Nebula
Hubble photographs turbulent neighborhood near eruptive star
A small portion of the rough-and-tumble neighborhood of swirling dust and gas near one of the most massive and eruptive stars in our galaxy is seen in this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image. This close-up view shows only a three light-year-wide portion of the entire Carina Nebula, which has...
Markarian 1018
The active galaxy Markarian 1018
The mystery of a rare change in the behaviour of the supermassive black hole at the centre of the distant galaxy Markarian 1018 has been solved by an international team of astronomers using ESO’s Very Large Telescope along with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and NASA’s Chandra X-ray...
Messier 65
Messier 65 through the years
The 1st of March 1780 was a particularly productive night for Charles Messier. Combing the constellation of Leo for additions to his grand astronomical catalogue, he struck on not one, but two, new objects. One of those objects is seen here: Messier 65. "Nebula discovered in Leo: It is very...
M 105
The heart of the Lion
It might appear featureless and unexciting at first glance, but NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope observations of this elliptical galaxy — known as Messier 105 — show that the stars near the galaxy’s centre are moving very rapidly. Astronomers have concluded that these stars are zooming around a...
NGC 6535
An ancient globule
This image captures the stunning NGC 6535, a globular cluster 22 000 light-years away in the constellation of Serpens (The Serpent) that measures one light-year across. Globular clusters are tightly bound groups of stars which orbit galaxies. The large mass in the rich stellar centre of the...
Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy
It came from outer space
Named after its discoverer, the French-Armenian astronomer Agop Terzan, this is the globular cluster Terzan 7 — a densely packed ball of stars bound together by gravity. It lies just over 75 000 light-years away from us on the other side of our galaxy, the Milky Way. It is a peculiar cluster,...
ESO 149-003
Blue and gold
This sprinkling of cosmic glitter makes up the galaxy known as ESO 149-3, located some 20 million light-years away from us. It is an example of an irregular galaxy, characterised by its amorphous, undefined shape — a property that sets it apart from its perhaps more photogenic spiral and...
ESO 499-G37
A loose spiral galaxy
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has spotted the spiral galaxy ESO 499-G37, seen here against a backdrop of distant galaxies, scattered with nearby stars. The galaxy is viewed from an angle, allowing Hubble to reveal its spiral nature clearly. The faint, loose spiral arms can be...
N 83B
N83B - massive infant stars rock their cradle
Extremely intense radiation from newly born, ultra-bright stars has blown a glowing spherical bubble in the nebula N83B, also known as NGC 1748. A new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image has helped to decipher the complex interplay of gas and radiation of a star-forming region in a nearby...
NGC 7052
Disk around a black hole in galaxy NGC 7052 (Hubble WFPC2 view)
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image was taken with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2, in visible light. Details as small as 50 light-years across can be seen.
NGC 4183
Hubble portrays a dusty spiral galaxy
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has provided us with another outstanding image of a nearby galaxy. This week, we highlight the galaxy NGC 4183, seen here with a beautiful backdrop of distant galaxies and nearby stars. Located about 55 million light-years from the Sun and spanning about...
NGC 4845
Supermassive and super-hungry
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows the spiral galaxy NGC 4845, located over 65 million light-years away in the constellation of Virgo (The Virgin). The galaxy’s orientation clearly reveals the galaxy’s striking spiral structure: a flat and dust-mottled disc surrounding a bright...
IC 4710
A frenzy of stars
Discovered in 1900 by astronomer DeLisle Stewart and here imaged by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, IC 4710 is an undeniably spectacular sight. The galaxy is a busy cloud of bright stars, with bright pockets — marking bursts of new star formation — scattered around its edges. IC 4710 is a...
Andromeda Galaxy
Stars in the Andromeda Galaxy’s disc
This image shows NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope images of a small part of the disc of the Andromeda Galaxy, the closest spiral galaxy to the Milky Way. Hubble’s position above the distorting effect of the atmosphere, combined with the galaxy’s relative proximity, means that the galaxy can be...
NGC 1806
A great ball of stars
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has turned its sharp eye towards a tight collection of stars, first seen 174 years ago. The result is a sparkling image of NGC 1806, tens of thousands of stars gravitationally bound into a rich cluster. Commonly called globular clusters, most of these objects...
Abell 2163
Cosmic fireflies
Galaxies glow like fireflies in this spectacular NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image! This flickering swarm of cosmic fireflies is a rich cluster of galaxies called Abell 2163. Abell 2163 is a member of the Abell catalogue, an all-sky catalogue of over 4000 galaxy clusters. It is...
