FLO4610653: Heath lobelia, Lobelia urens, Polygamia monogamia. Handcoloured copperplate engraving by F. Sansom of a botanical illustration by Sydenham Edwards for William Curtis' Lectures on Botany, as delivered in the Botanic Garden at Lambeth, 1805., Edwards, Sydenham Teast (c.1768-1819) / Bridgeman Images

PIX4610684: Spiral galaxy NGC 3370 in the Lion - Spiral galaxy NGC 3370 in Leo - The spiral galaxy NGC 3370 is located about 100 million years away - light from Earth. In November 1994, light emitting from a supernova type Ia, SN 1994ae, part of this galaxy, reached Earth. In this image taken by the Hubble space telescope in May 2003, this supernova is no longer detectable. On the other hand, the telescope was able to observe in this galaxy cepheides, variable stars used to accurately measure distances in the universe and calculate the rate of expansion of the universe. Many galaxies are visible in the background. The majestic dusty spiral, NGC 3370, looms in the foreground in this NASA Hubble Space Telescope image. Recent observations taken with the Advanced Camera for Surveys show intricate spiral arm structure spotted with hot areas of new star formation. In November 1994, the light of a supernova in nearby NGC 3370 reached Earth. This stellar outburst briefly outshone all of the tens of billions of other stars in its galaxy. Although supernovae are common, with one exploding every few seconds somewhere in the universe, this one was special. Designated SN 1994ae, this supernova was one of the nearest and best observed supernovae since the advent of modern, digital detectors. It resides 98 million light - years (30 megaparsecs) from Earth. The supernova was also a member of a special subclass of supernovae, the type Ia, the best tool astronomers have to chart the growth rate of the expanding universe. Other, fainter stars of known brightness can be observed in the same galaxy. These stellar “” standard candles”” are the Cepheid variable stars, which vary regularly in brightness with periods that are directly related to their intrinsic brightness, and thus allow the distance to the galaxy””” and the supernova””” to be determined directly / Bridgeman Images

FLO4610700: Picotee carnation 1 and scarlet bizard carnation 2. Handcoloured copperplate engraving by F. Sansom of a botanical illustration by Sydenham Edwards for William Curtis' Lectures on Botany, as delivered in the Botanic Garden at Lambeth, 1805., Edwards, Sydenham Teast (c.1768-1819) / Bridgeman Images

PIX4610701: Galaxies M105, NGC 3384 and NGC 3389 in the Lion - Galaxies M105, NGC 3384 and NGC 3389 in Leo - These galaxies belong to the group of Leo 1 galaxies. Below is the elliptical galaxy M105, type E1, located about 40 million years ago - light from Earth; above, NGC 3384, at the top NGC 3389, a galaxy in the background. M105 (bottom) is a type E1 elliptical galaxy and the brightest member of the Leo I galaxy grouping. The entire group is about 40 million light - years away. Also visble are galaxies NGC 3384 (above and right of center), which is part of the Leo I group, and NGC 3389 (top left), which is a more distant background galaxy / Bridgeman Images

FLO4610704: Pericarp of parakeet grass (or wadding) and section of the fruit of domestic apple tree Coloured copper engraving, illustration by Sydenham Edwards (1768-1819) for Botanical Conferences, Lambeth Botanical Garden, England, 1805, by William Curtis (1746-1799). Seed vessel pericarpium of the milkweed Asclepias syriaca (1-2) and apple Malus domestica (3-4). Handcoloured copperplate engraving of a botanical illustration by Sydenham Edwards for William Curtis's “” Lectures on Botany, as delivered in the Botanic Garden at Lambeth,”” 1805. Edwards (1768-1819) was the artist of thousands of botanical plates for Curtis' “” Botanical Magazine”” and his own “” Botanical Register.””, Edwards, Sydenham Teast (c.1768-1819) / Bridgeman Images

