PIX4620019: Eagle Nebula (IC 4703) and M16 star cluster in the Snake - The Eagle nebula in Serpens - The M16 star cluster is a cluster of young stars distant from 7000 years - light, formed about 2 million years ago in the Eagle nebula, IC 4703. These stars are much warmer than the Sun and can be 30 times more massive. Messier 16 is a cluster of young stars which formed about 2 million years ago from the gas and dust which still surrounds them. Brilliant blue stars of this type are much hotter than the Sun and can be up to thirty times more massive. The dark intrusions visible across the face of the nebula are condensations of dusty material which might one day collapse into yet more stars, should they survive the radiation from the bright stars, which is gradually etching them away. Bright red regions of photo - ionised hydrogen such as M16 are usually found in the spiral arms of galaxies and are often associated recent star formation. This example is about 7000 light years distant / Bridgeman Images
PIX4620256: Detail in the nebula Omega (M17) - Part of M17 nebula - Detail in the nebula Omega (M17), a region of star formation. Image obtained from the 3.5-metre NTT telescope of the European Observatory of La Silla in Chile. The Omega Nebula (M17) is one of the youngest and most massive star - forming regions in the Milky Way. Active star - birth started a few million years ago and continues through today. The brightly shining gas shown in this picture is just a blister erupting from the side of a much larger dark cloud of molecular gas. The dust that is so prominent in this picture comes from the remains of massive hot stars that have ended their brief lives and ejected material back into space, as well as the cosmic detritus from which future suns form. Three - colour composite image of the Omega Nebula (Messier 17), based on images obtained with the EMMI instrument on the ESO 3.58 - metre New Technology Telescope at the La Silla Observatory. North is down and East is to the right in the image. It spans an angle equal to about one third the diameter of the Full Moon, corresponding to about 15 light - years at the distance of the Omega Nebula / Bridgeman Images
PIX4620263: Southern Crown Nebula - R Coronae Australis is a region of star formations visible in the southern hemisphere. It is located about 500 light years away from Earth. On the right, a more distant globular cluster, NGC 6723 cluster in Sagittarius is about 30,000 light years away from Earth / Bridgeman Images
PIX4620436: North America and Pelican Nebulae in the Swan - North America and Pelican Nebulae in the Swan - The North America Nebula (NGC 7000) is a large emission nebula located near the Deneb star (the bright star to the right of the image) in the constellation of Swan. Between NGC 7000 and Deneb, the Pelican nebula, IC 5070 / Bridgeman Images
PIX4612662: Spiral galaxy M101 in the Great Bear - Spiral galaxy M101 in Ursa Major - The galaxy M101 (NGC 5457) is located about 27 million years away from Earth. Image obtained with a 40 cm telescope, composite of several images, 2h30 pose. M101 (NGC 5457) is about 27 Mly away. Composite image obtained with a RC 16”” telescope / Bridgeman Images
PIX4612686: Spiral galaxy M101 in the Great Bear - Spiral galaxy M101 in Ursa Major - The galaxy M101 (NGC 5457) is located about 27 million years away from Earth. It spans more than 170,000 light years, almost double the size of our galaxy. We think that of the trillion stars in it, 100 billion stars could be similar to our Sun. Composite image obtained from 51 different clicks made by the Hubble space telescope from March 1994 to January 2003 and from ground photos at Kitt Peak and CFHT in Hawaii. Spiral galaxy M101 is a beautiful, large, face - on spiral galaxy located about 27 million light - years away in the constellation Ursa Major. This galaxy's portrait is actually composed of 51 individual Hubble exposures, in addition to elements from images from ground - based photos. The giant spiral disk of stars, dust, and gas is 170,000 light - years across or almost twice the diameter of our galaxy, the Milky Way. M101 is estimated to contain at least one trillion stars. Approximately 100 billion of these stars could be like our Sun in terms of temperature and lifetime. The galaxy's spiral arms are sprinkled with large regions of star - forming nebulae. These nebulae are areas of intense star formation within giant molecular hydrogen clouds. Brilliant young clusters of hot, blue, newborn stars trace out the spiral arms. The disk of M101 is so thin that Hubble easily sees many more distant galaxies lying behind the galaxy / Bridgeman Images
PIX4612796: Interacting galaxies Arp 297 - Interacting galaxies Arp 297 - Arp 297 is located about 200 million light years away from Earth in the constellation Bovier. This pair of interacting galaxies consists of a large spiral galaxy, NGC 5754, and a small spiral galaxy, NGC 5752, in the left center of the image. This interaction causes intense star flames within the small galaxy. Image obtained with a telescope of 80 cm. This beautiful pair of interacting galaxies consists of NGC 5754, the large spiral in the center, and NGC 5752, the smaller companion to the left center of the image. NGC 5754's internal structure has hardly been disturbed by the interaction. NGC 5754 is located in the constellation Bootes, the Herdsman, some 200 million light - years away. Image taken with a 32 - inch Schulman Telescope (RC Optical Systems) / Bridgeman Images
