FLO4609495: Linear acacias. Copper engraving, painted by John Curtis and grave by Weddell, published in the “Curtis Botanical Magazine”, 1820, by Samuel Curtis, London, England. / Bridgeman Images

FLO4609505: Digital. Copper engraving, painted by John Curtis and grave by Weddell, published in the “Curtis Botanical Magazine”, 1820, by Samuel Curtis, London, England. / Bridgeman Images

FLO4609516: Psoralier stinks. Copper engraving, painted by John Curtis and grave by Weddell, published in the “Curtis Botanical Magazine”, 1820, by Samuel Curtis, London, England. / Bridgeman Images

PIX4609550: Spiral galaxy NGC 1055 in the Whale - Spiral galaxy NGC 1055 in Cetus - NGC 1055 is about 40 million years away - light from Earth. It appears to belong to the small group of M77 galaxies in the Whale. NGC 1055 is a striking disk galaxy seen almost edge - on a distance of about 40 million light years. It seems to be a member of the small NGC 1068 (M77) group of galaxies in the southern constellation of Cetus / Bridgeman Images

PIX4609570: Spiral galaxy M77 in the Whale - Active galaxy M77 (NGC 1068) in Cetus - M77 (NGC 1068). This active galaxy is the typical example of a Seyfert II galaxy. It has an active core and houses a massive black hole. She is the object of intense star formation in her spiral arms. NGC 1068 is around 50 million years of light from Earth. Image obtained by Siding Spring's 3.9m telescope. M77 is a Seyfert galaxy, a class of galaxy named for Karl Seyfert who first identified galaxies with emission lines superimposed on the normal radiation from their nuclei in 1943. Such galaxies are a subset of an ill - defined species generally known as 'active galaxies' whose nuclei emit radio - and X - radiation as well as visible light. The least active of the active galaxies are the Seyferts, the most active are the quasars which are mostly so distant that they can only be distinguished from stars by their spectrum.
The common feature of these galaxy types is a small, very bright nucleus thought to host a massive black hole. In Seyferts we see this black hole (or more likely its surrounding shroud of ultra - luminous gas) more or less pole - on. In other active galaxy types at different inclinations the spectrum of the nucleus changes as we see other manifestations of the black hole's influence on its surroundings. M77 is a member of a small group of galaxies at a distance of about 40 million light years / Bridgeman Images

FLO4609611: Fabagelle has sessile leaves. Copper engraving, painted by John Curtis and grave by Weddell, published in the “Curtis Botanical Magazine”, 1820, by Samuel Curtis, London, England. / Bridgeman Images

FLO4609630: Crossandre with wavy leaves or petard flower Copper engraving, starring John Curtis and grave by Weddell, published in Samuel Curtis's “” Botanical Magazine” in 1820, London, England. / Bridgeman Images

FLO4609697: Gomesa orchid, Gomesa flexuosa (Oncidium flexuosus). Handcoloured copperplate engraving by Weddell after an illustration by John Curtis from Samuel Curtis' Botanical Magazine, London, 1821. / Bridgeman Images

FLO4609701: Castorbean or castor-oil-plant, Ricinus communis. Handcoloured copperplate engraving by Weddell from Samuel Curtis' Botanical Magazine, London, 1821. / Bridgeman Images

FLO4609724: Heart-leaved poison, Gastrolobium bilobum. Handcoloured copperplate engraving by Weddell after an illustration by John Curtis from Samuel Curtis' Botanical Magazine, London, 1821. / Bridgeman Images

FLO4609725: Bigleaf magnolia, Magnolia macrophylla. Handcoloured copperplate engraving by Weddell after an illustration by John Curtis from Samuel Curtis' Botanical Magazine, London, 1821. / Bridgeman Images

FLO4609747: Pink striped trumpet lily, Crinum latifolium (Crinum speciosum). Handcoloured copperplate engraving by Weddell after an illustration by William Herbert from Samuel Curtis' Botanical Magazine, London, 1822. / Bridgeman Images

