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R Aquarii
VLT view of binary system R Aquarii from 2012
This image reveals a dramatic binary star system named R Aquarii, located 700 light-years from Earth, as seen in 2012 by ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT). R Aquarii is a so-called “symbiotic binary”, comprising two stars surrounded by a large, dynamic cloud of gas (a nebula). Systems like this...
Cone Nebula
ESO’s 60th anniversary image: the Cone Nebula as seen by the VLT
The Cone Nebula is part of a star-forming region of space, NGC 2264, about 2500 light-years away. Its pillar-like appearance is a perfect example of the shapes that can develop in giant clouds of cold molecular gas and dust, known for creating new stars. This dramatic new view of the nebula was...
Large Magellanic Cloud
The brilliant star VFTS 682 in the Large Magellanic Cloud
This view shows part of the very active star-forming region around the Tarantula Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small neighbour of the Milky Way. At the exact centre lies the brilliant but isolated star VFTS 682 and to its lower right the very rich star cluster R 136. The origins of...
Gum 80
There is an impostor in this nebula
In space, not everything is what it seems. This Picture of the Week shows the nebula Sh2-46, also named Gum 80, situated roughly 6000 light-years away. The strong red hues of Sh2-46 might be beautiful, but they hide an impostor. The big blue-white star at the centre of the image is HD 165319,...
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...
Cone Nebula
Hubble's newest camera images ghostly star-forming pillar of gas and dust
Resembling a nightmarish beast rearing its head from a crimson sea, this celestial object is actually just a pillar of gas and dust. Called the Cone Nebula (in NGC 2264) - so named because in ground-based images it has a conical shape - this monstrous pillar resides in a turbulent star-forming...
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 2023
Sunset glow in Orion
The magnificent reflection nebula NGC 2023 lies nearly 1500 light-years from Earth. It is located within the constellation of Orion (The Hunter), in a prestigious area of the sky close to the well-known Flame and Horsehead Nebulae. The entire structure of NGC 2023 is vast, at four light-years...
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,...
M 42
Gas Plume From a Newborn Star
A NASA Hubble Space Telescope picture of a hypersonic shock wave (lower right) of material moving at 148,000 miles per hour in the Orion Nebula, a star-forming region 1,500 light-years away. Studies of similar objects infer that such highly supersonic shock waves are formed by a beam of...
Abell 78
A Flash of Life
Located around 5000 light-years away in the constellation of Cygnus (The Swan), Abell 78 is an unusual type of planetary nebula. After exhausting the nuclear fuel in their cores, stars with a mass of around 0.8 to 8 times the mass of our Sun collapse to form dense and hot white dwarf stars. As...
PN G054.2-03.4
In the Sky with Diamonds
The interaction of two doomed stars has created this spectacular ring adorned with bright clumps of gas — a diamond necklace of cosmic proportions. Fittingly known as the Necklace Nebula, this planetary nebula is located 15 000 light-years away from Earth in the small, dim constellation of...
Rosette Nebula
Rosette Nebula
This is a Hubble Space Telescope photo of a small portion of the Rosette Nebula, a huge star-forming region spanning 100 light-years across and located 5,200 light-years away. Hubble zooms into a small portion of the nebula that is only 4 light-years across (the approximate distance between our...
Rosette Nebula
Dark Clouds in Rosette Nebula
This is a Hubble Space Telescope photo of a small portion of the Rosette Nebula, a huge star-forming region spanning 100 light-years across and located 5,200 light-years away. Hubble zooms into a small portion of the nebula that is only 4 light-years across (the approximate distance between our...
Rosette Nebula
Rosette Nebula Context Image
The Rosette Nebula is a vast star-forming region, 100 light-years across, that lies at one end of a giant molecular cloud in the constellation Monoceros. The nebula is estimated to contain around 10,000 solar masses. The nebula is located about 5,000 light-years away from Earth. Intense...
M17
Swan Nebula (M17)
This FLAMINGOS-2 near-infrared image details part of the magnificent Swan Nebula (M17), where ultraviolet radiation streaming from young hot stars sculpts a dense region of dust and gas into myriad fanciful forms. M17 lies some 5,200 light-years distant in the constellation Sagittarius and is...
Large Magellanic Cloud
A Tarantula’s outskirts
Today’s NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope Picture of the Week features a dusty yet sparkling scene from one of the Milky Way’s satellite galaxies, the Large Magellanic Cloud. The Large Magellanic Cloud is a dwarf galaxy situated about 160 000 light-years away in the constellations Dorado and...