PIX4610713: Spiral galaxy NGC 3370 in the Lion - Spiral galaxy NGC 3370 in Leo - The spiral galaxy NGC 3370 is located about 100 million years away - light from Earth. In November 1994, light emitting from a supernova type Ia, SN 1994ae, part of this galaxy, reached Earth. In this image taken by the Hubble space telescope in May 2003, this supernova is no longer detectable. On the other hand, the telescope was able to observe in this galaxy cepheides, variable stars used to accurately measure distances in the universe and calculate the rate of expansion of the universe. Many galaxies are visible in the background. The majestic dusty spiral, NGC 3370, looms in the foreground in this NASA Hubble Space Telescope image. Recent observations taken with the Advanced Camera for Surveys show intricate spiral arm structure spotted with hot areas of new star formation. In November 1994, the light of a supernova in nearby NGC 3370 reached Earth. This stellar outburst briefly outshone all of the tens of billions of other stars in its galaxy. Although supernovae are common, with one exploding every few seconds somewhere in the universe, this one was special. Designated SN 1994ae, this supernova was one of the nearest and best observed supernovae since the advent of modern, digital detectors. It resides 98 million light - years (30 megaparsecs) from Earth. The supernova was also a member of a special subclass of supernovae, the type Ia, the best tool astronomers have to chart the growth rate of the expanding universe. Other, fainter stars of known brightness can be observed in the same galaxy. These stellar “” standard candles”” are the Cepheid variable stars, which vary regularly in brightness with periods that are directly related to their intrinsic brightness, and thus allow the distance to the galaxy””” and the supernova””” to be determined directly / Bridgeman Images

FLO4610763: Ginseng (Panax ginseng) - Lithography, illustration by Jean Gabriel Pretre (1780-1885) edited by Pierre Jean Francois Turpin (1775-1840), extracted from the “Dictionary of Natural Sciences” by Antoine de Jussieu (1686-1758) - Ginseng - Handcoloured copperplate engraving, illustration by J. G. Pretre (1780-1845), directed by P. J.F. Turpin, from Jussieu's “” Dictionary of Natural Science,” Paris, 1837 / Bridgeman Images

FLO4610764: Ginger root (Zingiber officinale) - Lithography, illustration by Jean Gabriel Pretre (1780-1885) edited by Pierre Jean Francois Turpin (1775-1840), extracted from the “Dictionary of Natural Sciences” by Antoine de Jussieu (1686-1758) - Ginger root - Handcoloured copperplate engraving, illustration by J. G. Pretre (1780-1845), directed by P. J.F. Turpin, from Jussieu's “” Dictionary of Natural Science,”” Paris, 1837 / Bridgeman Images

PIX4610775: Spiral galaxy NGC 3621 in Hydra - Galaxy NGC 3621 in Hydra - The spiral galaxy NGC 3621 is located about 22 million light years away from Earth in the southern constellation of Hydra. Image obtained from the 2.2 meter MPG/ESO telescope of the La Silla Observatory. Spiral galaxy NGC 3621 is located in the southern constellation Hydra at 22 million light years from the sun. Image taken with the Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2 - metre telescope at Eso's La Silla Observatory in Chile. This galaxy appears to be a fine example of a classical spiral but it is in fact rather unusual: it does not have a central bulge and is therefore described as a pure - disc galaxy / Bridgeman Images

FLO4610783: Bitter orange or orange de Seville or bigarade (Citrus aurantium) - Lithography, illustration by Jean Gabriel Pretre (1780-1885) edited by Pierre Jean Francois Turpin (1775-1840), extracted from the “Dictionary of Natural Sciences” by Antoine de Jussieu (1686-1758) - Seville orange - Handcoloured copperplate engraving, illustration by J. G. Pretre ( 1780-1845), directed by P. J.F. Turpin, from Jussieu's “” Dictionary of Natural Science,”” Paris, 1837 / Bridgeman Images

FLO4610784: Variete of tangara euphone (tanagra violacea) and saltator with green wings (Saltator similis) - Lithography, illustration by Jean Gabriel Pretre (1780-1885) under the direction of Pierre Jean Francois Turpin (1775-1840), extracted from the “Dictionary of Natural Sciences” by Antoine de Jussieu (1686-1758) - Purple throated euphonia and greenery en-winged saltator - Handcoloured copperplate engraving, illustration by J. G. Pretre (1780-1845), directed by P. J.F. Turpin, from Jussieu's “” Dictionary of Natural Science,”” Paris, 1837 / Bridgeman Images

PIX4610797: Spiral galaxy M65 in the Lion - Spiral galaxy M65 in Leo - M65 (NGC 3623), and its neighbors M66 and NGC 3628, form a triplet of galaxies, called the Lion Triplet or the Group of M66, located at a distance of about 35 million years - light. M65 is a spiral galaxy of type Sa. Image obtained from the 3.9m telescope of Siding Spring M65 is a spiral galaxy of type Sa in the constellation Leo. At a distance of about 35 million light - years, M65 apparently forms a triplet with its neighbors M66 and NGC 3628. Image obtained with the 3,9m telescope of Siding Spring / Bridgeman Images

