PIX4568402: Open cluster M26 in the ECU of Sobieski - Open cluster M26 in Scutum - M26 (NGC 6694) is located about 5000 years - light from Earth and is about 90 million years old. M26 is an open cluster in the constellation Scutum. A fairly tight cluster, in this deep image it has to compete with a very populous background of Milky Way stars. It is about 5000 light - years away and around 90 million years old / Bridgeman Images
PIX4568454: Open cluster M11 in the ECU of Sobieski - M11 open cluster in Scutum - M11 (NGC 6705) is a cluster of about 3000 stars. Image obtained by Siding Spring Clusters of bright blue stars like M11 are found scattered among the spiral arms of the Milky Way and other galaxies like it. They are a clear sign that star formation is active, because such clusters are usually very young and short lived. The stars in M11 all formed from the same material and at about the same time, a few million years ago. In 100 million years or so, all the brightest stars in the group will have evolved into cool supergiants and exploded as supernovae, leaving behind large numbers of low mass, relatively faint stars whose lives will be much longer and whose end will be much less dramatic. Located in the constellation of Scutum, it is sometimes mistaken for a loose globular cluster. M11 is also called the “” Wild Duck Cluster”” because of it's resemblance to a flight of wild ducks when viewed in a telescope. M11, with an overall brightness of magnitude 5.8, contains as many as 500 stars ranging from 8th magnitude down to 14th magnitude / Bridgeman Images
PIX4611436: M87 elliptical galaxy in Virgo - M87 elliptical galaxy in Virgo - The M87 galaxy (NGC 4486) is located about 52 million years away - light from Earth, in the heart of the Virgin's cluster. M87 is the brightest radio source in the constellation, it is also called Virgo A. Gigantic elliptical galaxy M87 is located at the heart of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies. Also known as radio source Virgo A, M87 is located about 60 million light years away. It appears to have a linear size of 120,000 light years and a mass estimated at 2.7 trillion solar masses, and an extreme luminosity, with an absolute magnitude of about - 22 / Bridgeman Images
PIX4611440: M87 elliptical galaxy in Virgo - M87 elliptical galaxy in Virgo - The M87 galaxy (NGC 4486) is 54 million years ago - light from Earth, in the heart of the Virgin's cluster. This image is a composite obtained in X-rays, radio and visible. Gas material is ejected from the heart of the galaxy. A supermassive black hole would have caused this jet. This image is a composite of visible (or optical), radio, and X - ray data of the giant elliptical galaxy, M87. M87 lies at a distance of 54 million light years and is the largest galaxy in the Virgo cluster of galaxies. Bright jets moving at close to the speed of light are seen at all wavelengths coming from the massive black hole at the center of the galaxy. It has also been identified with the strong radio source, Virgo A, and is a powerful source of X - rays as it resides near the center of a hot, X - ray emitting cloud that extends over much of the Virgo cluster. The extended radio emission consists of plumes of fast - moving gas from the jets rising into the X - ray emitting cluster medium. Chandra X - ray image in X - rays, M87 also reveals evidence for a series of outbursts from the central supermassive black hole. The loops and bubbles in the hot, X - ray emitting gas are relics of small outbursts from close to the black hole. Other interesting features in M87 are narrow filaments of X - ray emission, which may be due to hot gas trapped by magnetic fields. One of these filaments is over 100,000 light years long, and extends below and to the right of the center of M87 in almost a straight line. The optical data of M87 were obtained with Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys in visible and infrared filters / Bridgeman Images
PIX4611784: Galaxy NGC 4631 in Hunting Dogs - Spiral galaxy NGC 4631 in Canes Venatici - Spiral galaxy seen by the slice located at a distance of 30 million years - light. Image obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has peered deep into NGC 4631, better known as the Whale Galaxy. Here, a profusion of starbirth lights up the galactic centre, revealing bands of dark material between us and the starburst. The galaxy's activity tapers off in its outer regions where there are fewer stars and less dust, but these are still punctuated by pockets of star formation. The Whale Galaxy is about 30 million light - years away from us in the constellation of Canes Venatici (The Hunting Dogs) and is a spiral galaxy much like the Milky Way. From our vantage point, however, we see the Whale Galaxy edge - on, seeing its glowing centre through dusty spiral arms. The galaxy's central bulge and asymmetric tapering disc have suggested the shape of a whale or a herring to past observers. Many supernovae - - the explosions of hot, blue, short - lived stars at least eight times the mass of the Sun - - have gone off in the core of the Whale Galaxy. The stellar pyrotechnics have bathed the galaxy in hot gas, visible to X - ray telescopes like ESA's XMM - Newton. Comparing the optical and near - infrared observations from Hubble with other telescopes sensitive to different wavelengths of light helps astronomers gather the full story behind celestial phenomena. From such work, the triggers of the starburst in the Whale Galaxy and others can be elucidated. The gravitational “” feeding”” on intergalactic material, as well as clumping caused by the gravitational interactions with its galactic neighbours, creates the areas of greater density where stars start to coalesce. Just as blue whales, the biggest creatures on Earth, can gorge themselves on comparatively tiny bits of plankton, so the Whale Galaxy has become filled with the gas and dust that p / Bridgeman Images