NGC 346
Stellar sculptors in NGC 346
This new image showcases NGC 346, a dazzling young star cluster in the Small Magellanic Cloud. The Small Magellanic Cloud is a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, located 200 000 light-years away in the constellation Tucana. The Small Magellanic Cloud is less rich in elements heavier than helium...
Messier 77
The squid and the whale
Today’s rather aquatic-themed NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope Picture of the Week features the spiral galaxy Messier 77, also known as the Squid Galaxy, which sits 45 million light-years away in the constellation Cetus (The Whale). The designation Messier 77 comes from the galaxy’s place in the...
R Aquarii
NASA's Hubble Sees a Stellar Volcano
R Aquarii (WFC3 Image) NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has provided a dramatic and colorful close-up look at one of the most rambunctious stars in our galaxy, weaving a huge spiral pattern among the stars. Located approximately 700 light-years away, a binary star system called R Aquarii undergoes...
Flame Nebula
Flame Nebula in Visible and Infrared Light
his collage of images from the Flame Nebula shows a near-infrared light view from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope on the left, while the two insets at the right show the near-infrared view taken by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. Much of the dark, dense gas and dust, as well as the surrounding...
HD 148937
Wide-field view of the region of the sky around the nebula NGC 6164/6165
This wide-field view, created from images forming part of the Digitized Sky Survey 2, shows the rich star clouds in the constellation of Norma (the Carpenter’s Square) in our Milky Way galaxy. The beautiful nebula NGC 6164/6165, also known as the Dragon’s Egg, appears in the centre of the image.
Eagle Nebula
The Eagle has risen: stellar spire in the Eagle Nebula
Appearing like a winged fairy-tale creature poised on a pedestal, this object is actually a billowing tower of cold gas and dust rising from a stellar nursery called the Eagle Nebula. The soaring tower is 9.5 light-years or about 90 trillion kilometres high, about twice the distance from our...
Cone Nebula
Cone Nebula/NGC 2264 (ACS Full Field Image)
Resembling a nightmarish beast rearing its head from a crimson sea, this monstrous object is actually an innocuous pillar of gas and dust. Called the Cone Nebula (and cataloged NGC 2264) is so named because, in ground-based images, it has a conical shape. This giant pillar resides in a...
LEDA 857074
A supernova spotlight
This Hubble Picture of the Week features the galaxy LEDA 857074, located in the constellation Eridanus. LEDA 857074 is a barred spiral galaxy, with partially broken spiral arms. It also has a particularly bright spot right in its bar: this is a supernova snapped by Hubble, named SN 2022ADQZ,...
IC 4633
Hidden in a dark cloud
The subject of this week’s Picture of the Week from Hubble is the spiral galaxy IC 4633, located 100 million light-years away from us in the constellation Apus. IC 4633 is a galaxy rich in star-forming activity, as well as hosting an active galactic nucleus at its core. From our point of view,...
HOPS 150
Jetting into space
Today’s NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope Picture of the Week peers into the dusty recesses of the nearest massive star-forming region to Earth, the Orion Nebula. Just 1300 light-years away, the Orion Nebula is visible to the naked eye below the three stars that form the ‘belt’ in the...
Tarantula Nebula
Cosmic cloudscape
The Universe is a dusty place, as this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope Picture of the Week shows. Featured in this image are swirling clouds of gas and dust near the Tarantula Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud. About 160 000 light-years away in the constellations Dorado and Mensa, the Large...
Cha IR Nebula
Chamaeleon Infrared Nebula
This ethereal image, captured from Chile by the international Gemini Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab, looks as delicate as a butterfly’s wing. It is, however, a structure known as the Chamaeleon Infrared Nebula, which is located near the center of the even larger Chamaeleon I dark cloud,...
NGC 6357
Dark Energy Camera Captures Bright, Young Stars Blazing Inside Glowing Nebula
This image, taken by astronomers using the US Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy Camera on the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab, captures the star-forming nebula NGC 6357, which is located 8000 light-years away in...
NGC 1999
Reflection Nebula NGC 1999
This wide-field panorama of star formation was captured with the National Science Foundation’s Mayall 4-meter telescope on Kitt Peak. Located in the constellation of Orion (the Hunter), the image show a portion of one of Orion’s giant molecular clouds (known as “Orion A”) where new stars are...