PIX4612917: Galaxy NGC 6240 in Ophiuchus - Galaxy NGC 6240 in Ophiuchus - The galaxy NGC 6240, is about 400 million light years away from Earth in the constellation Ophiuchus. This system consists of two colliding galaxies each with a central black hole; in several millions of years, they will form only one galaxy. Image obtained by the Hubble space telescope on 10 February 2002. NGC 6240 is a peculiar, butterfly - or lobster - shaped galaxy consisting of two smaller merging galaxies. It lies in the constellation of Ophiuchus, the Serpent Holder, some 400 million light - years away. Observations with NASA s Chandra X - ray Observatory have disclosed two giant black holes, about 3,000 light - years apart, which will drift towards one another and eventually merge together into a larger black hole. The merging process, which began about 30 million years ago, triggered dramatic star formation and sparked numerous supernova explosions. The merger will be complete in some tens to hundreds of millions of years. Image taken by the Hubble space telescope on February 10, 2002 / Bridgeman Images
PIX4612985: Colliding galaxy Ngc 6745 in Lyra - Colliding galaxy NGC 6745 in Lyra - The spiral galaxy NGC 6745 is located about 206 million years away - light from Earth. This galaxy is double; a second galaxy at the bottom right of the image collides with it, causing star formation. Image obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope in 1996. A large spiral galaxy, with its nucleus still intact, peers at the smaller passing galaxy (almost out of the field of view at lower right). These galaxies did not merely interact gravitationally as they passed one another, they actually collided. When galaxies collide, the stars that normally comprise the major portion of the luminous mass of each of the two galaxies will almost never collide with each other but will pass rather freely between each other with little damage. This occurs because the physical size of individual stars is tiny compared to their typical separations, making the chance of physical encounter relatively small. In our own Milky Way galaxy, the space between our Sun and our nearest stellar neighbor, Proxima Centauri (part of the Alpha Centauri triple system), is a vast 4.3 light - years. However, the situation is quite different for the interstellar media in the above two galaxies - material consisting largely of clouds of atomic and molecular gases and of tiny particles of matter and dust, strongly coupled to the gas. Wherever the interstellar clouds of the two galaxies collide, they do not freely move past each other without interruption but, rather, suffer a damaging collision. High relative velocities cause ram pressures at the surface of contact between the interacting interstellar clouds. This pressure, in turn, produces material densities sufficiently extreme as to trigger star formation through gravitational collapse. The hot blue stars in this image are evidence of this star formation / Bridgeman Images
PIX4613098: Interacting galaxies in the Austral Fish - Interacting galaxies in Piscis Austrinus - The galaxies NGC 7173 (middle left), NGC 7174 (middle right) and NGC 7176 (bottom right) photographed here by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), belong to a cluster of galaxies called Hickson Compact Group 90 (HCG 90), located about 100 million years ago lights in the constellation of Southern Fish. NGC 7173 and NGC 7176 are two elliptical galaxies while NGC 7174 is a spiral galaxy deformed by the gravitational forces exerted by its neighbors. The three pictured galaxies - - NGC 7173 (middle left), NCG 7174 (middle right) and NGC 7176 (lower right) - - are part of the Hickson Compact Group 90, named after astronomer Paul Hickson, who first catalogued these small clusters of galaxies in the 1980s. NGC 7173 and NGC 7176 appear to be smooth, normal elliptical galaxies without much gas and dust. In stark contrast, NGC 7174 is a mangled spiral galaxy, barely clinging to independent existence as it is ripped apart by its close neighbours. The strong tidal interaction surging through the galaxies has dragged a significant number of stars away from their home galaxies. These stars are now spread out, forming a tenuous luminous component in the galaxy group. This trio is part of a tight cluster of 16 galaxies, many of them being dwarf galaxies. The galaxy cluster Hickson Compact Group 90 lies about 100 million light - years away in the direction of the constellation Piscis Austrinus, the Southern Fish / Bridgeman Images