SNR 0454-67.2
Tangled — cosmic edition
This dark, tangled web is an object named SNR 0454-67.2. It formed in a very violent fashion — it is a supernova remnant, created after a massive star ended its life in a cataclysmic explosion and threw its constituent material out into surrounding space. This created the messy formation we see...
RXC J0232.2-4420
Strings of homeless stars
This sparkling Picture of the Week features a massive galaxy cluster named RXC J0232.2-4420. This image was taken by Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys and Wide-Field Camera 3 as part of an observing programme called RELICS (Reionization Lensing Cluster Survey). RELICS imaged 41 massive...
UGCA 281
Dwarf galaxy UGCA 281
UGCA 281 is a blue compact dwarf galaxy located in the constellation of Canes Venatici. Within it, two giant star clusters appear brilliant white and are swaddled by greenish hydrogen gas clouds. These clusters are responsible for most of the recent star formation in UGCA 281; the rest of the...
NGC 5714
The curious case of calcium-rich supernovae
This image, captured by the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) on the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, shows the spiral galaxy NGC 5714, about 130 million light-years away in the constellation of Boötes (the Herdsman). NGC 5714 is classified as a Sc spiral galaxy, but its spiral arms — the...
NGC 5949
Small but significant
The subject of this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image is a dwarf galaxy named NGC 5949. Thanks to its proximity to Earth — it sits at a distance of around 44 million light-years from us, placing it within the Milky Way’s cosmic neighbourhood — NGC 5949 is a perfect target for astronomers...
IC 5201
A closer look at IC 5201
In 1900, astronomer Joseph Lunt made a discovery: Peering through a telescope at Cape Town Observatory, the British–South African scientist spotted this beautiful sight in the southern constellation of Grus (The Crane): a barred spiral galaxy now named IC 5201. Over a century later, the galaxy...
NGC 4833
A sky full of stars
Located approximately 22 000 light-years away in the constellation of Musca (The Fly), this tightly packed collection of stars — known as a globular cluster — goes by the name of NGC 4833. This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows the dazzling stellar group in all its glory. NGC 4833...
NGC 1222
A greedy giant
NGC 1222, seen in this image taken with the Wide Field Camera 3 on board the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope (HST), is a galaxy with a rather eventful story to tell. NGC 1222 has been described as a peculiar example of a type of galaxy known as a lenticular galaxy. Typically, this kind of...
Abell 2744
Galaxy cluster Abell 2744 with dark matter map
This is a NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image of the galaxy cluster Abell 2744. Shown in blue on the image is a map of the dark matter found within the cluster. This cluster was part of a study of 72 galaxy cluster collisions which determined that dark matter interacts with other dark matter...
NGC 3021
A cosmological measuring tape
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows the spiral galaxy NGC 3021 which lies about 100 million light-years away in the constellation of Leo Minor (The Little Lion). Among many other types of stars, this galaxy contains Cepheid variable stars, which can be used work out the distance to...
DDO 6
A flock of stars
The glittering specks in this image, resembling a distant flock of flying birds, are the stars that make up the dwarf galaxy ESO 540-31. Captured in this new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, the dwarf galaxy lies just over 11 million light-years from Earth, in the constellation...
2002 LM60
Ground-based image of Arp 116 and its surroundings
This image from a ground-based telescope shows the galaxy pair Arp 116 (made up of the elliptical galaxy M60 and the spiral galaxy NGC 4647) and its surroundings.
ESO 121-6
A side-on spiral streak
This thin, glittering streak of stars is the spiral galaxy ESO 121-6, which lies in the southern constellation of Pictor (The Painter's Easel). Viewed almost exactly side-on, the intricate structure of the swirling arms is hidden, but the full length of the galaxy can be seen — including...
ESO 318-13
Glitter galaxy — An edge-on view of the ESO 318-13 galaxy
The brilliant cascade of stars through the middle of this image is the galaxy ESO 318-13 as seen by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Despite being located millions of light-years from Earth, the stars captured in this image are so bright and clear you could almost attempt to count...
Andromeda Galaxy
Stars in the Andromeda Galaxy’s halo with background galaxies (2)
This image shows NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope images of a small part of the halo of the Andromeda Galaxy. The halo is the huge and sparse sphere of stars that surrounds a galaxy. While there are relatively few stars in a galaxy’s halo, studies of the rotation rate of galaxies suggest that...