LDN 1622
Dark Shrouds in Orion
The shadowy clouds of LDN 1622 are pictured in this observation from the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), a Program of NSF NOIRLab. This image was captured in 2018 by the Mosaic-3 instrument, a wide-field camera used to capture large swaths of the...
RCW 120
A Crimson Nursery
RCW 120, also known as Sharpless 2-3, is an emission nebula and star-forming region located in the constellation Scorpius, about 4300 light-years away from Earth. The glowing nebula was captured here by the SMARTS 0.9-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program...
Eagle Nebula
WISE Infrared View of the Eagle Nebula
The dusty face of the Eagle Nebula and its surroundings are revealed in this infrared image based on data from NASA’s Wide Field Survey Explorer (WISE). This large star forming region is about 5,700 light years away and is most famous for the “Pillars of Creation” images from the Hubble and...
Pelican Nebula
Pelican Nebula Ionization Front
This image of the clouds of gas and dust next to the “neck” and “body” of the Pelican Nebula was taken by the National Science Foundation’s Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory near Tucson, AZ. Narrow-band filters were used to isolate the red emission lines of hydrogen and...
NGC 7129
Star-forming region NGC 7129
NGC 7129 is a star-forming region and reflection nebula in the constellation of Cepheus. It is about 3000 light-years away from Earth. The stars in this nebula are very young, only about a million years old. The red blobs above and below the nebula are Herbig-Haro objects, which are the result...
M78
M78, NGC 2068
This image of M78, the brightest diffuse reflection nebula in the sky, was taken in 2006 with the Mosaic imager on the Mayall 4-meter telescope on Kitt Peak. Located some 1600 light-years away and around 4 light-years across, M78 is part of the Orion complex, a large region of star-forming gas...
NGC 1555
T Tauri in NGC 1555
T Tauri is a famous variable star in the constellation of Taurus. In this image, it is the star at the center of the image, embedded in dust and gas. The nebula itself is known as NGC 1555. T Tauri is the prototype for a class of stars (known collectively as "T Tau stars") that are notable...
NGC 6559
Chinese Dragon NGC 6559
Gemini South image of dragon-like dark nebula NGC 6559 NGC 6559 is a relatively small, nearby dust cloud in our Milky Way galaxy that measures about seven light-years across. NGC 6559 is part of a larger star-forming region in the southern constellation Sagittarius. The dark structure that...
GGD 27
Reflection Nebula GGD 27
Reflection nebula GGD 27 revealing the chaotic and messy environment of a stellar nursery. This near-infrared image was obtained using FLAMINGOS-2, the infrared imager and spectrograph on the Gemini South telescope in Chile. Image Credit: Gemini Observatory/AURA. An image release by the Gemini...
Horsehead Nebula
The Horsehead Nebula/IC434
This exceptional image of the Horsehead nebula was taken at the National Science Foundation's 0.9-meter telescope on Kitt Peak with the NOAO Mosaic CCD camera. Located in the constellation of Orion, the Hunter, the Horsehead is part of a dense cloud of gas in front of an active star-forming...
Cat’s Paw Nebula
NGC 6334, The Cat’s Paw Nebula
This image of emission nebula NGC6334 (the Cat’s Paw Nebula), a star-forming region in the constellation Scorpius, was taken in 2007 using the Mosaic-2 imager on the Blanco 4-meter telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory. The colors of the nebula are reddened by intervening dust in...
NGC 3582
NGC 3582 in Sagittarius
NGC3582 is a minor nebula in the Sagittarius arm of the Milky Way galaxy. It is part of star-forming region RCW 57 in Carina. This image was taken in 2007 using the Mosaic-2 imager on the Blanco 4-meter telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory.
M17
M17, Omega
This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the WIYN 0.9-meter Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. M17, also informally known as the “omega nebula”, the “lobster nebula” and the “swan nebula” (among other names), is one of the largest and brightest...
30 Doradus
30 Doradus, the Tarantula Nebula, in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC)
This image of 30 Doradus, the Tarantula Nebula, in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) was taken with the Curtis Schmidt telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) in Chile, as part of the Magellanic Cloud Emission Line Survey (MCELS) project. The Tarantula Nebula is a giant...
