Saturn Aurora

Saturn Aurora

A large amount of solar wind activity from the sun creates a bright aurora around the south pole of the planet Saturn, rising more than a thousand miles above its cloud tops.

Butterfly Nebula

Butterfly Nebula

Also known as the Bug Nebula, the butterfly-shaped nebula consists of heated gas made up of oxygen and nitrogen, the whole of which tears through space at speeds in excess of 60,000 miles an hour. The dying star in the center is not unlike our sun.

Crab Nebula

Crab Nebula
In 1054 AD, Chinese astronomers witnessed a stellar explosion in the constellation Taurus. One thousand years later, the tattered remnants of the super dense neutron star's explosion, also known as a supernova, are still visible, sweeping up gas as they expand at a rate of 1,500 kilometers per second and rotating about 30 times per second.

Centaurus A

Centaurus A

By looking deep into space, the Hubble has been able to photograph the past. Incredibly, with the help of Hubble, astronomers have been able to see what the universe looked like 600 million years after the Big Bang. It is believed that the firestorm of starbirth along the dark dust rift of Centaurus A is a result of a violent collision. Over 100 star formations have been identified here, mostly young stars in blue. The older, more evolved stars reside in the bulge of the galaxy, which also contains a super massive black hole at its center that is swallowing up a spiral galaxy containing millions of stars.

Antennae Galaxies

Antennae Galaxies 

Approximately 500 years ago, two galaxies collided together to form the Antennae galaxies in the constellation Corvus. They are the nearest and youngest example of galaxies fusing together to form what astronomers call interacting galaxies. In this process, billions of stars and star clusters are formed.

V838 Monocerotis

V838 Monocerotis

In the beginning of 2002, a dull star floating some 20,000 light-years away from the sun, in the constellation Monceros, experienced a major outburst that threw illuminating dust or 'light echos' into space, temporarily making it the brightest star in the Milky Way galaxy. Since its explosion, this mysterious star's apparent brightness has changed to mere obscurity.

Pluto

Pluto

Taken in 2002 and 2003, this is the most detailed and highest resolution image of the entire surface of the dwarf planet Pluto, a member of the population of bodies that reside in a part of our Solar System known as the Kuiper Belt. It is believed that the methane on Pluto's surface is broken up by the ultraviolet radiation from the sun, leaving behind a dark, carbon-rich residue.

Dark Matter and Dark Energy

Dark Matter and Dark Energy

The collection of photos taken by the Hubble includes some of the most detailed photographs ever taken of the things in our universe. In the 20 years since its launch, the Hubble has made close to 100 million images, confirming the existence of black holes, exoplanets, supernovae, nebulae, proplyds, and more recently, the existence of dark matter and energy.

More Than a Caterpillar

More Than a Caterpillar

A cosmic butterfly hovers in a lightly populated region of the Milky Way, 2,000 light years from Earth. Known as Sharpless 2-106, it gets its roughly symmetrical shape from outrushing heat streaming into a cold environme.

Dueling Galaxies

Dueling Galaxies

About 300 million light years from Earth, twin galaxies face off in the constellation Coma Berenices. The galaxies' dynamic look is belied by their timid nickname; they are known as "The Mice" because of their long, glowing tails.

Star Storm

Star Storm

Sagittarius never looked like this. A two-lobed nebula in the heart of the constellation, it lies some 3,000 light years from Earth and is home to the hottest star ever recorded. The nebula's powerful stellar winds send gas streaming 100 billion kilometers (62 billion miles) away, and its intense heat generates its brilliant light.

Pas de Deux

Pas de Deux

A delicate cosmic dance is taking place between two galaxies known together as ARP 273. The larger galaxy is an off-kilter spiral, suggesting that the smaller one has actually passed through it. Given the titanic forces that can be released when galaxies merge, these two are lucky to be in the healthy shape they are.

Inferno

Inferno

The Carina Nebula is a huge and exceedingly hot mass of stars located 7,500 light years from Earth. Outflowing stellar wind and blistering ultraviolet radiation roil the primal gas cloud that gave birth to the stars, making the nebula a beautiful thing to look at—but from a very safe distance.

Stellar Spotlight

Stellar Spotlight
Messier 70 is a globular cluster like Messier 9, though its stars are packed more tightly. The denser a cluster the brighter it is, and Messier 70 is thus easy for backyard astronomers to spot. Indeed, if anything, it will likely get brighter over the course of cosmic time, since it has experienced what's known as a core collapse, causing even more stars to huddle near its center.

E.T. Lives Here?

E.T. Lives Here

You can call this galaxy NGC 2683 if you want, but even astronomers refer to it simply as the UFO Galaxy because of its flying-saucer shape. That resemblance, however, is a function merely of the edge-on view we get of it. If you could soar above the UFO, it would reveal itself to be a spiral galaxy like the Milky Way.

Old Age Home

Old Age Home

Messier 9 is a spherical formation that contains about a quarter of a million stars, located near the center of our galaxy. If the Tarantula Nebula is a stellar nursery, Messier 9 is a retirement home. Its stars are up to 10 billion years old—twice as old as our own sun.