PIX4611833: Colliding galaxies NGC 4676 in Berenice's Hair - Colliding galaxies NGC 4676 - The galaxy NGC 4676 is located about 300 million years away - light from Earth. It is a system of two spiral galaxies that collide and eventually become one galaxy. Image obtained on May 31, 2008 with a telescope 61 cm in diameter. Located 300 million light - years away in the constellation Coma Berenices, the colliding galaxies have been nicknamed “” The Mice”” because of the long tails of stars and gas emanating from each galaxy. Otherwise known as NGC 4676, the pair will eventually merge into a single giant galaxy. Image taken on May 31 2008 with a 24 - inch telescope / Bridgeman Images
PIX4612037: Barree spiral galaxy NGC 4945 in Centaurus - Barred spiral galaxy NGC 4945 in Centaurus - The barree spiral galaxy NGC 4945 is located about 13 million years away - light from Earth. This remarkable spiral galaxy seen almost edge - on is located at about 13 million years away in southern constellation of Centaurus. The galaxy is extremely dusty, and it is seen through dust in the Milky Way / Bridgeman Images
PIX4631925: Earth on star background - North America - Earth with starry sky - North America - Image of Earth recomposed from different satellite images. A star background has been added. Composite images obtained with data collected from several satellites. A starry sky background was added / Bridgeman Images
PIX4631931: Earth on star background - Pole Sud - Earth with starry sky - South Pole - Image of the Earth recomposed from different satellite images. A star background has been added. Composite images obtained with data collected from several satellites. A starry sky background was added / Bridgeman Images
PIX4632061: The Earth - Topographic View - Altimetric view of earth. - Bathymetric and topographic map of the Earth. Image made from radar data. The topography of the seabed was obtained from boat surveys, as well as from data obtained from ERS-1, ERS-2 and Geosat satellites. Altimetric data on the continents come from observations from the ERS-1 satellite. Color code uses: purple (- 8000m) to white (+ 3000m to+8000m); green 0 to 400 meters altitude. This global map was realized by merging a bathymetry model and the Altimetry Corrected Elevations (ACE). For the ocean, the global bathymetry was constructed by blending depth soundings collected from ships with detailed gravity anomaly information obtained from the Geosat (US Navy) and ERS - 1/2 (ESA) satellite altimetry missions. For the land elevation, database of ERS - 1 satellite altimeter were reprocessed / Bridgeman Images
PIX4632155: Evolution of the ozone hole at the southern pole from 1979 to 2004 - Ozole hole evolution - The image shows the ozone hole on the southern pole from 1979 to 2004 (except 1995) at its maximum level each year. Image based on Earth Probe - TOMS satellite data. The image shows the maximum stratospheric ozone hole over the Antarctic for years 1979 to 2004 (except 1995). Datas from Earth Probe, TOMS instrument / Bridgeman Images
PIX4632280: La Terre vue par satellite - Flying over 700 km above the Earth onboard the Terra satellite, MODIS provides an integrated tool for observing a variety of terrestrial, oceanic, and atmospheric features of the Earth. The land and coastal ocean portions of these images are based on surface observations collected from June through September 2001 and combined, or composited, every eight days to compensate for clouds that might block the sensor's view of the surface on any single day. Two different types of ocean data were used in these images: shallow water true color data, and global ocean color (or chlorophyll) data. Topographic shading is based on the GTOPO 30 elevation dataset compiled by the U.S. Geological Survey's EROS Data Center. MODIS observations of polar sea ice were combined with observations of Antarctica made by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's AVHRR sensor - - the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer / Bridgeman Images
PIX4612294: Spiral Galaxy M51 in Hunting Dogs - Galaxy Spiral M51 - The spiral galaxy M51 (NGC 5194) is located about 37 million years away - light from Earth. Image made with an amateur instrument, a 130 mm bezel. M51 is a wonderful bright face - on spiral galaxy located about 37 million light years away from us. It was one of the first discoveries made by Charles Messier in 1773, and it was the first galaxy where spiral structure was observed, by Lord Rosse in 1845. A faint companion galaxy, NGC 5195, seen here to the right of M51, seems to be interacting with M51. NGC 5195 shines at 9.6 magnitude and is about 5 arc minutes in diameter / Bridgeman Images