IC 5067
IC 5067, Pelican Nebula
IC 5067, a star forming region in Cygnus, is also sometimes called the Pelican Nebula. This image was taken May 24, 2009 by Gregor Rothfuss, a first time visitor to the Kitt Peak Advanced Observing Program, with the help of Kitt Peak Visitor Center operator Flynn Haase. They used the VC 20-inch...
NGC 7129
NGC 7129 in Cepheus
None NGC7129 is a star-forming and photodissociation region and reflection nebula in the constellation Cepheus. Studies suggest that the principal stars in this region are well under a million years old, and are all still contributing to further star formation. To the right somewhat below center...
Rosette Nebula
Rosette Nebula
The appropriately named Rosette nebula is, not unlike a newly bloomed flower, a place of newfound life. Many of the stars within this wreath of gas have just formed. Their energetic winds and emissions of UV radiation are quickly blowing away the surrounding clouds of gas to reveal a new...
NGC 7380
NGC 7380
NGC 7380 is a typical star-forming region in the direction of an outer spiral arm of our galaxy (around 7000 light years distant). This field contains many young energetic stars that make the natal gas surrounding them glow an intense pink/red. The majority of stars in this newly formed group...
NGC 7129
NGC 7129
NGC 7129 is a star-forming region that contains many interesting features. Astronomers estimate that many of the bright stars shown here are younger than 1 million years old! These "baby" stars are very energetic and emit copious amounts of radiation that break apart (photodissociate) clouds of...
NGC 2023
NGC 2023
This nebula surrounds a large B type star at a distance of 1600 light years from the sun. B type stars typically have a surface temperature somewhere in the range of 11,000 - 25,000 Kelvins. In comparison the sun has a temperature of 5,000 Kelvins. This star forming region has a particle...
M8
M8: Lagoon Nebula Wide
M8, the Lagoon Nebula, is a tremendous star forming region in our galaxy. Under dark skies it is easily seen with the unaided eye just above the "teapot" (spout) asterism of Sagittarius. A view through a small telescope (with the eye) shows the milky glow of nebulosity pervades the entire...
M8
M8: Lagoon Nebula
M8, the Lagoon Nebula, is a tremendous star forming region in our galaxy. Under dark skies it is easily seen with the unaided eye just above the "teapot" (spout) asterism of Sagittarius. A view through a small telescope (with the eye) shows the milky glow of nebulosity pervades the entire...
PGC 54599
Hoagʼs Galaxy: PGC 54599
Perhaps this object should have been placed with the other Planetary Nebulae found in our galaxy? You would not be the first person to make the suggestion. In 1950 when astronomer Art Hoag noticed this galaxy on a survey of plates, he remarked that it first seemed like a planetary nebula- but...
Lagoon Nebula
M8, Lagoon Nebula
This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the KPNO 0.9m-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. M8 is a giant star forming region. It is so big that it is faintly visible to the naked eye. The gas in the nebula is energized by a massive star at its...
M78
M78, NGC 2068
None M78 is part of the Orion complex, a large region of star-forming gas and dust centred around M42 and M43. It is the brightest diffuse reflection nebula in the sky, and fairly easy to see with binoculars (and almost visible to the naked eye, claim some observers). M78 is some 1600...
SAO 152320
Van den Bergh 93
Curtains of gas and dust dramatically open here to reveal the inner region of this star-forming region. Unceremoniously named, bright star SAO 152320 shines with intense light in the center of this field. Clouds of gas glow strongly and dust shrinks quickly under its radiative prowess. This...
L1641N
NGC 1999/L1641N
NOAO astronomers captured this spectacular panorama of star formation with the National Science Foundation's 0.9-meter telescope on Kitt Peak. Located in the constellation of Orion (the Hunter), the area in this image is located about two degrees south of the Orion Nebula, where a surviving...
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....
Becklin/Neugebauer Complex
BN/KL complex in the Orion Nebula
This is one of a series of mid-infrared images of the BN/KL complex, a star-forming region deep inside the Orion Nebula, obtained with ESO's Thermal Infrared MultiMode Instrument (TIMMI2), mounted at the Cassegrain focus of the 3.6-m telescope on La Silla. The area is located close to the...
Becklin/Neugebauer Complex
BN/KL complex in the Orion Nebula
This is one of series of mid-infrared images of the BN/KL complex, a star-forming region deep inside the Orion Nebula, obtained with ESO's Thermal Infrared MultiMode Instrument (TIMMI2), mounted at the Cassegrain focus of the 3.6-m telescope on La Silla. The area is located close to the...
