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In this composite image, the central region of Orion is seen as never before through NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Hubble Space Telescope. Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Penn State/E.Feigelson & K.Getman et al.; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI/M. Robberto et al.
 
 
Peering into the Orion Nebula
The star-forming region NGC 3603 - seen here in the latest Hubble Space Telescope image - contains one of the most impressive massive young star clusters in the Milky Way. Bathed in gas and dust the cluster formed in a huge rush of star formation thought to have occurred around a million years ago. The hot blue stars at the core are responsible for carving out a huge cavity in the gas seen to the right of the star cluster in NGC 3603's centre. Credit: NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration
 
 
Extreme Star Cluster Bursts Into Life
This composite image of X-ray and optical light shows a tail that has been created as a galaxy plunges into a cluster, shedding material and forming stars behind it. In this image, X-rays from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory (blue) are seen to extend for over 200,000 light years behind the galaxy called ESO 137-001. Emission from hydrogen light (red), known to astronomers as
 
 
Orphan Stars Found in Long Galaxy Tail
While perhaps not quite as well known as its star-formation cousin Orion, the Corona Australis region (containing, at its heart, the Coronet cluster) is one of the nearest and most active regions of ongoing star formation. At only about 420 light-years away, the Coronet is over three times closer than the Orion nebula is to Earth. The Coronet contains a loose cluster of a few dozen young stars with a wide range of masses and at various stages of evolution, giving astronomers an opportunity to observe embryonic stars simultaneously in several wavelengths. This composite image shows the Coronet in X-rays from Chandra (purple) and infrared from Spitzer (orange, green, and cyan). The Spitzer image shows young stars plus diffuse emission from dust. Due to the host of young stars in different life stages in the Coronet, astronomers can use these data to pinpoint details of how the youngest stars evolve. Credit: NASA/CXC/JPL-Caltech/CfA
 
 
Coronet: A Star-Formation Neighbor
He 2-47, at top, left, is dubbed the
 
 
Hubble Captures Stars Going Out in Style
In this image of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field, several objects are identified as the faintest, most compact galaxies ever observed in the distant Universe. They are so far away that we see them as they looked less than one billion years after the Big Bang. Blazing with the brilliance of millions of stars, each of the newly discovered galaxies is a hundred to a thousand times smaller than our Milky Way Galaxy. The bottom row of pictures shows several of these clumps (distance expressed in redshift value). Three of the galaxies appear to be slightly disrupted. Rather than being shaped like rounded blobs, they appear stretched into tadpole-like shapes. This is a sign that they may be interacting and merging with neighboring galaxies to form larger structures. The detection required joint observations between Hubble and NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Blue light seen by Hubble shows the presence of young stars. The absence of red light from Spitzer observations conclusively shows that these are truly young galaxies without an earlier generation of stars. Credit: NASA, ESA, and N. Pirzkal (European Space Agency/STScI)
 
 
Hubble and Spitzer Uncover Smallest Galaxy Building Blocks
This is a composite image of the spiral galaxy M101 taken by JAXA's AKARI Infrared Space Telescope. The image shows the distribution of cold (blue) and warm (red) dust overlaid on the visible (green, showing distribution of stars) and far-ultraviolet (cyan, indicating the location of young stars) images of M101. Credits: JAXA
 
 
Spiral Galaxy M101
Astronomers used Chandra to peer into a region of the Small Magellanic Cloud. This area, known as LHa115-N19 or N19 for short, is filled with ionized hydrogen gas and it is where many massive stars are expelling dust and gas through stellar winds. When the X-ray data are combined with the other wavelengths, researchers find evidence for the formation of a so-called superbubble. Superbubbles are formed when smaller structures from individual stars and supernovas combine into one giant cavity. Credit: NASA/CXC/UIUC/R.Williams et al.
 
 
Chandra X-ray Image of LHa115-N19
Astronomers used Chandra to peer into a region of the Small Magellanic Cloud. This area, known as LHa115-N19 or N19 for short, is filled with ionized hydrogen gas and it is where many massive stars are expelling dust and gas through stellar winds. When the X-ray data are combined with the other wavelengths, researchers find evidence for the formation of a so-called superbubble. Superbubbles are formed when smaller structures from individual stars and supernovas combine into one giant cavity. Credit: NASA/CXC/UIUC/R.Williams et al.; Optical: NOAO/CTIO/MCELS coll.; Radio: ATCA/UIUC/R.Williams et al.
 