PIX4613210: Interacting galaxies Markarian 533 - Interacting galaxies Markarian 533 - The galaxy NGC 7674 (Markarian 533 or Arp 182) is located about 400 million years ago - light from Earth in the constellation Pegase. It is the most important member of a group of galaxies called Hickson 96 (HCG 96). This spiral galaxy seen from the front is in interaction with other companion galaxies. It has an active core. Image obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope on June 9, 2002. NGC 7674 (seen just above the center), also known as Markarian 533, is the brightest and largest member of the so - called Hickson 96 compact group of galaxies, consisting of four galaxies. This stunning Hubble image shows a spiral galaxy nearly face - on. The central bar - shaped structure is made up of stars. The shape of NGC 7674, including the long narrow streamers seen to the left of and below the galaxy can be accounted for by tidal interactions with its companions. NGC 7674 has a powerful active nucleus of the kind known as a type 2 Seyfert that is perhaps fed by gas drawn into the center through the interactions with the companions. NGC 7674 falls into the family of luminous infrared galaxies and is featured in ARP's Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies as number 182. It is located in the constellation of Pegasus, the Winged Horse, about 400 million light - years away from Earth. Image taken by the Hubble space telescope on June 9, 2002 / Bridgeman Images
PIX4613299: Irregular Galaxy IC 5152 in the Indian - A nearby galaxy, IC 5152 - IC 5152 is an irregular galaxy located about 5.8 million years ago - light. In the foreground, a star in our galaxy of 8th magnitude. Image made in 1982 with the 3.9m telescope of Siding Spring. This small blue galaxy is resolved into stars in this deep AAT picture, which means that it is relatively nearby. However despite its proximity, it is probably just beyond the Local Group, which is a loose collection of 30 or so galaxies within 2 or 3 million light years of the Milky Way. Apart from the Milky Way and the similarly massive M31 galaxy in Andromeda, most of our immediate extra - galactic neighbours are light - weight collections of stars and gas like IC 5152, though few (except the Large Magellanic Cloud) show such strong evidence of recent star formation The bright object which appears at the eastern end of the galaxy is an 8th magnitude blue star in the Milky Way / Bridgeman Images
PIX4613348: The Small Magellanic Cloud (NGC 292) - The Small Magellanic Cloud (NGC 292) - The Small Magellanic Cloud galaxy is about 240,000 years from Earth in the southern constellation of Toucan. It's one of the closest galaxies of the Lactee Way. Two globular clusters are visible in this image, on the right the Toucan cluster, at the top of the galaxy the NGC 362 cluster. The Small Magellanic Cloud is about 210,000 light years in the constellation of Tucana. It is one of the Milky Way's nearest neighbors. The globular clusters 47 Tucana (on the right) and NGC 362 (on the upper left corner) are also visible on this image / Bridgeman Images
PIX4621390: Around the Baade window - The Baade's window region - The Baade Window (at the bottom right of the Gamma star of Sagittarius, the brightest of this image) is a region of the Lactee Way in the constellation of Sagittarius containing little interstellar dust. This region, named in reference to the astronomer Walter Baade, allows astronomers to have a more degagee view of the center of our galaxy. The Baade window, (at the bottom right of the bright star close to the center of this image), is a region of the Milky Way, in the Sagittarius constellation, with relatively little interstellar dust along our line of sight. It is therefore really a unique 'window' through which the astronomers can observe the Milky Way galactic Bulge, only a few degrees from the galactic center. The 'line of sight' through this 'window' passes 1800 light year nearby the Milky Way heart. This region of the sky was named after German astronomer Walter Baade / Bridgeman Images
PIX4621573: Cometary blood cell CG4 in the stern - Cometary blood cell CG4 - Cometary blood cells are small clouds of isolated gases. The latter, called CG4, is located about 1300 light years ago in the constellation of Pupus. Its head is 1.5 years - light and its tail (off-field) extends for 8 years - light. This cloud is a star-forming region. Image obtained by the VLT. The cometary globule CG4 glows menacingly in this image from Eso's Very Large Telescope. Although it looks huge and bright in this image it is actually a faint nebula and not easy to observe. The exact nature of CG4 remains a mystery / Bridgeman Images
PIX4621785: Dark nebula and T star - Tauri in the Swan - Dark nebula and T - Tauri Star in Cygnus - Dark nebula LDN 981 with at its extremite (at the top of the picture) the variable star T - Tauri V1331 Cygni. V1331 Cyg is a variable T - Tauri star located at the tip (top of image) of a long dust filament linking it to the dark cloud LDN 981 / Bridgeman Images
PIX4621882: Nebula IC 405, star Aurigae in the Coach - Nebula IC 405, star Aurigae in the Coach - IC 405, is a nebula illuminated by the massive star AE Aurigae. This type O star is a “” fleeing star”, a star ejected from the Orion nebula about 2.5 million years ago and continues its race at a speed of 200 km per second / Bridgeman Images
