{rokzoom album=|universe|title=||}images/stories/universe/crosstoeta1.jpg{/rokzoom} {rokzoom album=|universe|title=||}images/stories/universe/E_neb_360_49_60m_p400f1.jpg{/rokzoom} {rokzoom album=|universe|title=||}images/stories/universe/LMC_180_28_E200_2x20m1.jpg{/rokzoom} {rokzoom album=|universe|title=||}images/stories/universe/M16toM8_A_100_40_E200_45m1.jpg{/rokzoom} {rokzoom album=|universe|title=|The small, northern constellation Triangulum harbors this magnificent face-on spiral galaxy, M33. Its popular names include the Pinwheel Galaxy or just the Triangulum Galaxy. M33 is over 50,000 light-years in diameter, third largest in the Local Group of galaxies after the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), and our own Milky Way. About 3 million light-years from the Milky Way, M33 is itself thought to be a satellite of the Andromeda Galaxy and astronomers in these two galaxies would likely have spectacular views of each other's grand spiral star systems. |}images/stories/universe/M33_HA_LRGB1.jpg{/rokzoom} {rokzoom album=|universe|title=|The upper side of the Scorpius constellation, including the large red bubble of Sh2-27, the zeta Ophiuchi nebula.|}images/stories/universe/Upperscorpion_A_50_4_E200_45m1.jpg{/rokzoom} {rokzoom album=|universe|title=||}images/stories/universe/sh2-1_LRGB_ccd1.jpg{/rokzoom} {rokzoom album=|universe|title=|The Milky Way is a barred spiral galaxy that is part of the Local Group of galaxies. Although the Milky Way is one of billions of galaxies in the observable universe, its special significance to humanity is that it is the home galaxy of our Solar System. The plane of the Milky Way galaxy is visible from Earth as a band of light in the night sky, and it is the appearance of this band of light which has inspired the name for our galaxy. Some sources hold that, strictly speaking, the term Milky Way should refer exclusively to the observation of the band of light, while the full name Milky Way Galaxy, or alternatively the Galaxy should be used to describe our galaxy as an astrophysical whole. It is unclear how widespread the usage of this convention is, however, and the term Milky Way is routinely used in either context.|}images/stories/universe/Milkyway1.jpg{/rokzoom} {rokzoom album=|universe|title=||}images/stories/universe/NGC6888_HaOIIIRGB1.jpg{/rokzoom} {rokzoom album=|universe|title=|Crux is commonly known as the Southern Cross, is the smallest of the 88 modern constellations, but nevertheless one of the most distinctive. It is surrounded on three sides by the constellation Centaurus, and to the south lies Musca. Ancient Greeks originally considered Crux to be part of Centaurus; however, the precession of the equinoxes gradually lowered these stars below the European horizon, and they were eventually forgotten. (At the latitude of Athens in 1000 BC, Crux was clearly visible, though low in the sky; by AD 400, most of the constellation never rose above the horizon for Athenians.|}images/stories/universe/SouthernCross1.jpg{/rokzoom} {rokzoom album=|universe|title=|The pipe nebula (composed by B77, B78 and B59) is one of the largest dark nebulas in he sky (7°!). In this field of view are also well visible many other dark nebulas in that intricate network that is the central milky way.|}images/stories/universe/pipe_180_4_45m_p400f1.jpg{/rokzoom} {rokzoom album=|universe|title=|Rho Ophiuchi, A medium field view of the most colorful part of the sky.|}images/stories/universe/rho_180_4_45m_p400f1.jpg{/rokzoom} {rokzoom album=|universe|title=|The Scorpion, One of the most beautiful constellations, this area is a real mine of sky gems, Scorpius is one of the constellations of the zodiac. In western astrology it is known as Scorpio. It lies between Libra to the west and Sagittarius to the east. It is a large constellation located in the southern hemisphere near the center of the Milky Way.|}images/stories/universe/scorpius_diffuser_28_56_E200_60m1.jpg{/rokzoom} {rokzoom album=|universe|title=|Close to the south pole there is a couple of bright stars that aim to the Southern Cross, Alpha Centauri (Rigil Kent) and Beta Centauri (Hadar). For this reason these stars are known as the pointers. The bright (mag. zero) yellowish star on the left is Alpha Centauri, the star closest to the earth (a multiple system with Proxima Centauri), while the blue one rightward is Beta Centauri, of magnitude 0.6.