FLO4582712: Drooping tupistra, tupistra nutans. Handcoloured copperplate engraving by Swan after an illustration by William Jackson Hooker from Samuel Curtis's “” Botanical Magazine,”” London, 1831. / Bridgeman Images

PIX4582723: Detail of the Swan Lace - NGC 6992 and NGC 6995 are the eastern part of the Swan lace, a remnant of supernova located in the constellation Swan / Bridgeman Images

PIX4582759: Detail of the Swan Lace: NGC 6992 - Part of the Veil nebula - NGC 6992, detail of the Swan lace, a remnant of supernova located in the constellation Swan. NGC 6992 is a part of the Veil Nebula, the remnant of a supernova explosion that occurred about 10,000 years ago. It is located 1,500 light years away in the constellation Cygnus / Bridgeman Images

PIX4582768: Swan Lace Detail - The Veil nebula, IC 1340 - IC 1340 is a detail of the Swan lace, a remnant of supernova located about 1900 years - light in the constellation Swan. The supernova exploded 5,000 or 8,000 years ago. Image in false colors obtained with a telescope measuring 40 cm in diameter through various filters that highlight the oxygen (in blue), and the hydrogen (in red). This image shows a faint portion of the eastern veil nebula in Cygnus, a large, almost spherical glowing shell of gas, the expanding remains of a star that exploded between 5,000 and 8,000 years ago. The nebula (and thus its precursor star) is about 1900 light years distant and about 100 light years across. It is the result of the shockwave from the explosion exciting the tenuous interstellar medium and making it glow. Shooting in these wavelengths and with the color combine choices yielded a spooky view of something resembling a Bat or Owl. Red is Hydrogen, Blue is Oxygen, Green is the product of both / Bridgeman Images

PIX4582769: Les Dentelles du Cygne - Detail - NGC 6960 - The Veil Nebula, NGC 6960 - Part of the rest of the supernova of the Dentelles du Swan lies about 1500 years - light from Earth. Ten thousand years ago a star exploded. The supernova remnant is called the Veil Nebula. Here is the west end of the Veil Nebula known as NGC 6960 or the Witch's Broom Nebula. The rampaging gas gains its colors by impacting and exciting existing nearby gas. The supernova remnant lies about 1,400 light - years away towards the constellation of Cygnus. The bright star 52 Cygnus is visible with the unaided eye from a dark location but unrelated to the ancient supernova. The filaments in the right upper portion of the image is commonly called Pickering's Triangle. It was discovered in 1904 by Williamina Fleming of the Harvard Observatory while examining photographic plates of the region. The object was named in honor of her boss, astronomer Edward Charles Pickering / Bridgeman Images

FLO4582814: Winged-stem canscora, Canscora alata (Decussate pladera, Pladera decussata). Handcoloured copperplate engraving by Swan after an illustration by William Jackson Hooker from Samuel Curtis's “” Botanical Magazine,”” London, 1831. / Bridgeman Images

FLO4582873: Woodbridge poison plant, Isotoma hypocrateriformis (Salver shaped lobelia, Lobelia hypocrateriformis). Handcoloured copperplate engraving by Swan after an illustration by William Jackson Hooker from Samuel Curtis's “” Botanical Magazine,”” London, 1831. / Bridgeman Images

PIX4582885: Remains of the supernova of the Sails - Detail - Vela supernova remnant. Detail - Detail of the rest of the supernova of the Sails. The supernova exploded 12,000 years ago. A supernova event marks the catastrophic end - point in the life of a massive star. The self - destruction of the star releases a huge amount of energy as radiation of all kinds, but a substantial fraction of the force of the explosion blasts the outer part of the supernova into an expanding shell of matter that travels through the almost empty space between the stars. As the rapidly moving blast wave encounters the relatively stationary interstellar medium it creates a very narrow, luminous shock front that appears as a faint nebula. Because the shock front is very convoluted the nebulosity appears to be highly structured and the various colours define different energy levels within the interaction. Although the star responsible for the Vela supernova remnant exploded 12,000 years ago, it is still affecting its environment / Bridgeman Images