FLO4610802: Brown bear and polar bear - Lithography, illustration by Jean Gabriel Pretre (1780-1885) edited by Pierre Jean Francois Turpin (1775-1840), extracted from the “Dictionary of natural sciences” by Antoine de Jussieu (1686-1758) - Brown bear, Ursus arctos arctos, and polar bear, Ursus maritimus (vulnerable) - Handcoloured copperplate engraving , illustration by J. G. Pretre (1780-1845), directed by P. J.F. Turpin, from Antoine de Jussieu's “” Dictionary of Natural Science,”” 1837 / Bridgeman Images

FLO4610825: Date (fruit of Phìnix dactylifera) - Lithography, illustration by Jean Gabriel Pretre (1780-1885) under the direction of Pierre Jean Francois Turpin (1775-1840), extracted from the “Dictionary of Natural Sciences” by Antoine de Jussieu (1686-1758) - Dates - Handcoloured copperplate engraving, illustration by J. G. Pretre (1780-1845), directed by P. J.F. Turpin , from Jussieu's “” Dictionary of Natural Science,”” Paris, 1837 / Bridgeman Images

PIX4610863: Spiral Galaxy NGC 3628 in the Lion - NGC 3628 spiral galaxy in Leo - NGC 3628 is a spiral galaxy seen by the slice located at a distance of about 35 million years - light. With its neighbors M65 and M66, it forms a remarkable triplet of galaxies, called the Lion Triplet or the M66 Group. Image obtained with a 400 mm telescope, two hours of installation through different filters. NGC 3628 is an edge - on sipral galaxy about 35 Mly away. She forms the remarkable Leo triplet with its neighbors M65 and M66 / Bridgeman Images

FLO4609830: Australian hollyhock or native hollyhock, Malva preissiana (Mallow-like lavatera, Lavatera plebeia), Handcoloured copperplate engraving by Weddell after an illustration by John Curtis from Samuel Curtis' Botanical Magazine, London, 1822. / Bridgeman Images

PIX4609836: Barree spiral galaxy NGC 1365 in the Furnace - Barred spiral galaxy NGC 1365 in Fornax - NGC 1365 is a barree spiral galaxy that extends over 200,000 years - light. Located 60 million years ago - light, it belongs to the cluster of galaxies of the Furnace. Image obtained in 1999 by the European telescope Antu of the VLT in Chile. NGC 1365 is one of the most prominent “” barred”” galaxies in the sky. It is a supergiant galaxy with a diameter of about 200,000 light - years, seen in the direction of the southern constellation Fornax. It is a major member of the Fornax Cluster of Galaxies. The distance is about 60 million light - years. A massive straight bar runs through this galaxy and contains the nucleus at the centre. It consists mostly of older stars that give a reddish colour to the bar.The gravitational perturbation from the bar causes interstellar gas and dust clouds to form a pair of spiral arms that extend from the ends of the bar. Young luminous hot stars, born out of the interstellar clouds, give these arms a prominent appearance and a blue colour. The bar and spiral pattern rotates clockwise, as seen from us. One full turn takes about 350 million years. Image combined from three exposures with the FORS1 multi - mode instrument at VLT UT1, ANTU / Bridgeman Images

FLO4609844: Scorzonera-leaved rampion, Phyteuma scorzonerifolium. Handcoloured copperplate engraving by Weddell after an illustration by John Curtis from Samuel Curtis' Botanical Magazine, London, 1822. / Bridgeman Images

FLO4609863: Sperch (Spercheus emarginatus), hydrophilic coleoptere variete. Lithograph by John Curtis (1791-1862) published in “British Entomology”, a collection of 770 illustrations and descriptions of British insects, London, England, 1824 to 1839. / Bridgeman Images

PIX4609879: Barree spiral galaxy NGC 1483 in Dorado - Barred spiral galaxy NGC 1483 in Dorado - NGC 1483 is a barree spiral galaxy located about 60 million years ago - light in the southern constellation of Dorado. Image obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). NGC 1483 is a barred spiral galaxy located in the southern constellation of Dorado. The nebulous galaxy features a bright central bulge and diffuse arms with distinct star - forming regions. In the background, many other distant galaxies can be seen. The constellation Dorado is home to the Dorado Group of galaxies, a loose group comprising an estimated 70 galaxies and located some 62 million light - years away. The Dorado group is much larger than the Local Group that includes the Milky Way (and which contains around 30 galaxies) and approaches the size of a galaxy cluster. Galaxy clusters are the largest groupings of galaxies (and indeed the largest structures of any type) in the Universe to be held together by their gravity. Barred spiral galaxies are so named because of the prominent bar - shaped structures found in their center. They form about two thirds of all spiral galaxies, including the Milky Way. Recent studies suggest that bars may be a common stage in the formation of spiral galaxies, and may indicate that a galaxy has reached full maturity. Image taken with the Hubble space telescope (HST) / Bridgeman Images