|}images/stories/universe/pointers_100_40_E200_2x45m1.jpg{/rokzoom} {rokzoom album=|universe|title=|M82 The Cigar Galaxy irregular galaxy, M82 is another member of the M81 group of galaxies found in the region of Ursa Major. This object is officially classified as an irregular galaxy. Its shape contains no discernable structure. It is believed that this galaxy's core has suffered from a close encounter with its neighbor, M81. The elongated shape of this galaxy has earned it the name Cigar Galaxy. M82 is a strong source of infrared radiation. In fact, it is the brightest galaxy in the sky in infrared light. This galaxy is located about 12 million light years from Earth. Its close proximity to M81 makes it easy to find, although it is a somewhat disappointing sight in anything but the largest telescopes.|}images/stories/universe/1m82.jpg{/rokzoom} {rokzoom album=|universe|title=|Omega Centauri, NGC 5139, This is the biggest of all globular clusters in our Milky Way galaxy. With its about 5 million solar masses, it is about 10 times as massive as other big globulars, and has about the same mass as the smallest whole galaxies. It is also the most luminous Milky Way globular, and the brightest globular cluster in the sky. In the Local Group, it is outshined only by the brightest globular cluster G1 in the Andromeda Galaxy M31. In 1999, a team led by Young-Wook Lee of Yonsei University, South Korea, obtained a color-magnitude diagram (CMD) for 50,000 member stars of Omega Centauri with the 0.9-m telescope of CTIO in Chile. Studies of this CMD indicate that the stars of this cluster did not all form at once but over a 2-billion-year period of time, with several starburst peaks. This was the first time that multiple populations were found in a globular cluster. The team who carried out this work speculates that this result may indicate that Omega Centauri might be the remnant of a nucleus of a small galaxy which has merged with our Milky Way.|}images/stories/universe/omega_centauri.jpg{/rokzoom} {rokzoom album=|universe|title=|M81 Bode's Galaxy (nebula) spiral galaxy (type Sb), The constellation of Ursa Major is the site of a beautiful spiral galaxy known as M81. This is one of the easiest and most rewarding galaxies for the amateur astronomer. It is a bright object, at magnitude 6.8, and can be easily located with any optical instrument. Some say it can be spotted with the naked eye under dark skies and ideal observing conditions. M81 is the brightest member of a group of galaxies called the M81 group. This galaxy is believed to have interacted with its close neighbor, M82, at some point in the past. It was also the site of a supernova explosion in 1993. M81 is located approximately 12 million light years from Earth.|}images/stories/universe/m81.jpg{/rokzoom} {rokzoom album=|universe|title=|Center of V838, Monocerotis light, V838 Monocerotis (V838 Mon) is a variable star in the constellation Monoceros about 20,000 light years (6 kpc) from the Sun. The star experienced a major outburst in early 2002. Originally believed to be a typical nova eruption, it was then realized to be something completely different. The reason for the outburst is still uncertain, but several theories have been put forward, including an eruption related to stellar death processes and a merger of a binary star or planets.|}images/stories/universe/v838.jpg{/rokzoom} {rokzoom album=|universe|title=|NGC 3603 is a giant H II region in the Carina spiral arm of the Milky Way around 20,000 light-years away from our solar system. It was discovered by John Frederick William Herschel in 1834. It is home to an open cluster (centre of the image) containing about 2000 bright stars, each of which is much brighter and more massive than our Sun, and the only giant H II region in our galaxy that is visible at optical wavelengths.|}images/stories/universe/ngc3603.jpg{/rokzoom} {rokzoom album=|universe|title=|The Carina Nebula (also known as the Great Nebula in Carina, the Eta Carinae Nebula, or NGC 3372) is a large bright nebula that surrounds several open clusters of stars. Eta Carinae and HD 93129A, two of the most massive and luminous stars in our Milky Way galaxy, are among them. The nebula lies at an estimated distance between 6,500 and 10,000 light years from Earth. It is located in the constellation of Carina. The nebula contains multiple O-type stars.|}images/stories/universe/carina.jpg{/rokzoom} {rokzoom album=|universe|title=|N132D is the remnant of an exploded star in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The Chandra image shows a highly structured remnant, or shell, of 10-million-degree gas that is 80 light years across. The remnant is thought to be about 3,000 years old. The Large Magellanic Cloud, a companion galaxy to the Milky Way, is 160,000 light years from Earth.