NGC 5010
A galaxy colourfully waning
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured a beautiful galaxy that, with its reddish and yellow central area, looks rather like an explosion from a Hollywood movie. The galaxy, called NGC 5010, is in a period of transition. The aging galaxy is moving on from life as a spiral galaxy, like...
NGC 7006
A remote outpost of the Milky Way
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows a compact and distant globular star cluster that lies in one of the smallest constellations in the night sky, Delphinus (The Dolphin). Due to its modest size, great distance and relatively low brightness, NGC 7006 is often ignored by amateur...
M 20
Full HST WFPC2 image of Trifid Nebula
Three huge intersecting dark lanes of interstellar dust make the Trifid Nebula one of the most recognizable and striking star birth regions in the night sky. The dust, silhouetted against glowing gas and illuminated by starlight, cradles the bright stars at the heart of the Trifid. This nebula,...
NGC 6752
Globular cluster NGC 6752
This image, taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, shows a part of the globular cluster NGC 6752. The observations were made to study white dwarfs within it and to use these stars to measure the age of the globular cluster. Analysing the data, astronomers discovered a previously...
Circinus
Active galaxy Circinus
Resembling a swirling witch's cauldron of glowing vapors, the black hole-powered core of a nearby active galaxy appears in this colorful NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image. The galaxy lies 13 million light-years away in the southern constellation Circinus. This galaxy is designated a type 2...
GN-z9-1
GN-z9-1 in the GOODS-N field
This image shows an ultra-bright young galaxy known as GN-z9-1, discovered in the Hubble GOODS North field (Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey). Researchers found four unusually red objects, including GN-z9-1, that appear as they existed just 500 million years after the Big Bang. They...
Antennae Galaxies
Colliding galaxies NGC 4038 and NGC 4039
This is a close-up view of a head-on collision between two spiral galaxies, called the Antennae galaxies. The image is 1,500 light-years across. The image shows entrapped dust and gas funneled into the centre of the galaxy.
Abell 1656
The Coma Galaxy Cluster as seen by Hubble
Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys has viewed a large portion of the Coma Cluster, stretching across several million light-years across. The entire spherical cluster is more than 20 million light-years in diameter and contains thousands of galaxies. Most of the galaxies that inhabit the...
Sagittarius
Galactic centre region in infrared from Spitzer
The Spitzer Space Telescope's infrared-light observations provide a detailed and spectacular view of the galactic centre region. The swirling core of our galaxy harbours hundreds of thousands of stars that cannot be seen in visible light. These stars heat the nearby gas and dust. These dusty...
ESO 255-7
ESO 255-7
ESO 255-7 consists of a quartet of interacting galaxies. Three or four galaxies are embedded in a common structure with an arc-like shape. The upper part of this structure appears almost like one single galaxy but has in fact two component galaxies. The lowest galaxy is substantially obscured...
Arp 220
Arp 220
Arp 220 appears to be a single, odd-looking galaxy, but is in fact a nearby example of the aftermath of a collision between two spiral galaxies. It is the brightest of the three galactic mergers closest to Earth, about 250 million light-years away in the constellation of Serpens, the Serpent....
Arp 81
NGC 6621, NGC 6622
Arp 81 is a strongly interacting pair of galaxies, seen about 100 million years after their closest approach. It consists of NGC 6621 (to the right) and NGC 6622 (to the left). NGC 6621 is the larger of the two, and is a very disturbed spiral galaxy. The encounter has pulled a long tail out of...
Arp 182
NGC 7674
NGC 7674 (seen just above the centre), also known as Markarian 533, is the brightest and largest member of the so-called Hickson 96 compact group of galaxies, consisting of four galaxies. This stunning Hubble image shows a spiral galaxy nearly face-on. The central bar-shaped structure is made...
IRAS 20351+2521
IRAS 20351+2521
IRAS 20351+2521 is a galaxy with a sprawling structure of gas, dust and numerous blue star knots. IRAS 20351+2521 is located in the constellation of Vulpecula, the Fox, 450 million light-years away from Earth. This image is part of a large collection of 59 images of merging galaxies taken by...
M 104
The Sombrero Galaxy in Infrared Light
NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope joined forces to create this striking composite image of one of the most popular sights in the universe. Messier 104 is commonly known as the Sombrero galaxy because in visible light, it resembles the broad-brimmed Mexican hat....
NGC 3982
Galaxy NGC 3982
A team of European astronomers is using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to look back in time. They have imaged the spiral galaxy NGC 3982 and hundreds of other galaxies in the hope that one of the millions of stars in these images will some day explode as a supernova. They can then look...