FLO4582922: Cactus head a l'anglais or siege de belle-mother - Tak's head cactus, Melocactus intortus (Greater Tak's cap melon thistle, Melocactus communis). Handcoloured copperplate engraving by Swan after an illustration by William Jackson Hooker from Samuel Curtis's “” Botanical Magazine,”” London, 1831. / Bridgeman Images

PIX4582924: Remains of the supernova Cassiopee A/HST - Cassiopeia A: Colorful, Shredded Remains of Old Supernova 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 Nasa's Hubble Space Telescope were created by one of the biggest firecrackers seen to go off in our galaxy in recorded history, the titanic supernova explosion of a massive star. The light from the exploding star reached Earth 320 years ago, nearly a century before our United States celebrated its birth with a blow. The dead star's shredded remains are called Cassiopeia A, or “” Cas A”” for short. Cas A is the youngest known supernova remnant in our Milky Way Galaxy and resides 10,000 light - years away in the constellation Cassiopeia, so the star actually blew up 10,000 years before the light reached Earth in the late 1600s. This stunning Hubble image of Cas A is allowing astronomers to study the supernova's remains with great clarity, showing for the first time that the debris is arranged into thousands of small, cooling knots of gas. This material eventually will be recycled into building new generations of stars and planets. Our own Sun and planets are constructed from the debris of supernovae that exploded billions of years ago. This photo shows the upper rim of the supernova remnant's expanding shell. Near the top of the image are dozens of tiny clumps of matter. Each small clump, originally just a small fragment of the star, is tens of times larger than the diameter of our solar system. The colors highlight parts of the debris where chemical elements are glowing. The dark blue fragments, for example, are richest in oxygen; the red material is rich in sulfur. The star that created this colorful show was a big one, about 15 to 25 times more massive than our Sun. Massive stars like the one that created Cas A have short lives. They use up their supply of nuclea / Bridgeman Images

FLO4582942: Arracacha, edible tuber root plant - Arracacia xanthorrhiza (Eatable arracacha, Arracacia esculenta), root vegetable of the Andes. Handcoloured copperplate engraving by Swan after an illustration by William Jackson Hooker from Samuel Curtis's “” Botanical Magazine,”” London, 1831. / Bridgeman Images

FLO4582954: Variete of calceolaria orsmall slipper or lady purse - Narrow-leaved slipperwort, Calceolaria angustiflora. Handcoloured copperplate engraving by Swan after an illustration by William Jackson Hooker from Samuel Curtis's “” Botanical Magazine,”” London, 1831. / Bridgeman Images

FLO4582967: White Jasmine (or Jasmine officinal) - Common Jasmine or Jessamine, Jasminum officinale. Handcolured copperplate engraving and botanical illustration by James Sowerby from William Curtis' The Botanical Magazine, Lambeth Marsh, London, 1787., Sowerby, James (1757-1822) / Bridgeman Images

PIX4582982: Remains of the Crab Supernova (M1) in the Taurus - This image, made by the Very Large Telescope in November 1999, shows in detail the gas remains of the supernova that exploded in 1054. In the center of the picture, the pulsar of the Crab. M1 with the FORS2 instrument in imaging mode in the morning of November 10, 1999. It is the remnant of a supernova explosion at a distance of about 6,000 light - years, observed almost 1000 years ago, in the year 1054. It contains a neutron star near its center that spins 30 times per second around its axis In this picture, the red light is predominantly produced by hydrogen emission from material ejected by the star that exploded. The blue light is predominantly emitted by very high - energy (“relativistic”) electrons that spiral in a large - scale magnetic field (so - called syncrotron emission). It is believed that these electrons are continuously accelerated and ejected by the rapidly spinning neutron star at the centre of the nebula and which is the remnant core of the exploded star. This pulsar has been identified with the lower/right of the two close stars near the geometric center of the nebula, immediately left of the small arc - like feature / Bridgeman Images