Becklin/Neugebauer Complex
BN/KL complex in the Orion Nebula
This is one of a series of mid-infrared images of the BN/KL complex, a star-forming region deep inside the Orion Nebula obtained with ESO''s Thermal Infrared MultiMode Instrument (TIMMI2), mounted at the Cassegrain focus of the 3.6-m telescope on La Silla. The area is located close to the...
M 42
Orion Nebula detail
ESO Press Photo eso0104d shows a small section of the observational data (in one infrared spectral band only, here reproduced in B/W) on which ESO Press Photo eso0104a is based. The field is centred on one of the famous Orion silhouette disks (Orion 114-426) (it is located approximately...
Horseshoe Nebula
Peering into a star factory
This is a near-infrared, colour-coded composite image of a sky field in the south-western part of the galactic star-forming region Messier 17. In this image, young and heavily obscured stars are recognized by their red colour. Bluer objects are either foreground stars or well-developed massive...
Eagle Nebula
The Eagle's EGGs *
Messier 16 (M16), also known as the Eagle Nebula, is located in the southern constellation of Serpens (the Snake). Using the infrared multi-mode ISAAC instrument on the 8.2-m VLT ANTU telescope, European astronomers were able to image the Eagle Nebula at near-infrared wavelength. The ISAAC...
MWC 147
The region around MWC 147
Wide field image taken by Stéphane Guisard (ESO) with a 200 mm lens from Paranal, showing the region of the sky with the NGC 2247 star forming complex and containing the Herbig Ae/Be object MWC 147. Visible in the image are the rich, colourful Cone nebula region (at the centre-left of the...
NGC 5253
Channelling light from starbursts
The focus of this week’s Hubble Picture of the Week is the blue compact dwarf galaxy NGC 5253, located in the constellation Centaurus around 11 million light-years from Earth. This new image combines data taken with Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), using its Wide Field Channel, and...
Cat's Paw Nebula
The Cat’s Paw Nebula as seen by CONCERTO
This image of the star-forming region NGC 6334, also known as the Cat’s Paw Nebula, is one of the first-light images taken by the CONCERTO instrument on the APEX telescope, operated by ESO. The total integration time is 16 minutes. CONCERTO is able to scan the sky at frequencies between...
Cat's Paw Nebula
CONCERTO show starts with new view of the Cat’s Paw Nebula
This image of the star-forming region NGC 6334, also known as the Cat’s Paw Nebula, is one of the first-light images taken by the CONCERTO instrument on the APEX telescope, operated by ESO. The new observations, shown in white and pink tones, have been superimposed to an image of the same...
Serpens Nebula HBC 672
Serpens (NIRCam)
In this image of the Serpens Nebula from the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) on NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers found a grouping of aligned protostellar outflows within one small region (the top left corner). In the Webb image, these jets are signified by bright clumpy streaks that...
RCW 7
A transformation in progress
A visually striking collection of interstellar gas and dust is the focus of this week's Hubble Picture of the Week. Named RCW 7, the nebula is located just over 5300 light-years from Earth in the constellation Puppis. Nebulae are areas of space that are rich in the raw material needed to form...
Messier 78
Messier 78
Messier 78 is a nursery of star formation enveloped in a shroud of interstellar dust located 1,300 light-years away from Earth.
IC 2177
Wide-field view of the entire Seagull Nebula (IC 2177)
This wide-field view captures the evocative and colourful star formation region of the Seagull Nebula, IC 2177, on the borders of the constellations of Monoceros (The Unicorn) and Canis Major (The Great Dog). This view was created from images forming part of the Digitized Sky Survey 2.
Messier 17
The smoky pink core of the Omega Nebula
This image of the Omega Nebula (Messier 17), captured by ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT), is one of the sharpest of this object ever taken from the ground. It shows the dusty, rosy central parts of the famous star-forming region in fine detail.
Carina Nebula
The Carina Nebula imaged by the VLT Survey Telescope
The spectacular star-forming Carina Nebula has been captured in great detail by the VLT Survey Telescope at ESO’s Paranal Observatory. This picture was taken with the help of Sebastián Piñera, President of Chile, during his visit to the observatory on 5 June 2012 and released on the occasion of...