PIX4609776: Spiral galaxy NGC 1313 in the Reticule - The starburst galaxy NGC 1313 - NGC 1313 is a galaxy located about 15 million years ago - light. Intense star formations are observed. Image made with Siding Spring's 3.9m telescope. In visible light, NGC 1313 seems dominated by scattered patches of star formation which give our picture a rather ragged appearance. The clouds of bluish stars seem to have burst into existence at random, without the normal trigger gravitational interaction or even a distinct spiral to prompt them. Star formation seems to have occurred in a series of irregular, self-sustaining bursts. However, a very deep image shows that the outer parts of galaxy are also very disturbed. Seen with a radio telescope, the galaxy is rich in hydrogen, the raw material of stars, and the gas circulates around the centre of the galaxy in a well ordered way, apparently hardly affected by the starburst activity or other irregularities that so colour our visual impression of this unusual galaxy. NGC 1313 is at a distance of about 15 million light years, close enough for some of its brightest stars to be seen as individuals / Bridgeman Images

PIX4609785: Spiral galaxy NGC 1313 in the Reticule - The starburst galaxy NGC 1313 - NGC 1313 is a galaxy located about 15 million years ago - light. Intense star formations are observed. In visible light, NGC 1313 seems dominated by scattered patches of star formation which give our picture a rather ragged appearance. The clouds of bluish stars seem to have burst into existence at random, without the normal trigger gravitational interaction or even a distinct spiral to prompt them. Star formation seems to have occurred in a series of irregular, self-sustaining bursts. However, a very deep image shows that the outer parts of galaxy are also very disturbed. Seen with a radio telescope, the galaxy is rich in hydrogen, the raw material of stars, and the gas circulates around the centre of the galaxy in a well ordered way, apparently hardly affected by the starburst activity or other irregularities that so colour our visual impression of this unusual galaxy. NGC 1313 is at a distance of about 15 million light years, close enough for some of its brightest stars to be seen as individuals / Bridgeman Images

FLO4609786: Melastoma sanguineum. Handcoloured copperplate engraving by Weddell after an illustration by John Curtis from Samuel Curtis' Botanical Magazine, London, 1822. / Bridgeman Images

PIX4609803: Elliptical galaxy NGC 1316 in the Furnace - Giant elliptical galaxy NGC 1316 - By studying the clusters of stars and clouds of dust visible in this photo taken by the Hubble space telescope in March 2003, it is believed that the giant elliptical galaxy NGC 1316 is the result of a collision of two spiral galaxies that occurred some billions of years ago. This galaxy resides about 75 million light years ago in the cluster of galaxies of the Furnace. Also called Fornax A, it is one of the strongest radio sources in the sky. This image made from data obtained with the NASA Hubble Space Telescope reveals the dust lanes and star clusters of this giant galaxy that give evidence that it was formed from a past merger of two gas - rich galaxies. NGC 1316 is on the outskirts of a nearby cluster of galaxies in the southern constellation of Fornax, at a distance of about 75 million light - years. It is one of the brightest ellipticals in the Fornax galaxy cluster. NGC 1316, also known as Fornax A, is one of the strongest and largest radio sources in the sky, with radio lobes extending over several degrees of sky (well off the Hubble image) / Bridgeman Images

FLO4608771: Elephant foot yam, Amorphophallus paeoniifolius (Campanulate arum, Arum campanulatum). Handcoloured copperplate engraving by Swan after an illustration by William Jackson Hooker from Samuel Curtis' Botanical Magazine, London, 1828. / Bridgeman Images

FLO4608775: Pitcairnia bifrons (Bracteated pitcairnia, Pitcairnia bracteata). Handcoloured copperplate engraving by Swan after an illustration by William Jackson Hooker from Samuel Curtis' Botanical Magazine, London, 1828. / Bridgeman Images

FLO4608802: Rhipsalis pachyptera. (Wing-stemmed cactus, Cactus alatus.) Handcoloured copperplate engraving by Swan after an illustration by William Jackson Hooker from Samuel Curtis' Botanical Magazine, London, 1828. / Bridgeman Images