|}images/stories/universe/n132d.jpg{/rokzoom} {rokzoom album=|universe|title=|M16 is an open cluster associated with the Eagle Nebula (IC 4703) Appearing like a winged fairy-tale creature poised on a pedestal, this object is actually a billowing tower of cold gas and dust rising from a stellar nursery called the Eagle Nebula. The soaring tower is 9.5 light-years or about 90 trillion kilometres high, about twice the distance from our Sun to the next nearest star. Stars in the Eagle Nebula are born in clouds of cold hydrogen gas that reside in chaotic neighbourhoods, where energy from young stars sculpts fantasy-like landscapes in the gas. The tower may be a giant incubator for those newborn stars. A torrent of ultraviolet light from a band of massive, hot, young stars [off the top of the image] is eroding the pillar. The starlight also is responsible for illuminating the tower's rough surface.|}images/stories/universe/m16_eagle.jpg{/rokzoom} {rokzoom album=|universe|title=|M42 in the Center of the Orion Nebula (the Great Orion Nebula diffuse nebula). This spectacular color panorama of the center the Orion nebula is one of the largest pictures ever assembled from individual images taken with the Hubble Space Telescope. The picture, seamlessly composited from a mosaic of 15 separate fields, covers an area of sky about five percent the area covered by the full Moon. Discovered 1610 by Nicholas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc. Located at a distance of about 1,600 (or perhaps 1,500) light years, the Orion Nebula is the brightest diffuse nebula in the sky, visible to the naked eye, and rewarding in telescopes of every size, from the smallest glasses to the greatest Earth-bound observatories and the Hubble Space Telescope.|}images/stories/universe/m42.jpg{/rokzoom} {rokzoom album=|universe|title=|NGC 1316 (also known as Fornax A) is a lenticular galaxy about 70 million light-years away in the constellation Fornax. NGC 1316 is a radio galaxy. It is the fourth-brightest radio source in the sky (as seen at 1400 MHz).|}images/stories/universe/ngc1316.jpg{/rokzoom} {rokzoom album=|universe|title=| Big, beautiful, barred spiral galaxy NGC 1300 lies some 70 million light-years away on the banks of the constellation Eridanus. This Hubble Space Telescope composite view of the gorgeous island universe was released at this week's meeting of the American Astronomical Society as one of the largest Hubble images ever made of a complete galaxy. NGC 1300 spans over 100,000 light-years and the Hubble image reveals striking details of the galaxy's dominant central bar and majestic spiral arms. In fact, on close inspection the nucleus of this classic barred spiral itself shows a remarkable region of spiral structure about 3,000 light-years across. Unlike other spiral galaxies, including our own Milky Way, NGC 1300 is not presently known to have a massive central black hole.|}images/stories/universe/ngc1300.jpg{/rokzoom} {rokzoom album=|universe|title=|NGC 1093|}images/stories/universe/ngc6093.jpg{/rokzoom} {rokzoom album=|universe|title=|NGC 1672|}images/stories/universe/ngc1672.jpg{/rokzoom} {rokzoom album=|universe|title=|LMCN 49|}images/stories/universe/lmcn49.jpg{/rokzoom} {rokzoom album=|universe|title=|NGC 604|}images/stories/universe/ngc604.jpg{/rokzoom} {rokzoom album=|universe|title=|M104|}images/stories/universe/m104.jpg{/rokzoom} {rokzoom album=|universe|title=|M51|}images/stories/universe/m51.jpg{/rokzoom} {rokzoom album=|universe|title=|Herbig Haro 32|}images/stories/universe/herbig-haro32.jpg{/rokzoom} {rokzoom album=|universe|title=|Supernova 1987a|}images/stories/universe/supernova1987a.jpg{/rokzoom} {rokzoom album=|universe|title=|NGC 3132|}images/stories/universe/ngc3132.jpg{/rokzoom} {rokzoom album=|universe|title=|Saggitarius|}images/stories/universe/saggitarius.jpg{/rokzoom} {rokzoom album=|universe|title=|NGC 7331, A favorite target for astronomers, big, beautiful spiral galaxy NGC 7331 is one of the brighter galaxies not found in Charles Messier's famous 18th century catalog. About 50 million light-years distant in the northern constellation Pegasus and similar in size to our own Milky Way Galaxy, NGC 7331 is often imaged as the foreground of a visual grouping that includes an intriguing assortment of background galaxies some ten times farther away. This striking image of the well-studied island universe and environs was produced using data from the Calar Alto Observatory in southern Spain. Perhaps the deepest view of the region yet, the image data were processed to reveal sharp details of all sizes in both bright and faint areas. A color balance was chosen so that white would be the result of averaging colors over the entire galaxy. The result shows off a wealth of remarkable features in NGC 7331 and its surroundings.