IRAS 17163-3907
Wide-field image of the sky around the Fried Egg nebula
This visible light wide-field image of the region around the yellow hypergiant star IRAS 17163-3907 was created from photographs taken through blue, red and infrared filters and forming part of the Digitized Sky Survey 2. The star appears close to the centre, indistinguishable from...
VFTS 682
The brilliant star VFTS 682 in the Large Magellanic Cloud (annotated)
This view shows part of the very active star-forming region around the Tarantula Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small neighbour of the Milky Way. At the upper left is the brilliant but isolated star VFTS 682 and at the lower right is the very rich star cluster R 136. The origins of...
M 17
Highlights from the VST image of Messier 17
This montage shows six cutouts from the new VST image of the star-forming region Messier 17, also known as the Omega Nebula or Swan Nebula. Although the wide field encompasses the entire nebula and its surroundings, the VST and OmegaCAM deliver sharp images that show many fascinating details.
30 Doradus
Extracts from the VISTA Magellanic Cloud Survey view of the Tarantula Nebula
This composite image shows extracts from a near-infrared VISTA image of the spectacular 30 Doradus star-forming region, also called the Tarantula Nebula. This infrared image, made with ESO’s VISTA survey telescope, is from the VISTA Magellanic Cloud Survey. The project will scan a vast area —...
30 Doradus
VISTA Magellanic Cloud Survey view of the Tarantula Nebula (annotated version)
This VISTA image shows the spectacular 30 Doradus star-forming region, also called the Tarantula Nebula. At its core is a large cluster of stars known as R 136, in which some of the most massive stars known are located. This infrared image, made with ESO’s VISTA survey telescope, is from the...
M 17
VST image of the star-forming region Messier 17
The first released VST image shows the spectacular star-forming region Messier 17, also known as the Omega Nebula or the Swan Nebula, as it has never been seen before. This vast region of gas, dust and hot young stars lies in the heart of the Milky Way in the constellation of Sagittarius (The...
30 Doradus
VISTA Magellanic Cloud Survey view of the Tarantula Nebula*
This VISTA image shows the spectacular 30 Doradus star-forming region, also called the Tarantula Nebula. At its core is a large cluster of stars known as R 136, in which some of the most massive stars known are located. This infrared image, made with ESO’s VISTA survey telescope, is from the...
Flame Nebula
The hidden fires of the Flame Nebula*
This image, the first to be released publicly from VISTA, the world’s largest survey telescope, shows the spectacular star-forming region known as the Flame Nebula, or NGC 2024, in the constellation of Orion (the Hunter) and its surroundings. In views of this evocative object in visible light...
HD 87643
The double star HD 87643
Observations made with ESO's Very Large Telescope Interferometer allowed a team of astronomers to discover that the star HD 87643, which lies at the centre of a dusty nebula, has a companion located about 50 times the mean Earth-Sun distance. This companion completes an orbit in a few tens of...
M 16
The Eagle Nebula
Three-colour composite mosaic image of the Eagle Nebula (Messier 16, or NGC 6611), based on images obtained with the Wide-Field Imager camera on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at the La Silla Observatory. At the centre, the so-called “Pillars of Creation” can be seen. This wide-field image...
Flame Nebula
The hidden fires of the Flame Nebula (full frame)
This VISTA image shows the spectacular star-forming region known as the Flame Nebula, or NGC 2024, in the constellation of Orion (the Hunter) and its surroundings. In views of this evocative object in visible light the core of the nebula is completely hidden behind obscuring dust, but in this...
IRAS 08544-4431
The rich celestial landscape around the aging double star IRAS 08544-4431
This colourful image shows the rich celestial landscape in the constellation of Vela (The Sails) around the aging double star IRAS 08544-4431, which appears as the moderately bright star at the exact centre of the picture. The image was created from images forming part of the Digitized Sky...
M 17
The star formation region Messier 17
This image of the rose-coloured star forming region Messier 17 was captured by the Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile. It is one of the sharpest images showing the entire nebula and not only reveals its full size but also retains fine...
L2 Puppis
VLT/SPHERE image of the star L2 Puppis and its surroundings
Some of the sharpest images ever made with ESO’s Very Large Telescope have for the first time revealed what appears to be an ageing star in the early stages of forming a butterfly-like planetary nebula. These observations of the red giant star L2 Puppis from the ZIMPOL mode of the newly...