PIX4621903: Nebula IC 405, star AE Aurigae in the Coach - Nebula IC 405 and runaway star AE Aurigae - IC 405, is a nebula illuminated by the massive star AE Aurigae. This type O star is a “” fleeing star”, a star ejected from the Orion nebula about 2.5 million years ago and continues its race at a speed of 200 km per second. The Flaming Star Nebula, IC 405, surrounds the variable star AE Aurigae. AE Aurigae is normally a 5.96 magnitude star of spectral class O. The star AE Aurigae itself is very bright, young, blue, and known as a runaway star since it appears to have been ejected from the Orion Nebula region about 2.5 million years ago / 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
PIX4610310: Galaxies M81 - M82 in the Great Bear and SN 1993J - Galaxies M81 and M82 in Ursa Major with SN 1993J - In 1993 the supernova SN 1993J appeared in the galaxy M81. M81 (left) is a spiral galaxy. M82 (right) an irregular galaxy. Separated for about 150,000 light years, these two galaxies belong to the galaxy cluster closest to our local group. These galaxies are approximately 12 million light years away from Earth. In 1993, a star inside of M81 exploded in a supernova named SN 1993J. M81, seen here at left, is a grand design spiral galaxy that forms a physical pair with irregular galaxy M82. They are separated by 150,000 light years at a distance of 12 million light years. This galaxy group, consisting of M81, M82, NGC 3077 and NGC 2976, is the nearest galaxy group to our own local group of galaxies that contains the Milky Way, Magellanic Clouds, M33, and the M31 - M32 - M110 system / Bridgeman Images
PIX4610559: Barree spiral galaxy NGC 3259 in the Great Bear - Barred spiral galaxy NGC 3259 in Ursa Major - The barree spiral galaxy NGC 3259 is located about 110 million years away - light from Earth. This galaxy houses a black hole in its heart as well as large zones of star formation in its arms. This image was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). This classic shot of a galaxy in the constellation of Ursa Major was taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. NGC 3259 is a bright barred spiral galaxy located approximately 110 million light - years from Earth. Being a fully - formed active galaxy, its bright central bulge hosts a supermassive black hole, whose huge appetite for matter explains the high luminosity of the galaxy's core: as it devours its surroundings, the black hole emits intense radiation across the whole electromagnetic spectrum, including in visible light. The beautiful spiral arms of the galaxy are not left out either as they contain dark lanes of dust and gas, ideal spawning grounds for stars. These bright, young, hot stars appear in rich clusters in the galaxy's arms and are what gives the galaxy its blueish hue. Interestingly, the galaxy has a small companion (visible to the left of the image), a much smaller galaxy that may be orbiting NGC 3259. In the background, numerous distant galaxies can be seen, easily identifiable by their elliptical shapes. They are visible here mainly in infrared light, which is shown in red in this image / Bridgeman Images
PIX4610568: Spiral galaxies NGC 3314 A and B in Hydra - Galaxy pair NGC 3314 in Hydra - NGC 3314 is a pair of spiral galaxies distant about 140 million years - Earth light. These galaxies are not interacting but just perfectly aligned in front of each other from Earth. Nasa's Hubble Space Telescope shows a rare view of a pair of overlapping galaxies, called NGC 3314. The two galaxies look as if they are colliding, but they are actually separated by tens of millions of light - years, or about ten times the distance between our Milky Way and the neighboring Andromeda galaxy. The chance alignment of the two galaxies, as seen from Earth, gives a unique look at the silhouetted spiral arms in the closer face - on spiral, NGC 3314A. The motion of the two galaxies indicates that they are both relatively undisturbed and that they are moving in markedly different directions. The color composite was produced from exposures taken in blue and red light with Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys. The pair of galaxies lie roughly 140 million light - years from Earth, in the direction of the southern hemisphere constellatio / Bridgeman Images
PIX4610602: Barree spiral galaxy M95 in the Lion - Barred spiral galaxy M95 in Leo - M95 (NGC 3351), is a barree spiral of type SBB. It belongs to the Leo I galaxy group, also known as the M96 group. It also contains M96, M105 and a number of weaker galaxies. This galaxy is located about 38 million light years away from Earth. Image obtained with a 50 cm telescope, composite of several poses. The SBB barred spiral galaxy M95, is a member of the Leo I galaxy grouping, which includes M96 and M105 as well as various other galaxies, all at a distance of about 37 million light - years / 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