FLO4608803: Zygosepalum labiosum orchid (Rostrate zygopetalon, Zygopetalum rostratum). Handcoloured copperplate engraving by Swan after an illustration by William Jackson Hooker from Samuel Curtis' Botanical Magazine, London, 1828. / Bridgeman Images

FLO4608852: Cempedak, Artocarpus integer. (Jack tree or whole-leaved breadfruit, Artocarpus integrifolia.) Handcoloured copperplate engraving by Swan after an illustration by William Jackson Hooker from Samuel Curtis' Botanical Magazine, London, 1828. / Bridgeman Images

FLO4608853: Cabbage palm, Cordyline australis. (White-flowered New Zealand dracaena, Dracaena australis.) Handcoloured copperplate engraving by Swan after an illustration by William Jackson Hooker from Samuel Curtis' Botanical Magazine, London, 1828. / Bridgeman Images

PIX4608859: Spiral Galaxy M31 in Andromede - The Andromeda Galaxy (M31) - The Andromede galaxy is located about 2.3 million years ago - light from Earth. Two satellite galaxies accompany him: M32 (NGC 221) on the left, and M110 (NGC 205) on the bottom right. Like the lactee path, the Andromede galaxy belongs to the local group, making up about thirty galaxies. Andromeda is the nearest major galaxy to our own Milky Way Galaxy. M31 is about 2.3 million light years far from us in the constellation Andromeda. It is the biggest member in our Local Group. Its diameter is more than 150,000 light years, compared to the Milky Way's 100,000 light years. M31 has two satellite galaxies: M110 (NGC 205) the elliptic galaxy at bottom right respect M31 core and M32 (NGC 221), the bright star - like object at left. The bright blue star at top is the 4.5th magnitude naked Andromedae / Bridgeman Images

FLO4608882: Green-tip forest lily, Clivia nobilis (Handsome-flowered imatophyllum, Imatophyllum aitoni). Handcoloured copperplate engraving by Swan after an illustration by William Jackson Hooker from Samuel Curtis' Botanical Magazine, London, 1828. / Bridgeman Images

FLO4608892: Pale yellow iris, Iris lutescens. Handcoloured copperplate engraving by Swan after an illustration by William Jackson Hooker from Samuel Curtis' Botanical Magazine, London, 1828. / Bridgeman Images

FLO4608919: Markea viridiflora (Solandra viridiflora). Handcoloured copperplate engraving from Samuel Curtis' Botanical Magazine, London, 1817. / Bridgeman Images

PIX4608932: Andromede Galaxy - Detail - The Andromede galaxy is located about 2.3 million years ago - light from Earth. On this composite image obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), one hundred million stars are visible. M31, the Great galaxy in Andromeda, is a gigantic collection of more than 300 billion stars and is located about 2 million light years from Earth. This image, captured with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, is the largest and sharpest image ever taken of the Andromeda galaxy - - otherwise known as M31. It is the biggest Hubble image ever released and shows over 100 million stars and thousands of star clusters embedded in a section of the galaxy's pancake - shaped disc stretching across over 40,000 light - years / Bridgeman Images

FLO4608996: Alpine clematis, Clematis alpina (Atragene sibirica). Handcoloured copperplate engraving from Samuel Curtis' Botanical Magazine, London, 1817. / Bridgeman Images

FLO4609028: Alpine anemone, Anemone alpina L. var. major. Handcoloured copperplate engraving by Weddell from Samuel Curtis' Botanical Magazine, London, 1818. / Bridgeman Images

PIX4609074: Stars in the spiral galaxy NGC 253 - Stars in galaxy NGC 253 - NGC 253 is the brightest galaxy of the Sculptor's group, group of galaxies closest to the Local Group. It is about 13 million light years away. Here, the Hubble space telescope photographed the different star populations of this galaxy. A close - up view from Hubble space telescope shows that NGC 253 is ablaze with the light from thousands of young, blue stars. The spiral galaxy is undergoing intense star training. This image, taken with Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys, reveals colors and differing intensities of individual stars as well dark filaments of dust and gas interstellar dust intersperced among the stars. NGC 253 is the dominant galaxy in the Sculptor Group of galaxies and resides about 13 million light - years from Earth. This galaxy is part of a detailed survey called the ACS Nearby Galaxy Survey Treasury program (ANGST). The natural - color images were constructed using Hubble observations taken in infrared, visible, and blue light. Data from the Cerro Tololo Inter - American Observatory in Chile were used to fill in small gaps in the Hubble image of NGC 253 / Bridgeman Images