 
Blowing Cosmic Super Bubbles
This image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows a stellar nursery called NGC 1333. NGC 1333 is located about 1,000 light-years away in the Perseus constellation. It is a cloud of gas and dust that is busy manufacturing new stars. Spitzer discovered that a pre-planetary disk of dust surrounding an embryonic star within this region, called NGC 1333-IRAS 4B, is drenched with water vapor. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. A. Gutermuth (Harvard-Smithsonian CfA)
 
 
Steamy Star in NGC 1333
The Helix Nebula, which is composed of gaseous shells and disks puffed out by a dying sunlike star, exhibits complex structure on the smallest visible scales. In this new image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, infrared light at wavelengths of 3.2, 4.5, and 8.0 microns has been colored blue, green, and red (respectively). The
 
 
The Infrared Helix (Expanded View)
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captures a rare view of the entire ring system of the planet Uranus, tilted edge-on to Earth. The rings were photographed with Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 on August 14, 2007. The edge-on rings appear as spikes above and below the planet. The rings cannot be seen running fully across the face of the planet because the bright glare of the planet has been blocked out in the HST photo (a small amount of residual glare appears as a fan-shaped image artifact, along with an edge between the exposure for the inner and outer rings). A much shorter color exposure of the planet has been photo-composited to show its size and position relative to the ring plane. Credit: NASA, ESA, and M. Showalter (SETI Institute)
 
 
Hubble Captures Full View of Uranus's Rings on Edge
This series of images from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope shows how the ring system around the distant planet Uranus appears at ever more oblique (shallower) tilts as viewed from Earth - culminating in the rings being seen edge-on in three observing opportunities in 2007. The best of these events appears in the far right image taken with Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 on August 14, 2007. The edge-on rings appear as two spikes above and below the planet. The rings cannot be seen running fully across the face of the planet because the bright glare of the planet has been blocked out in the Hubble photo (a small amount of residual glare appears as a fan- shaped image artifact). A much shorter color exposure of the planet has been photo- composited to show its size and position relative to the ring plane. Credit: NASA, ESA, and M. Showalter (SETI Institute)
 
 
Hubble Captures Uranus's Rings on Edge
Astronomers have discovered a chaotic scene unlike any witnessed before in a cosmic
 
 
Multi-Wavelength Image of Abell 520
A close-up view of a star racing through space faster than a speeding bullet can be seen in this image from NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer. The star, called Mira, is traveling at 130 kilometers per second, or 291,000 miles per hour. As it hurls along, it sheds material that will be recycled into new stars, planets and possibly even life. In this image, Mira is moving from left to right. It is visible as the pinkish dot in the bulb shape at right. The yellow dot below is a foreground star. Mira is traveling so fast that it's creating a bow shock, or build-up of gas, in front of it, as can be seen here at right. This image consists of data captured by both the far- and near-ultraviolet detectors on the Galaxy Evolution Explorer between November 18 and December 15, 2006. It has a total exposure time of about 3 hours. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
 
 
Anatomy of a Shooting Star
New ultraviolet images from NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer shows a speeding star that is leaving an enormous trail of
 
 
Mira Soars Through the Sky
The supernova of 393 AD was recorded by the Chinese and was visible for about 8 months, reaching the brightness of Jupiter. There are several supernova remnants within this region, so it is difficult to identify the remnant of SN 393 AD with certainty. X-rays from G347.3-0.5 are dominated by radiation from extremely high-energy electrons in a magnetized shell rather than radiation from a hot gas. The remnant, seen by Chandra (inset box) and XMM-Newton, is also a source of very high-energy gamma rays. The bright, point-like source on the lower right in the image (which shows only the upper portion of the entire remnant) is similar to other known neutron stars and indicates that G347.3-0.5 is the remnant of a core-collapse supernova. Credit: Chandra: NASA/CXC/SAO/P.Slane et al.; XMM-Newton:ESA/RIKEN/J.Hiraga et al.
 