FLO4583009: Bird's nest fern or spleenwort, Asplenium nidus. Handcoloured copperplate engraving by Swan after an illustration by William Jackson Hooker from Samuel Curtis's “” Botanical Magazine,”” London, 1831. / Bridgeman Images

FLO4583029: Malaysian false pimpernel, Lindernia crustacea (Rough torenia, Torenia scabra). Handcoloured copperplate engraving by Swan after an illustration by William Jackson Hooker from Samuel Curtis's “” Botanical Magazine,”” London, 1831. / Bridgeman Images

PIX4583052: Remains of the Crab Supernova (M1) in the Taurus - Remains of the Crab Supernova (M1) in the Taurus - M1, the Crab Nebula, is the rest of a supernova that exploded in July or August 1054. It is located about 7000 light years from Earth in the constellation Taurus. At the heart of this nebula is a pulsar. In this photo we see a jet of material north of the nebula; this jet was discovered in 1970 but rarely appears in the images; it seems to follow the same rate of expansion as the whole nebula, but not on the same axis as the centre of the nebula, its presence remains a mystery. Image obtained with a 50 cm telescope, through various filters, total installation of almost 24 hours / Bridgeman Images

PIX4583116: Pulsar of the Crab in the Taurus seen in X - Observed by the Chandra satellite in April 200 / Bridgeman Images

PIX4583154: Remains of supernova G292.0+1.8 in X - G292.0+1.8 supernova remnant - X-ray view of the rest of supernova G292.0+1.8 located about 20,000 years - light in the constellation Centaurus. In the center of the image, the massive star that exploded gave way to a pulsar. The different colours represent different chemical elements (oxygen, magnesium...). The image was composed with a black and white image obtained in visible light. The aftermath of the death of a massive star is shown in detail in this composite image of G292.0+1.8. In color is the Chandra X - ray Observatory image and in white is optical data from the Digitized Sky Survey. Near the center of G292.0+1.8 is the so - called pulsar wind nebula, most easily seen in high energy X - rays. This is the magnetized bubble of high - energy particles that surrounds the “” pulsar””, a rapidly rotating neutron star that remained behind the original, massive star exploded. The narrow, jet - like feature running from north to south in the image is likely parallel to the spin axis of the pulsar. Each color represents different elements such as oxygen, neon, magnesium, and silicon. The distribution of these elements gives astronomers clues about how the star exploded. The distance estimated of this object is about 20,000 light years / Bridgeman Images

PIX4583187: Supernova Remnants SNR B0509 - 67.5 - Supernova Remnant SNR B0509 - 67.5 - SNR B0509 - 67.5 (or SNR 0509) is the rest of a star explosion in the galaxy of the Great Magellan Cloud. This 23-year bubble - light of diameter extends at a speed of 18 million km/h. A composite of visible images and X-rays obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) in 2006 and 2010 and by the Chandra satellite. This delicate shell, photographed by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, appears to float serenely in the depths of space, but this apparent calm hides an inner turmoil. The gaseous envelope formed as the expanding blast wave and ejected material from a supernova tore through the nearby interstellar medium. Called SNR B0509 - 67.5 (or SNR 0509 for short), the bubble is the visible remnant of a powerful stellar explosion in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a small galaxy about 160,000 light - years from Earth. Ripples in the shell's surface may be caused either by subtle variations in the density of the ambient interstellar gas, or possibly be driven from the interior by fragments from the initial explosion. The bubble - shaped shroud of gas is 23 light - years across and is expanding at more than 18 million km/h. Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys observed the supernova remnant on 28 October 2006 with a filter that isolates light from the glowing hydrogen seen in the expanding shell. These observations were then combined with visible - light images of the surrounding star field that were imaged with Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 on 4 November 2010, and archival X - ray observations taken by Nasa's Chandra X - ray Observatory / Bridgeman Images

PIX4583616: Artist view of the fall of a meteorite in Greenland - Fire over ice - Artist view - Artist view of the fall of a meteorite in Greenland. On December 9, 1997, a huge fireball was observed by several witnesses. The impact on Earth was detected by satellite; the object reportedly broke into four pieces before touching the ground. A huge fireball exploding over the Greenland ice cap, Dixon, Don (b.1951) / Bridgeman Images