Caldwell 24
Freewheeling Galaxies Collide in a Blaze of Star Birth
A dusty spiral galaxy appears to be rotating on edge, like a pinwheel, as it slides through the larger, bright galaxy NGC 1275, in this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image. These images, taken with Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2), show traces of spiral structure accompanied by...
Cassiopeia A
Fireworks in the Sky
Glowing gaseous streamers of red, white, and blue - as well as green and pink - illuminate the heavens like Fourth of July fireworks. The colorful streamers that float across the sky in this photo taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope were created by the universe's biggest firecracker,...
NGC 6782
Hubble Reveals Ultraviolet Galactic Ring
The appearance of a galaxy can depend strongly on the colour of the light with which it is viewed. This Hubble Heritage image of NGC 6782 illustrates a pronounced example of this effect. This spiral galaxy, when seen in visible light, exhibits tightly wound spiral arms that give it a pinwheel...
NGC 6251
Galaxy NGC 6251 Nucleus
This composite image of the core of the galaxy was constructed by combining a visible light image taken with Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2), with a separate image taken in ultraviolet light with the Faint Object Camera (FOC). While the visible light image shows a dark dust disk,...
Mayall II
Globular Cluster in the Andromeda Galaxy
Hubble Space Telescope has captured a view of a globular cluster called G1, a large, bright ball of light in the centre of the photograph consisting of at least 300, 000 old stars.
J1634+4619
Outflows from merging galaxy J1634+4619
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image of the galaxy J1634+4619 shows it is undergoing a firestorm of star birth, as shown by its bright white cores. This star-making frenzy was ignited by mergers with other galaxies. The odd shape of the galaxy is telltale evidence of a close encounters....
UGC 9128
Dwarf galaxy: small but perfectly formed
Galaxies come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, with most being classed as either elliptical or spiral. However, some fall into the miscellaneous category known as irregulars, such as UGC 9128 shown here in this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image. UGC 9128 is a dwarf irregular galaxy, which...
Mrk 509
Active galaxy Markarian 509
This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows the galaxy Markarian 509. The bright object at the centre of the galaxy, which appears like a star, is an active galactic nucleus. This is a bright celestial phenomenon caused by matter glowing as it falls into a supermassive black...
Large Magellanic Cloud
Celestial fairy lights
This glittering ball of stars is the globular cluster NGC 1898, which lies towards the centre of the Large Magellanic Cloud — one of our closest cosmic neighbours. The Large Magellanic Cloud is a dwarf galaxy that hosts an extremely rich population of star clusters, making it an ideal...
GOODS South Field
Tiny galaxies brimming with star birth
This image reveals 18 tiny galaxies uncovered by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. The puny galaxies, shown in the postage-stamp-sized images, existed 9 billion years ago and are brimming with star birth. The dwarf galaxies are typically a hundred times less massive than the Milky Way galaxy...
NGC 299
The Toucan and the cluster
It may be famous for hosting spectacular sights such as the Tucana Dwarf Galaxy and 47 Tucanae (heic1510), the second brightest globular cluster in the night sky, but the southern constellation of Tucana (The Toucan) also possesses a variety of unsung cosmic beauties. One such beauty is NGC...
NGC 4388
A transformation in Virgo
The constellation of Virgo (The Virgin) is especially rich in galaxies, due in part to the presence of a massive and gravitationally-bound collection of over 1300 galaxies called the Virgo Cluster. One particular member of this cosmic community, NGC 4388, is captured in this image, as seen by...
NGC 1533
Red, but not dead
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope picture depicts the galaxy NGC 1533 in the southern constellation of Dorado (the Dolphin-fish). Around 62 million light-years from Earth, NGC 1533, which is classed as a lenticular galaxy, is a transitional type that shows characteristics of both spiral and...
30 Doradus
Hubble's festive view of a grand star-forming region
Just in time for the holidays: a Hubble Space Telescope picture postcard of hundreds of brilliant blue stars wreathed by warm, glowing clouds. The festive portrait is the most detailed view of the largest stellar nursery in our local galactic neighborhood. The massive, young stellar grouping,...
NGC 3021
NGC 3021 NICMOS/ACS detail 3
This image is part of a montage of images of the spiral galaxy NGC 3021 taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Hubble made precise measurements of Cepheid variable stars in the galaxy, highlighted in this image. These stars pulsate at a rate that is matched closely to their intrinsic...