FLO4609080: Chinese honeysuckle or Rangoon creeper, Combretum indicum (Quisqualis indica). Handcoloured copperplate engraving from Samuel Curtis' Botanical Magazine, London, 1818. / Bridgeman Images

FLO4564249: Coffee plant, Coffea arabica. Handcoloured copperplate engraving by F. Kirchner from Willibald Artus' Hand-Atlas sammtlicher medicinisch-pharmaceutischer Gewachse / Bridgeman Images

PIX4564265: Blue stragglers in cluster 47 Toucan - Blue stragglers in globular cluster 47 Tucanae - This image obtained by the Hubble space telescope shows a detail of the 47 Toucan cluster near its center (the field is indicated on the left image taken from the ground). The yellow circles on the right image indicate the position of stars identified by the telescope as blue trainers. Because of the high density of stars within a globular cluster, a collision between two stars sometimes occurs, merging into a single young, bright and warm star called a blue straggler. The core of globular cluster 47 Tucanae is home to many blue stragglers, rejuvenated stars that glow with the blue light of young stars. A ground - based telescope image (on the left) shows the entire crowded core of 47 Tucanae, located 15,000 light - years away in the constellation Tucana. Peering into the heart of the globular cluster's bright core, the Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 separated the dense clump of stars into many individual stars (image on right). Some of these stars shine with the light of old stars; others with the blue light of blue stragglers. The yellow circles in the Hubble telescope image highlight several of the club's blue stragglers. Astronomers theorize that blue stragglers are formed either by the slow merger of stars in a double - star system or by the collision of two unrelated stars. For the blue straggler in 47 Tucanae, astronomers favor the slow merger scenario. This photo is a three - color composite of Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 archival images taken with ultraviolet, blue, and violet filters. Green, blue, and red colors were assigned to the filters and scaled so that the red giant stars appear orange, the main sequence stars are white/green, and the blue stragglers are appropriately blue. The ultraviolet images were taken on / Bridgeman Images

FLO4564279: Maidenhair fern, Adiantum capillus-veneris. Handcoloured copperplate engraving from Dr. Willibald Artus' Hand-Atlas sammtlicher mediinisch-pharmaceutischer Gewachse, (Handbook of all medical-pharmaceutical plants), Jena, 1876. / Bridgeman Images

FLO4564281: Lovage, Levistium officinale. Handcoloured copperplate engraving from Dr. Willibald Artus' Hand-Atlas sammtlicher mediinisch-pharmaceutischer Gewachse, (Handbook of all medical-pharmaceutical plants), Jena, 1876. / Bridgeman Images

PIX4564283: Globular cluster 47 Toucan - The globular cluster 47 Tucanae, NGC 104 - The globular cluster 47 Toucan (or NGC 104) is visible to the naked eye from the southern hemisphere. Located about 15000 years ago - light it contains several million stars, some of which are among the oldest stars known today. Image obtained from the 3.9m telescope of Siding Spring, Australia. Among the many spectacular objects in the southern skies are two magnificent naked - eye globular clusters, omega Centauri and 47 Tucanae. These ancient cities of stars are captives of the Milky Way but were formed long before our Galaxy assumed its present shape, indeed these clusters have some of the oldest known stars. 47 Tuc is about 15,000 light years distant and contains several million stars, as many as some minor galaxies. The crowded central region leads to occasional stellar encounters and it is in 47 Tuc that rapidly - spinning pulsars have been discovered by radio astronomers. Although the light of globular clusters is dominated by so - called 'red' giant stars, their colour is no redder than a domestic tungsten lamp, so the true colour of 47 Tuc is close to the pale yellow / Bridgeman Images