FLO4609884: Caterpillar and butterfly (Adscita statice) and common sorrel. Lithograph by John Curtis (1791-1862) published in “British Entomology”, a collection of 770 illustrations and descriptions of British insects, London, England, 1824 to 1839. / Bridgeman Images

FLO4609903: Beautiful mymar (Mymar pulchellus) and swamp violet. Lithograph by John Curtis (1791-1862) published in “British Entomology”, a collection of 770 illustrations and descriptions of British insects, London, England, 1824 to 1839. / Bridgeman Images

PIX4609916: Barree spiral galaxy NGC 1559 and supernova - Barred spiral galaxy NGC 1559 with a supernova - The galaxy NGC 1559 is a galaxy of Seyfert located about 50 million years ago - light in the constellation Reticule. In this image obtained in 2005 by the Kueyen European telescope of the VLT in Chile, a bright star is visible just above the galaxy, a supernova of type Ia named SN 2005df. On the night of August 4, 2005, an amateur astronomer and supernovae discoverer Reverend Robert Evans discovered a supernova just North of this galaxy. This supernova is classified as a somewhat unusual type Ia supernova, caught probably 10 days before it reached its maximum brightness. Such a supernova is thought to be the result of the explosion of a small and dense star - a white dwarf - inside a binary system. As its companion was continuously spilling matter onto the white dwarf, the white dwarf reached a critical mass, leading to a fatal instability. NGC 1559 is a SBc (s) - type spiral galaxy located about 50 million light - years away, that weighs the equivalent of about 10,000 million of suns, and is about 7 times smaller than our Milky Way. Receding from us at a speed of about 1,300 km/s, it is a galaxy of the Seyfert type. Such galaxies are characterized by a bright nucleus that radiates strongly in the blue and in the ultraviolet. Astronomers think that about 2 solar masses of gas per year are transformed into stars in this galaxy. Like most galaxies, NGC 1559 probably contains a black hole in its centre, which should have a mass that is equivalent to 300,000 suns. Colour composite image obtained with the multi - mode FORS1 instrument on ESO's 8.2m VLT. The supernova, SN 2005df, is visible as the bright star just above the galaxy / Bridgeman Images

FLO4609927: Ichneumon guepe and vegetable maceron or large parsley. Lithograph by John Curtis (1791-1862) published in “British Entomology”, a collection of 770 illustrations and descriptions of British insects, London, England, 1824 to 1839. / Bridgeman Images

FLO4609952: Diptere: black fly with short wings and spring gentian. Lithograph by John Curtis (1791-1862) published in “British Entomology”, a collection of 770 illustrations and descriptions of insects from Great Britain, London, England, 1824 to 1839. / Bridgeman Images

PIX4609990: Spiral Galaxy NGC 2082 in Dorado - Galaxy NGC 2082 in Dorado - The spiral galaxy NGC 2082 is located about 60 million light years away from Earth in the southern constellation of Dorado. Image obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The richly textured spiral galaxy NGC 2082 is found about 60 million light - years away in the constellation of Dorado (the Swordfish), deep in the southern sky. As seen here in a very detailed image from the Advanced Camera for Surveys on the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, filaments of dark dust splay across NGC 2082's luminous curved arms and dense central bulge of stars. Hubble's sharp vision also reveals many of the individual bright blue stars dotting the galaxy's rather ragged spiral arms as well as many much more distant galaxies in the background / Bridgeman Images

PIX4610047: Spiral galaxy NGC 2403 in the Giraffe - Spiral galaxy NGC 2403 in Camelopardalis - Spiral galaxy NGC 2403 distant about 11 - 12 million years - light in the constellation Giraffe. Image made with a 50 cm telescope. This galaxy is about 11 million light - years away / Bridgeman Images

PIX4610090: Barree spiral galaxy NGC 2442 in Flying Fish - NGC 2442, a barred spiral galaxy in Volans - NGC 2442 is a barree spiral galaxy located about 50 million years ago - light. Its asymmetrical shape suggests that a galaxy interacts with it. Image made with Siding Spring's 3.9m telescope. This unusual barred spiral galaxy is in the far southern constellation of Volans and was discovered by Sir John Herschel who described one of its spiral arms as hook - like. Although not seen here, (but evident on very deep images) NGC 2442 appears to have a less massive, distant companion that is also distorted, and it seems likely that the two have had a close encounter in the recent past. If there are no further meetings, the forces that hold NGC 2442 together will restore galaxy to a more symmetrical spiral form. However, much more likely is that the companion has been captured by the distorted spiral and will eventually be devoured by it, triggering a dramatic bout of star formation. NGC 2442 is about 50 million light years distant / Bridgeman Images