[CGW2003] J031910.4+4129
Perseus Dwarf Galaxy
This object, [CGW2003] J031910.4+4129, is one of four dwarf galaxies that is part of a census of small galaxies in the tumultuous heart of the nearby Perseus galaxy cluster. The galaxies appear smooth and symmetrical, suggesting that they have not been tidally disrupted by the pull of gravity...
COSMOS 2607238
COSMOS Barred Spiral Galaxy 2607238
Barred spiral galaxy 2607238 is located 6.4 billion light-years away from Earth. The galaxy is part of a landmark study of more than 2,000 spiral galaxies from the largest galaxy census conducted by the Advanced Camera for Surveys aboard the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. The observations are...
COSMOS FIELD
Gravitational Lens 5921+0638
An Einstein ring can be seen in this image of the gravitational lens 5921+0638 from the COSMOS survey. An Einstein ring is a complete circle image of a background galaxy, which is formed when the background galaxy, a massive, foreground galaxy, and the Hubble Space Telescope are all aligned...
Abell 901
Hubble maps dark matter web in a large galaxy cluster (individual image 3)
A Hubble study pinpointed four main areas in the supercluster where dark matter has pooled into dense clumps. These areas match the location of hundreds of galaxies that have experienced a violent history in their passage from the outskirts of the supercluster into these dense regions. To make...
Abell 901
Hubble maps dark matter web in a large galaxy cluster (individual image 2)
A Hubble study pinpointed four main areas in the supercluster where dark matter has pooled into dense clumps. These areas match the location of hundreds of galaxies that have experienced a violent history in their passage from the outskirts of the supercluster into these dense regions. To make...
ClG 0024+1654
Sky around galaxy cluster CL0024+1654 (ground-based image)
This is a 2.5-degree field around galaxy cluster CL0024+1654. The cluster galaxies are visible in the centre of the image in yellow. The image is a colour composite constructed from three Digitized Sky Survey 2 images: Blue (shown in blue), Red (shown in green), and Infrared (shown in red).
Andromeda Galaxy
Andromeda Galaxy Halo Details - 6
Relying on the deepest visible-light images ever taken in space, astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope (HST) have reliably measured the age of the spherical halo of stars surrounding the neighboring Andromeda galaxy (M31). To their surprise, they have discovered that approximately...
Caldwell 24
NGC 1275 - Full WFPC2 Mosaic
A dusty spiral galaxy appears to be rotating on edge, like a pinwheel, as it slides through the larger, bright galaxy NGC 1275, in this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image. These images, taken with Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2), show traces of spiral structure accompanied by...
IRAS 04531-5326
Blaze of stars in an old galaxy's core
The central region of the small galaxy NGC 1705 blazes with the light of thousands of young and old stars. Astronomers call NGC 1705 a dwarf irregular, that is, a small galaxy lacking regular structure. Knowing how dwarf irregular galaxies evolve tells us a lot about galaxy formation and...
ESO 184- 82
First close look at gamma-ray burst host galaxy ESO 184-G82
The galaxy ESO 184-G82 was host to a combined gamma-ray burst and supernova explosion seen first time in 25 April 1998. The galaxy is a barred spiral of type SBbc which is a loosely wound spiral galaxy with a central bar. These galaxies are typically star-forming, and this galaxy is no...
MS1054-03
Galaxy Cluster MS1054-03
Exciting Hubble Space Telescope images of more than a dozen very distant colliding galaxies indicate that, at least in some cases, big massive galaxies form through collisions between smaller ones, in a 'generation after generation' never-ending story.
IRAS 05240-6948
Oxygen-Rich Supernova
This is a Hubble Space Telescope image of the tattered debris of a star that exploded 3, 000 years ago as a supernova. This supernova remnant, called N132D, lies 169, 000 light-years away in the satellite galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud.
Sculptor Dwarf Galaxy
Sculptor Dwarf Galaxy (ground-based view)
The Sculptor Dwarf Galaxy is one of the Milky Way’s neighbouring dwarf galaxies. Like all large galaxies, the Milky Way is thought to have formed from smaller galaxies in the early Universe. This image is composed from data from the Digitized Sky Survey 2.
Abell 2218
Galaxy Cluster Abell 2218
This Hubble Space Telescope image of the rich galaxy cluster, Abell 2218, is a spectacular example of Gravitational Lensing. The arc-like pattern spread across the picture like a spider web is an illusion caused by the gravitational field of the cluster.
M 77
Active Galaxy NGC 1068
This image was taken before the installation of COSTAR. Notice how blurry the galaxy is.
