PIX4583483: Asteroide Eros seen by the probe NEAR - Asteroid Eros seen by NEAR spacecraft - Mosaic of images obtained by the probe Near on 26 October 2000 showing at a distance of 6.4 km from the asteroid. The smallest rocks seen in this photo measure 1.4m. 433 Eros is an asteroid of the family of Amors and is about 30 km long. This image mosaic was taken in the early hours of October 26, 2000, as NEAR Shoemaker made its low-altitude flyover of Eros. At the time of closest approach, the camera was looking at a region just 6.4 kilometers (4 miles) away. Much of the surface is covered in rocks of all sizes and shapes, set on a gently rounded surface. Other regions are smooth, suggesting accumulation of fine regolith. The smallest rocks seen are about 1.4 meters (5 feet) across / Bridgeman Images
PIX4582687: Swan Lace - detail ngc 6960 - This image of the Veil Nebula was taken with the Mosaic camera on the WIYN 0.9 - meter telescope at the National Science Foundation's Kitt Peak National Observatory near Tucson, AZ. The Veil Nebula (NGC 6960) is part of a supernova remnant known as the Cygnus Loop. It is the shattered remains of one, and possibly two, supernovae that exploded more than 15,000 years ago at a distance of 2,500 light - years from Earth in the direction of the constellation Cygnus, the Swan. At the time of the explosion, it would have been seen as a very bright star, rivaling the crescent Moon. The bright star near the center of the image, known as 52 Cygnus, is not associated with the supernova / Bridgeman Images
PIX4582803: Remnants of the Supernova of Sails - The Vela Supernova Remnant - Remnant of the Supernova of Sails. The supernova exploded 12,000 years ago and is approximately 815 light years away from Earth. Image obtained with the 1.2m Schmidt UK Telescope from Siding Spring. About 120 centuries ago an inconspicuous star in what is now the constellation of Vela brightened by about 100 million times to rival the Moon as the brightest object in the night sky. This photograph shows a portion of the north - western quadrant of an expanding nebulous shell, which now surrounds the site of the explosion. Near the centre of the nebula (and not seen here) is the Vela pulsar, a rapidly - spinning neutron star only a few kilometres in diameter, the remnant of the star that exploded. This tiny object spins about 11 times a second and until recently was among the faintest stars ever studied at optical wavelengths, a far cry from its brief glory as one of the brightest stars ever seen / Bridgeman Images