PIX4564944: Globular cluster M22 in Sagittarius - Globular cluster M22 in Sagittarius - M22 (NGC 6656) is one of the closest globular clusters of the Sun, located about 10 400 years ago - light. Age 12 billion years, it is the third most brilliant globular cluster among the 150 known in the lactee pathway. Image obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). M22 (NGC 6656) is one of the nearest globular clusters to our sun (distance 10 400 light years). Its stars stretch some 200 light years across and its collective brightness ranks it third among the 150 known Milky Way globulars. It is outshined visually only by the two bright southern globulars, Omega Centauri and 47 Tucanae. M22 is considered an old globular cluster having its beginning some 12 billion years ago not long after the formation of the Milky Way / Bridgeman Images
PIX4565138: Globular cluster M15 in Pegase - Globular cluster M15 in Pegasus - Located about 40,000 years ago - light from Earth in the constellation Pegase, M15 is one of 150 known globular clusters forming a vast halo around our galaxy. Lying some 40,000 light - years from Earth in the direction of the constellation Pegasus, M15 is one of almost 150 known globular clusters that form a vast halo surrounding our Milky Way galaxy / Bridgeman Images
PIX4565141: Globular cluster M15 in Pegase - Globular cluster M15 in Pegasus - View of the globular cluster M15 by the Hubble space telescope. Located about 35,000 light years away from Earth in the constellation Pegase, M15 is one of 150 known globular clusters forming a vast halo around our galaxy. The bluish object in the middle left of the image is a planetary nebula: Kuestner 648 (Pease 1). Planetary nebulae are gas shells ejected by a star at the end of life, after its phase of red giante; they are very rarely observed in globular clusters or their presence is not yet well understood. The globular cluster Messier 15 is shown in this color image obtained with the NASA Hubble Space Telescope. Lying some 35,000 light - years from Earth in the direction of the constellation Pegasus, M15 is one of almost 150 known globular clusters that form a vast halo surrounding our Milky Way galaxy. The bluish object to the middle left of the image is a gas cloud surrounding a dying star, a planetary nebula known as Kuestner 648 (or Pease 1), its existence among a globular cluster is not well understood / Bridgeman Images
PIX4565253: Galaxy clusters Abell 1060 in Hydra - The Hydra cluster of galaxies (Abell 1060) - The galaxy in the center is the spiral galaxy NGC 3312. To its right, the brightest elliptical galaxies of this cluster: NGC 3311. The two bright stars are closer and belong to our galaxy. This splendid cluster of galaxies in Hydra is framed by two nearby, cool stars in our own Milky Way. The brightest is about 5th magnitude, visible to the unaided eye only under a dark sky; the second brightest is below naked - eye visibility. In contrast the galaxies appear featureless in all but the largest telescopes. The bluish, elongated galaxy is an edge - on spiral, NGC 3312. It has been distorted by interactions with its neighbours. They in turn have been affected, and the brightest of the two adjacent yellow elliptical galaxies (NGC 3311) has an assymetrical envelope, perhaps as a result of this encounter. It's hard to tell who is jostling who in a crowded group of galaxies such as this. Among the most interesting galaxies in the group are two faint spirals (NGC 3314) that are by chance aligned along the line of sight. They are seen a little to the left of the fainter star and directly below the brighter / Bridgeman Images
PIX4565327: Coma cluster of galaxies Abell 1656 - Coma cluster of galaxies - The Coma cluster of galaxies consists of more than a thousand galaxies located 330 million years - light in the constellation Coma Berenices. This cluster is dominated by two large elliptical galaxies NGC 4874 on the right and NGC 4889 on the left. The Coma cluster of galaxies (Abell 1656) is one of the densest galaxy cluster known. It contains a thousand of galaxies and is located 330 million light years away. Two big elliptical galaxies dominate it: NGC 4874 (right) and NGC 4889 (left) / Bridgeman Images
PIX4565370: The cluster of galaxies in Fornax - The cluster of galaxies in Fornax - clusters of galaxies situated about 55 million years ago - light. In the center of the image is the barree spiral galaxy NGC 1365; at the bottom right of the image, the interaction galaxy NGC 1316 - 17 (Fornax A), which is one of the strongest known radiosource. Galaxies can be separated by their appearance into two broad groups, spirals and ellipticals. An example of a spiral galaxy, NGC 1365, is seen in center of this picture. In contrast, most of the galaxies in this cluster are ellipticals, which contain little or no gas or evidence of star formation; indeed they are composed millions of rather old, yellowish stars. Unlike many of the stars in spiral systems, those in ellipticals have orbits which are not confined to a narrow plane, so the galaxy can have a shape anywhere between a perfect sphere and an American football. This kind of galaxy is the most common type in the photograph as it is in all of the nearby Universe. The picture also illustrates another distinctive property of ellipticals, their gregarious nature - they congregate in clusters, like this group of galaxies in Fornax, 55 million light years distant. This image also shows us another, less common kind of galaxy. In the lower right corner is NGC 1316 - 17. This is interacting pair of galaxies is one of the strongest nearby radio galaxies, known as Fornax A. Finally, in the opposite corner is a bright yellow (K5) 4.5 magnitude star in the adjoining constellation of Eridanus / Bridgeman Images
PIX4565447: Central part of the Virgin galaxy cluster - Heart of the Virgo cluster of galaxies - The Virgin cluster contains about 2000 galaxies. The two elliptical galaxies are: at the center, M86 (NGC 4406), and M84 (NGC 4374), at the top. M86 and M84 are two giant lenticular galaxies at the heart of the Virgo cluster of galaxies. NGC 4438, a spiral galaxy at the bottom left of the photo, appears to be distorted by an interaction with nearby NGC 4435. Located about 70 million light years away, the Virgo cluster is a gigantic collection of several thousand galaxies that dominate our local part of the universe / Bridgeman Images
PIX4566025: Observation Night - Amateur astronomers observe the sky with a C14 telescope, 35 cm in diameter. In the sky, the constellations of Persee (above) and Coach (below) are visible. Amateur astronomers watching the sky with a Celestron 14”” telescope. Constellations of Perseus and Auriga are visible / Bridgeman Images
PIX4566259: The beginning of the night of a sky photographer - Amateur astronomer - The night falls in the island of La Palma. At the top of the volcano that dominates the island, photographer Serge Brunier prepares his material before night. The moon will soon set on the horizon. Amateur astronomer at La Palma Observatory in Canary islands / Bridgeman Images