Pistol Star
Uncovering the secrets of the Quintuplet Cluster
Although this cluster of stars gained its name due to its five brightest stars, it is home to hundreds more. The huge number of massive young stars in the cluster is clearly captured in this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image. The cluster is located close to the Arches Cluster and is just...
IRC 0218
IRC 0218 lensing feature
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image reveals a close up view of the most distant cosmic lens yet found, a massive elliptical galaxy whose powerful gravity is magnifying the light from a faraway galaxy behind it. The giant elliptical is the red object in the centre. The galaxy is seen as...
SDSS J232120.93-093910.2
Einstein Ring Gravitational Lens: SDSS J232120.93-093910.2
This object is named SDSS J232120.93-093910.2. It is one of eight similar objects found by combining two powerful astronomical assets, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. The objects are know as ‘Eienstein rings’ and are perhaps the most elegant manifestations...
Distant supernovae
Distant Supernova 3 - After Outburst
Supernovae are extremely luminous and cause a burst of radiation that often briefly outshines an entire galaxy, before fading from view over several weeks or months. During this short interval a supernova can radiate as much energy as the Sun is expected to emit over its entire life span.
Abell 2125
Galaxy C153 in Cluster Abell 2125 in Radio (VLA)
Trailing 200,000-light-year-long streamers of seething gas, a galaxy that was once like our Milky Way is being shredded as it plunges at 4.5 million miles per hour through the heart of a distant cluster of galaxies. In this unusually violent collision with ambient cluster gas, the galaxy is...
Galaxies
Details from ACS Image of NGC 3370: Upper Left Corner
An unusual concentration in the upper corner shows a complex region of tidal interaction between a bright galaxy and its companion. Superimposed are a foreground star in the Milky Way and a background galaxy.
Stephan's Quintet
Stephan's Quintet [NOAO] (ground-based image)
Studying the star clusters and dwarf galaxies in Stephan's Quintet provides insights into how galactic encounters may have driven galaxy evolution in the early universe. The quintet resides 270 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Pegasus.
IRAS 12282+1240
Close-up look at a jet near a black hole in galaxy M87 (ground-based view)
This radio image of the galaxy M 87, taken with the Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope in February 1989, shows giant bubble-like structures where radio emission is thought to be powered by the jets of subatomic particles coming from the the galaxy's central black hole. The false colour...
IRAS 15029+0217
Central bulges of spiral galaxies - NGC 5838 (ground-based image)
This ground based images represents a complete view of the spiral galaxy NGC 5838.
IRAS 03317-3618
Starry bulges yield secrets to galaxy growth (ground-based image)
This image shows how the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1365 is feeding material into its central region, igniting massive star birth and probably causing its bulge of stars to grow. The material also is fueling a black hole in the galaxy's core. A galaxy's bulge is a central, football-shaped structure...
Black Eye Galaxy
Hubble's Infrared Galaxy Gallery. A View of NGC 4826
Astronomers have used the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to produce an infrared 'photo essay' of spiral galaxies. By penetrating the dust clouds swirling around the centers of these galaxies, the telescope s infrared vision is offering fresh views of star birth.
Gamma Ray Burst
Gamma ray burst 971214
Image of the GRB 971214 field, obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope about four months after the burst, well after the afterglow has faded away. The extremely faint and distant galaxy (in the center) is the host galaxy of the gamma-ray burst. It was discovered earlier using the Keck 10-m...
Cartwheel Galaxy
Cartwheel Galaxy Region
The Cartwheel's nucleus is shown in this Hubble Space Telescope color-coded image. The comet-like knots of gas are mostly confined to the core's left side. They are the blue knots arranged in a semi-circular pattern around the center of the nucleus. The 'heads' are a few hundred light-years...
HST Medium Deep Survey
Medium deep survey galaxy
Image of a normal spiral galaxy taken by the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) installed on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The object is seen face-on and is estimated to be at a distance of 5 to 7 billion light-years from Earth.
SDSS J1110+6459
Wide field image of galaxy cluster SDSS J1110+6459
The galaxy cluster shown here, SDSS J1110+6459, was discovered as part of the Sloan Giant Arcs Survey. It is located about 6 billion light-years from Earth (redshift of z=0.659) and contains hundreds of galaxies. At left, a distinctive blue arc is actually composed of three separate images of a...
IRAS 12080+3941
Fireworks near galaxy NGC 4151 (STIS optical)
In this STIS spectral image of the oxygen gas, the velocities of the knots are determined by comparing the knots of gas in the stationary WFPC2 image to the horizontal location of the knots in the STIS image.