 
Chandra and XMM-Newton X-ray Images of G347.3-0.5
As reported in a single Chinese record, the supernova of 185 AD was visible for at least 8 months and reached a brightness comparable to Mars. Optical, radio, and X-ray emission observed at a location consistent with the Chinese record make RCW 86 the prime candidate for the remnant of SN 185 AD. Combined images from the Chandra (upper left and lower right boxes) and XMM-Newton X-ray observatories show low, medium and high-energy X-rays in red, green, and blue respectively. By studying the distribution of X-rays with energy, and measuring the remnant's size, scientists now surmise that RCW 86 was created by the explosion of a massive star roughly 2,000 years ago. Credit: Chandra: NASA/CXC/Univ. of Utrecht/J.Vink et al.; XMM-Newton: ESA/Univ. of Utrecht/J.Vink et al.
 
 
Chandra and XMM-Newton X-ray Images of RCW 86
This Spitzer picture is composed of three images taken with the telescope's Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) at 3.6 (blue), 4.5 (green), and 5.8 (red) microns. Tints of green in the image represent hot hydrogen gas excited when high-speed jets of gas ejected by infant stars collide with the cool gas in the surrounding cloud. Wisps of red in the background are organic molecules called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are being excited by stellar radiation from a neighboring star-forming region located to the east of this image, called W40. On Earth PAHs are found on charred barbeque grills and in the sooty automobile exhaust. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/L. Allen (Harvard-Smithsonian CfA) & Gould's Belt Legacy Team
 
 
Stellar siblings in Serpens South
One of the biggest galaxy collisions ever observed is taking place at the center of this image. The four white blobs in the middle are large galaxies that have begun to tangle and ultimately merge into a single gargantuan galaxy. The whitish cloud around the colliding galaxies contains billions of stars tossed out during the messy encounter. Other galaxies and stars appear in yellow, orange and red hues. Blue shows hot gas that permeates this distant region of tightly packed galaxies. NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope spotted the four-way collision, or merger, in a giant cluster of galaxies, called CL0958+4702, located nearly five billion light-years away. The dots in the picture are a combination of galaxies in the cluster; background galaxies located behind the cluster; and foreground stars in our own Milky Way galaxy. Infrared data from Spitzer are colored red in this picture, while visible-light data from a telescope known as WIYN are green. Areas where green and red overlap appear orange or yellow. Since most galaxies in the cluster contain old stars that are visible to Spitzer and WIYN, those galaxies appear orange. Blue represents X-ray light captured by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. The colliding galaxies appear white because they are in areas where all the colors overlap. The WIYN telescope, located near Tucson, Ariz., is owned and operated by the WIYN Consortium, which consists of the University of Wisconsin, Indiana University, Yale University, and the National Optical Astronomy Observatory. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/K. Rines (Harvard-Smithsonian CfA)
 
 
Whopper Galaxy Collision
The image displays two characteristic features: sharp filaments and diffuse emission. These correspond to two different viewing geometries: sharp filaments correspond to an edge-on view of a shock front, and diffuse emission corresponds to a face-on view of it. The image was taken with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) on board the Hubble Space Telescope. The colour is produced by composite of three different images. The different colours indicate emission from different kinds of atoms excited by the shock: blue shows oxygen, green shows sulphur, and red shows hydrogen. Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration. Acknowledgment: J. Hester (Arizona State University)
 
 
Uncovering the Veil Nebula
This image is a close-up of the Veil Nebula - the shattered remains of a supernova that exploded some 5-10,000 years ago. The image provides a beautiful view of the delicate, wispy structure resulting from this cosmic explosion. Also known as Cygnus Loop, the Veil Nebula is located in the constellation of Cygnus, the Swan, and is about 1,500 light-years away from Earth. The image was taken with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) on board the Hubble Space Telescope. The colour is produced by composite of three different images. The different colours indicate emission from different kinds of atoms excited by the shock: blue shows oxygen, green shows sulphur, and red shows hydrogen. Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration. Acknowledgment: J. Hester (Arizona State University)
 
 
Uncovering the Veil Nebula
This image shows a small portion of the Veil Nebula - the shattered remains of a supernova that exploded some 5-10,000 years ago. The intertwined rope-like filaments of gas result from the enormous amounts of energy released as the fast-moving debris from the explosion ploughs into its surroundings and creates shock fronts. These shocks, driven by debris moving at 600,000 kilometres per hour, heat the gas to millions of degrees. It is the subsequent cooling of this material that produces the brilliantly coloured glows. The image was taken with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) on board the Hubble Space Telescope. The colour is produced by composite of three different images. The different colours indicate emission from different kinds of atoms excited by the shock: blue shows oxygen, green shows sulphur, and red shows hydrogen. Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration. Acknowledgment: J. Hester (Arizona State University)
 