H-ATLAS J090311.6+003906
The lensed galaxy
ALMA’s Long Baseline Campaign has produced a spectacularly detailed image of a distant galaxy being gravitationally lensed, revealing star-forming regions — something that has never seen before at this level of detail in a galaxy so remote. The new observations are far more detailed than any...
Einstein Ring
Hubble image of the region around SDP.81
ALMA’s Long Baseline Campaign has produced a spectacularly detailed image of a distant galaxy being gravitationally lensed, revealing star-forming regions — something that has never seen before at this level of detail in a galaxy so remote. The new observations are far more detailed than any...
L2 Puppis
VLT/SPHERE and NACO image of the star L2 Puppis and its surroundings
Some of the sharpest images ever made with ESO’s Very Large Telescope have for the first time revealed what appears to be an ageing star in the early stages of forming a butterfly-like planetary nebula. The observations of the red giant star L2 Puppis from the ZIMPOL mode of the newly installed...
Medusa Nebula
ESO’s Very Large Telescope images the Medusa Nebula
ESO’s Very Large Telescope in Chile has captured the most detailed image ever taken of the Medusa Nebula (also known Abell 21 and Sharpless 2-274). As the star at the heart of this nebula made its final transition into retirement, it shed its outer layers into space, forming this colourful...
The sky around reflection nebula IC 2631
A newly formed star lights up the surrounding cosmic clouds to create the blue reflection nebula IC 2631 at the centre of this striking panorama of gas and dust clouds in the southern constellation of Chameleon. This picture was created from images forming part of the Digitized Sky Survey 2.
Einstein Ring
The Einstein Ring SDP.81 seen with ALMA
ALMA’s Long Baseline Campaign has produced a spectacularly detailed image of a distant galaxy being gravitationally lensed, revealing star-forming regions — something that has never seen before at this level of detail in a galaxy so remote. The new observations are far more detailed than any...
Cat's Paw Nebula
The star-forming Cat’s Paw Nebula through ArTeMiS’s eyes
This image of the star formation region NGC 6334 is one of the first scientific images from the ArTeMiS instrument on APEX. The picture shows the glow detected at a wavelength of 0.35 millimetres coming from dense clouds of interstellar dust grains. The new observations from ArTeMiS show up in...
Abell 33
Wide-field view of the sky around Abell 33
This wide-field view shows the sky around the planetary nebula Abell 33, which appears as the ghostly blue circle near the centre of the picture. This picture was created from photographic material forming part of the Digitized Sky Survey 2. Many faint galaxies are also visible and the bright...
Lagoon Nebula
Wide-field view of the Lagoon Nebula
This spectacular image shows the very rich region of sky around the Lagoon Nebula (Messier 8). The Lagoon appears at the centre, the Trifid Nebula (Messier 20) close to the top. Other nebulae, both bright and dark, can be seen elsewhere in the picture as well as several star clusters. This view...
SU Aurigae
Flying on planet-forming wings
Appearing as a bird in flight, with wings outstretched in the expanse of space, SU Aur, a star much younger and more massive than the Sun, is surrounded by a giant planet-forming disc. This image, captured by the SPHERE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), shows the disc around SU...
Abell 24
Red and Long Dead
This red-hued cloud of gas is named Abell 24, and is located in the constellation of Canis Minor (The Lesser Dog). It is something known as a planetary nebula — a burst of gas and dust created when a star dies and throws its outer layers into space. Despite the name, planetary nebulae have...
HH 212
Feeding a Baby Star with a Dusty Hamburger
This intriguing image may look like a collection of coloured blobs, but it is actually a high-resolution snapshot of a newborn star enshrouded in dust. Just 1300 light-years away in the Orion Nebula, the star, named HH 212, is remarkably young. The average lifespan of such a low-mass star is...
Cat's Paw Nebula
Protostar blazes and reshapes its stellar nursery
This image, taken by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile, shows glowing dust inside the protocluster NGC 6334I. Studying this star-forming cloud in the Cat’s Paw Nebula (NGC 6334) with both ALMA and the Submillimeter Array (SMA) in Hawaii astronomers could see that...
HH 212
Outbursts from a newborn star
A pair of jets protrude outwards in near-perfect symmetry in this image of Herbig-Haro object (HH) 212, taken by ESO’s already decommissioned Infrared Spectrometer And Array Camera (ISAAC). The object lies in the constellation of Orion (The Hunter) in a dense molecular star-forming region, not...