|}images/stories/universe/NGC7331_peris2500.jpg{/rokzoom} {rokzoom album=|universe|title=|NGC 346, The massive stars of NGC 346 are short lived, but very energetic. The star cluster is embedded in the largest star forming region in the Small Magellanic Cloud, some 210,000 light-years distant. Their winds and radiation sweep out an interstellar cavern in the gas and dust cloud about 200 light-years across, triggering star formation and sculpting the region's dense inner edge. Cataloged as N66, the star forming region also appears to contain a large population of infant stars. A mere 3 to 5 million years old and not yet burning hydrogen in their cores,the infant stars are strewn about the embedded star cluster. In the above false-color Hubble Space Telescope image, visible and near-infrared light are seen as blue and green, while light from atomic hydrogen emission is red.|}images/stories/universe/ngc346_hst_big.jpg{/rokzoom} {rokzoom album=|universe|title=|M83, Big, bright, and beautiful, spiral galaxy M83 lies a mere twelve million light-years away, near the southeastern tip of the very long constellation Hydra. Prominent spiral arms traced by dark dust lanes and blue star clusters lend this galaxy its popular name of the Southern Pinwheel. But reddish star forming regions that dot the sweeping arms highlighted in this sparkling color composite also suggest another nickname, The Thousand-Ruby Galaxy. About 40,000 light-years across, M83 is a member of a group of galaxies that includes active galaxy Centaurus A. The core of M83 itself is bright at x-ray energies, showing a high concentration of neutron stars and black holes left from an intense burst of star formation. The sharp image, based on archival data from the European Southern Observatory's Wide Field Imager camera, also features spiky foreground Milky Way stars and distant background galaxies.|}images/stories/universe/M83_ESOdemartin2048.jpg{/rokzoom} {rokzoom album=|universe|title=|NGC 6357, Massive stars lie within NGC 6357, an expansive emission nebula complex some 8,000 light-years away in the tail of the constellation Scorpius. In fact, positioned just below center in this close-up view of NGC 6357, star cluster Pismis 24 includes some of the most massive stars known in the galaxy, stars with over 100 times the mass of the Sun. The nebula's bright central region also contains dusty pillars of molecular gas, likely hiding massive protostars from the prying eyes of optical instruments. Intricate shapes in the nebula are carved by interstellar winds and energetic radiation from the young and newly forming massive stars. This alluring telescopic view spans just under 50 light-years at the estimated distance of NGC 6357. |}images/stories/universe/NGC6357_schedler.jpg{/rokzoom} {rokzoom album=|universe|title=|IC 5146: The Cocoon Nebula, Inside the Cocoon Nebula is a newly developing cluster of stars. Cataloged as IC 5146, the beautiful nebula is nearly 15 light-years wide, located some 4,000 light years away toward the northern constellation Cygnus. Like other star forming regions, it stands out in red, glowing, hydrogen gas excited by young, hot stars and blue, dust-reflected starlight at the edge of an otherwise invisible molecular cloud. In fact, the bright star near the center of this nebula is likely only a few hundred thousand years old, powering the nebular glow as it clears out a cavity in the molecular cloud's star forming dust and gas. This color view of the Cocoon Nebula traces remarkably subtle features within and surrounding the dusty stellar nursery.|}images/stories/universe/Cocoon_RS_crawford.jpg{/rokzoom} {rokzoom album=|universe|title=|Grand Spiral Galaxy NGC 1232, Galaxies are fascinating not only for what is visible, but for what is invisible. Grand spiral galaxy NGC 1232, captured in detail by one of the new Very Large Telescopes, is a good example. The visible is dominated by millions of bright stars and dark dust, caught up in a gravitational swirl of spiral arms revolving about the center. Open clusters containing bright blue stars can be seen sprinkled along these spiral arms, while dark lanes of dense interstellar dust can be seen sprinkled between them. Less visible, but detectable, are billions of dim normal stars and vast tracts of interstellar gas, together wielding such high mass that they dominate the dynamics of the inner galaxy. Invisible are even greater amounts of matter in a form we don't yet know - pervasive dark matter needed to explain the motions of the visible in the outer galaxy.