 
Uncovering the Veil Nebula
This false-colour composite was obtained by AKARI's Far Infrared Surveyor (FIS) instrument at 90 and 140 micrometres. It shows star-forming regions in the constellation Cygnus, one of the brightest regions in the Milky Way. The image covers 7.6 x 10.0 square degrees. This region is in a direction along the so-called ‘Orion arm', one of the spiral arms of our Galaxy. Many objects at distances of three thousand to ten thousand light years are projected on this small region. The Galactic plane appears from the top-left to bottom-right. Credits: JAXA
 
 
Cygnus region in infrared light by AKARI
AKARI's Far Infrared Surveyor (FIS) instrument also observed the Milky Way and the Orion region. In this image, two views at visual light (left) and infrared light (right) are juxtaposed, both covering a region of about 30x40 square degrees. AKARI's view is taken at 140 micrometres. For the first time ever, AKARI provided coverage of the Orion region at infrared wavelengths longer than 100 micrometres at such fine resolution. The right side of the image covers the constellation Orion while the left side shows the Monoceros. The Galactic Plane is located from the top to bottom in the left side of the image. Cold dust in the Galactic Plane appears as diffuse radiation over the entire image. Credits: Hideo Fukushima, National Astronomical Observatory Japan (left); JAXA (right)
 
 
Orion region in infrared light by AKARI
This image shows the entire sky in infrared light at nine micrometres. The bright stripe extending from left to right is the disc of our own Milky Way Galaxy. Several bright regions corresponding to strong infrared radiation appear along or next to the Galactic Plane. These regions are sites of newly born stars. At the brightest region in the very centre of the image, towards the centre of our Galaxy, old stars crowd together. AKARI observed the infrared radiation emitted from the heated interstellar dust. The inscriptions indicate constellations and regions of intense star formation. The data used to create this image have a spatial resolution of about nine arcseconds, several times finer than IRAS in 1983. Further detailed analysis of this data will help to learn more about the physical conditions of these star formation regions. Credits: JAXA
 
 
Detailed all-sky map in infrared light by AKARI
This image shows the entire sky in infrared light at nine micrometres. The bright stripe extending from left to right is the disc of our own Milky Way Galaxy. Several bright regions corresponding to strong infrared radiation appear along or next to the Galactic Plane. These regions are sites of newly born stars. At the brightest region in the very centre of the image, towards the centre of our Galaxy, old stars crowd together. AKARI observed the infrared radiation emitted from the heated interstellar dust. Credits: JAXA
 
 
Detailed all-sky map in infrared light by AKARI
Hundreds of thousands of vibrant blue and red stars are visible in this new image of galaxy NGC 4449 taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Hot bluish white clusters of massive stars are scattered throughout the galaxy, interspersed with numerous dustier reddish regions of current star formation. Massive dark clouds of gas and dust are silhouetted against the flaming starlight. Credit: NASA, ESA, A. Aloisi (STScI/ESA), and The Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration
 
 
Stellar fireworks are ablaze in galaxy NGC 4449
Massive Jupiter is undergoing dramatic atmospheric changes that have never been seen before with Hubble Space Telescope. Jupiter's turbulent clouds are always changing as they encounter atmospheric disturbances while sweeping around the planet at hundreds of miles per hour. But these Hubble images reveal a rapid transformation in the shape and color of Jupiter's clouds near the equator, marking an entire face of the globe. Credit: Credit: NASA, ESA, A. Simon-Miller (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center), A. Sanchez-Lavega, R. Hueso, and S. Perez-Hoyos (University of the Basque Country), E. Garcia-Melendo (Esteve Duran Observatory Foundation, Spain), and G. Orton (Jet Propulsion Laboratory)
 
 
Hubble Catches Jupiter Changing Its Stripes
The Galaxy Evolution Explorer's ultraviolet eyes have captured a globular star cluster, called NGC 362, in our own Milky Way galaxy. In this new image, the cluster appears next to stars from a more distant neighboring galaxy, known as the Small Magellanic Cloud. This image is a false-color composite, where light detected by the Galaxy Evolution Explorer's far-ultraviolet detector is colored blue, and light from the telescope's near-ultraviolet detector is red. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Virginia
 
 
Galaxy Evolution Explorer Spies Band of Stars
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