NGC 6357
Carved by massive stars
This image, captured by ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) at Paranal, shows a small part of the well-known emission nebula, NGC 6357, located some 8000 light-years away, in the tail of the southern constellation of Scorpius (The Scorpion). The image glows with the characteristic red of an H...
IC 5148
From Cosmic Spare Tyre to Ethereal Blossom
IC 5148 is a beautiful planetary nebula located some 3000 light-years away in the constellation of Grus (The Crane). The nebula has a diameter of a couple of light-years, and it is still growing at over 50 kilometres per second — one of the fastest expanding planetary nebulae known. The term...
LHA 120-N 44
A surprising superbubble
This colourful new view shows the star-forming region LHA 120-N44 [1] in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. This picture combines the view in visible light from the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile with images in infrared...
Lagoon Nebula
The glow of the Lagoon Nebula
Gas and dust condense, beginning the process of creating new stars in this image of Messier 8, also known as the Lagoon Nebula. Located four to five thousand light-years away, in the constellation of Sagittarius (the Archer), the nebula is a giant interstellar cloud, one hundred light-years...
30 Doradus
Radio image of the 30 Doradus nebula with data from ALMA
This image shows the star-forming region 30 Doradus, also known as the Tarantula Nebula, in radio wavelengths, as observed by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). The bright red-yellow streaks reveal regions of cold, dense gas which have the potential to collapse and form...
30 Doradus
Infrared image of 30 Doradus
This infrared image shows the star-forming region 30 Doradus, also known as the Tarantula Nebula, highlighting its bright stars and light, pinkish clouds of hot gas. The image is a composite: it was captured by the HAWK-I instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) and the Visible and...
30 Doradus
Composite infrared and radio image of 30 Doradus
This composite image shows the star-forming region 30 Doradus, also known as the Tarantula Nebula. The background image, taken in the infrared, is itself a composite: it was captured by the HAWK-I instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) and the Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for...
NGC 2467
The Pirate of the Southern Skies
This vivid picture of an active star forming region — NGC 2467, otherwise known as the Skull and Crossbones nebula — is as sinister as it is beautiful. This image of dust, gas and bright young stars, gravitationally bound into the form of a grinning skull, was captured with the FORS instrument...
NGC 2467
Digitized Sky Survey image around NGC 2467
This vivid picture of an active star forming region — NGC 2467, otherwise known as the Skull and Crossbones nebula — is as sinister as it is beautiful. This image of dust, gas and bright young stars, gravitationally bound into the form of a grinning skull, was captured with the FORS instrument...
Messier 18
Wide-field view of the region around the star cluster Messier 18
The small smattering of bright stars at the centre of this wide-field view is Messier 18, an open star cluster containing stars that formed together from the same massive cloud of gas and dust. This picture, which also shows part of the bright Omega Nebula (Messier 17) at the top, was created...
Orion B
Herschel's View of Orion B
Pictured in this image by the Herschel Space Observatory is the Orion B molecular cloud, a vast star-forming complex in the constellation Orion, the Hunter. Invisible to our eyes, these interstellar clouds are located near Alnitak, one of the stars in Orion's Belt.
IC1284
Glowing rosy in the dark
There are two different types of nebulae brought to you in this Picture of the Week. Each appears with a distinct colour in the visible sky and are captured here using the wide-field camera OmegaCAM on the VLT Survey Telescope (VST), hosted at ESO’s Paranal Observatory in the Chilean desert....
IC 2631
A cosmic master of disguise
Can you see the chameleon in this picture? No? Well, it's camouflaged! Yes, we are joking, but this Picture of the Week actually shows the Chamaeleon Cloud, or IC 2631. In the southern hemisphere, this cloud is visible in the sky for most of the year, and in this image, captured by ESO’s...
M 42
The Trapezium cluster
The Orion Nebula is arguably the finest of all nebulae within the Milky Way visible from the Northern Hemisphere. With a gaseous repository of 10,000 suns, and illuminated by a cluster of hot young stars, the clouds of Messier 42 — as it is also known — glow with fantastic colours and shapes,...
Colouring what human eyes can’t see
If the Hubble Picture of the Week from two weeks ago was somewhat dim and subtle in appearance, then this week’s image is a veritable riot of colour and activity! It features a relatively close-by star-forming region known as IRAS 16562-3959 that lies within the Milky Way in the constellation...