PIX4583634: Artist view of the fall of a meteorite in Saudi Arabia - Saudi Meteor - Artist view - Artist view of the fall of a meteorite in Saudi Arabia. In the middle of the 19th century, a mass of iron would have been seen falling from the sky... Visualization of a meteor impact in the empty quarter of the Saudi Desert in the 19th century, Dixon, Don (b.1951) / Bridgeman Images

FLO4583638: Yellow leaf chrysophylla variete (Chrysophylla heteropteris) - Illustration by William Jackson Hooper (1785-1865), engraving by Swan, for the botanical magazine of William Curtis, 1833 / Bridgeman Images

FLO4583658: Carde, cardon or spanish thistle (Cynara cardunculus) - Illustration by William Jackson Hooper (1785-1865), engraving by Swan, for the botanical magazine of William Curtis, 1833 / Bridgeman Images

FLO4583675: Rose Arabette (Arabis rosea) - Illustration by William Jackson Hooper (1785-1865), etched by Swan, for the botanical magazine of William Curtis, 1833 / Bridgeman Images

FLO4583703: Trillium erige or erresse (Trillium erectum var. viridiflorum) - Illustration by William Jackson Hooper (1785-1865), engraving by Swan, for the botanical magazine of William Curtis, 1833 / Bridgeman Images

PIX4583711: Impact of an asteroid on Earth - Asteroid impact on Earth- Artwor / Bridgeman Images

PIX4583723: Impact of an asteroid on Earth - Asteroid impact on Earth- Artwor / Bridgeman Images

FLO4583725: Pultanaea subumbellata - Illustration by William Jackson Hooper (1785-1865), engraving by Swan, for the botanical magazine of William Curtis, 1833 / Bridgeman Images

FLO4583748: Erythine crete of rooster or coral tree (Erythrina poianthes) Illustration by William Jackson Hooper (1785-1865), engraving by Swan, for the botanical magazine of William Curtis, 1833 / Bridgeman Images

PIX4583778: The disappearance of dinosaurs - Vue d'artiste - Nightfall on the Cretaceous - Artist view - In the star sky a new star appeared, it is the asteroid responsible for the disappearance of dinosaurs that is approaching about 65 million years ago. Below, a Pachycephalosaurus wyomingensis with a small mammal in a tree. This image portrays the late Cretaceous Pachycephalosaurus wyomingensis under a starry sky that includes a very bright new star: the impending KT asteroid, from which small particles are already entering the atmosphere and burning up as meteors. Above, a small marsupial mammal scurries along a Metasequoia branch, poised for world domination / Bridgeman Images

FLO4583792: Flower detail and branch of Cargillia australis - Illustration by William Jackson Hooper (1785-1865), engraving by Swan, for the botanical magazine of William Curtis, 1833 / Bridgeman Images

FLO4583809: American browallie - Jamaican forget-me-not, amethyst flower, or bush violet, Browallia americana (Tall browallia, Browallia elata). Handcolured copperplate engraving and botanical illustration by James Sowerby from William Curtis' The Botanical Magazine, Lambeth Marsh, London, 1787., Sowerby, James (1757-1822) / Bridgeman Images

FLO4583817: Succulent eperviere or bearded crepis, flower with yellow fringe and purple heart. Bearded crepis, or purple eyed succory hawkweed. Yellow fringed flower with purple eye. / Bridgeman Images

PIX4583865: An asteroid threatens the artist's Earth-View - Earth crossing asteroid - Artist view - A small asteroid zooms past the moon enroute to eart, Dixon, Don (b.1951) / Bridgeman Images

FLO4583908: South Star - Oxypetalum caeruleum (Changeable flowered tweedia, Tweedia versicolor). Handcoloured copperplate engraving after a botanical illustration by Walter Fitch from William Jackson Hooker's Botanical Magazine, London, 1838. / Bridgeman Images