PIX4610093: Barree spiral galaxy NGC 2442 in Flying Fish - Barred spiral galaxy NGC 2442 in Volans - NGC 2442 is a barree spiral galaxy located about 50 million years ago - light. Its asymmetrical shape suggests that a galaxy interacts with it. Mosaic of images obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope and the 2.2 m MPG/ESO telescope at the La Silla Observatory. NGC 2442 is a barred spiral galaxy about 50 million light years away in the constellation Volans. This close - up Hubble view of the Meathook Galaxy (NGC 2442) focuses on the more compact of its two asymmetric spiral arms as well as the central regions. The spiral arm was the location of a supernova that exploded in 1999. These observations were made in 2006 in order to study the aftermath of this supernova. Ground - based data from MPG/ESO 2.2 - metre telescope were used to fill out parts of the edges of this image / Bridgeman Images

PIX4610118: Spiral galaxy NGC 2460 in Giraffe - NGC 2460 spiral galaxy in Camelopardalis - Spiral galaxy NGC 2460 in the constellation Giraffe. To its right is the galaxy IC 2209. NGC 2460 spiral galaxy in Camelopardalis; to its right, galaxy IC 2209 / Bridgeman Images

PIX4610143: Spiral galaxy NGC 2683 in Lynx - Spiral galaxy NGC 2683 in Lynx - Spiral galaxy NGC 2683 distant about 16 million years - light in the constellation Lynx. Image obtained with a telescope 61 cm diameter / Bridgeman Images

FLO4609103: Plectranthus forskohlii. (Plectranthus barbatus, Coleus forskohlii, Forskohlii, Indian coleus,) Handcoloured copperplate engraving from Samuel Curtis' Botanical Magazine, London, 1818. / Bridgeman Images

PIX4609140: Spiral Galaxy NGC 253 in Sculptor - Spiral galaxy NGC 253 in Sculptor - NGC 253 is the brightest galaxy of the Sculptor's group, the closest galaxy group to the Local Group. It is about 13 million light years away. Image obtained with the 2,2m MPG/ESO telescope of La Silla. Measuring 70 000 light - years across and lying 13 million light - years away, the nearly edge - on spiral galaxy NGC 253 is revealed here in an image from the Wide Field Imager (WFI) of the MPG/ESO 2.2 m telescope at the La Silla Observatory. The image is based on data obtained through four different filters (R, V, H - alpha and OIII). North is up and East to the left. The field of view is 30 arcminutes / Bridgeman Images

PIX4609158: Spiral galaxy NGC 300 in the Sculptor - Galaxy NGC 300 in Sculptor - Located about 7 million years ago - light from Earth, the spiral galaxy NGC 300 belongs to the Sculptor's group. It appears to us as a great object in the sky since its apparent diameter is almost that of the full moon. This photo was obtained by the MPG/ESO telesope of 2.2 - m in La Silla in Chile in 2000. Located some 7 million light - years away, the spiral galaxy NGC 300 is a beautiful representative of its class, a Milky - Way - like member of the prominent Sculptor group of galaxies in the southern constellation of that name. NGC 300 is a big object in the sky - being so close, it extends over an angle of almost 25 arcmin, only slightly less than the size of the full moon. It is also relative bright, even a small pair of binoculars will unveil this magnificent spiral galaxy as a hazy glowing patch on a dark sky background. The comparatively small distance of NGC 300 and its face - on orientation provide astronomers with a wonderful opportunity to study in great detail its structure as well as its various stellar populations and interstellar medium. This image was obtained with the Wide - Field Imager (WFI) on the MPG/ESO 2.2 - m telescope at the La Silla Observatory in 2000 / Bridgeman Images

FLO4609170: Mountain bugbane or mountain black-cohosh, Actaea podocarpa [Cimicifuga cordifolia). Handcoloured copperplate engraving by Weddell from Samuel Curtis' Botanical Magazine, London, 1819. / Bridgeman Images

FLO4609174: Malabar catmint, Anisomeles malabarica. Handcoloured copperplate engraving from Samuel Curtis' Botanical Magazine, London, 1819. / Bridgeman Images