|}images/stories/universe/ngc1232_vlt_big.jpg{/rokzoom} {rokzoom album=|universe|title=|M110: Satellite of the Andromeda Galaxy. Our Milky Way Galaxy is not alone. It is part of a gathering of about 25 galaxies known as the Local Group. Members include the Great Andromeda Galaxy (M31), M32, M33, the Large Magellanic Cloud, the Small Magellanic Cloud, Dwingeloo 1, several small irregular galaxies, and many dwarf elliptical and dwarf spheroidal galaxies. Pictured on the lower right is one of the dwarf ellipticals: NGC 205. Like M32, NGC 205 is a companion to the large M31, and can sometimes be seen to the south of M31's center in photographs. The image shows NGC 205 to be unusual for an elliptical galaxy in that it contains at least two dust clouds (at 9 and 2 o'clock - they are visible but hard to spot) and signs of recent star formation. This galaxy is sometimes known as M110, although it was actually not part of Messier's original catalog. |}images/stories/universe/m110_cfht_big1.jpg{/rokzoom} {rokzoom album=|universe|title=|Active galaxy NGC 1275 is the central, dominant member of the large and relatively nearby Perseus Cluster of Galaxies. A prodigious source of x-rays and radio emission, NGC 1275 accretes matter as entire galaxies fall into it, ultimately feeding a supermassive black hole at the galaxy's core. This stunning visible light image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows galactic debris and filaments of glowing gas, some up to 20,000 light-years long. The filaments persist in NGC 1275, even though the turmoil of galactic collisions should destroy them. What keeps the filaments together? Recent work indicates that the structures, pushed out from the galaxy's center by the black hole's activity, are held together by magnetic fields. To add x-ray data from the Chandra Observatory and radio data from the Very Large Array to the Hubble image, just slide your cursor over the picture. In the resulting composite, x-rays highlight the shells of hot gas surrounding the center of the galaxy, with radio emission filling giant bubble-shaped cavities. Also known as Perseus A, NGC 1275 spans over 100,000 light years and lies about 230 million light years away. |}images/stories/universe/ngc1275_web.jpg{/rokzoom} {rokzoom album=|universe|title=|NGC 6888, also known as the Crescent Nebula, is a cosmic bubble about 25 light-years across, blown by winds from its central, bright, massive star. This beautiful telescopic view combines a composite color image with narrow band data that isolates light from hydrogen and oxygen atoms in the wind-blown nebula. The oxygen atoms produce the blue-green hue that seems to enshroud the detailed folds and filaments. NGC 6888's central star is classified as a Wolf-Rayet star (WR 136). The star is shedding its outer envelope in a strong stellar wind, ejecting the equivalent of the Sun's mass every 10,000 years. The nebula's complex structures are likely the result of this strong wind interacting with material ejected in an earlier phase. Burning fuel at a prodigious rate and near the end of its stellar life this star should ultimately go out with a bang in a spectacular supernova explosion. Found in the nebula rich constellation Cygnus, NGC 6888 is about 5,000 light-years away. |}images/stories/universe/NGC6888_hallas.jpg{/rokzoom} {rokzoom album=|universe|title=|NGC 602, Near the outskirts of the Small Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy some 200 thousand light-years distant, lies 5 million year young star cluster NGC 602. Surrounded by natal gas and dust, NGC 602 is featured in this stunning Hubble image of the region. Fantastic ridges and swept back shapes strongly suggest that energetic radiation and shock waves from NGC 602's massive young stars have eroded the dusty material and triggered a progression of star formation moving away from the cluster's center. At the estimated distance of the Small Magellanic Cloud, the picture spans about 200 light-years, but a tantalizing assortment of background galaxies are also visible in the sharp Hubble view. The background galaxies are hundreds of millions of light-years or more beyond NGC 602.|}images/stories/universe/ngc602_hst_large.jpg{/rokzoom}
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