Comet Heart and Soul
23.08.2018

The greenish coma of comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner stands out at the left of this telephoto skyscape spanning over 10 degrees toward the northern constellations Cassiopeia and Perseus. Captured on August 17, the periodic comet is the known parent body of the upcoming Draconid meteor shower.

Distortion from a Distant Cluster
23.08.2001

This stunning color deep sky view toward the constellation Pisces was made with data from a fast, sensitive, digital detector known as the Big Throughput Camera operating at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile.

Four Quasar Images Surround a Galaxy Lens
27.02.2017

An odd thing about the group of lights near the center is that four of them are the same distant quasar. This is because the foreground galaxy -- in the center of the quasar images and the featured image -- is acting like a choppy gravitational lens.

NGC 2623: Galaxy Merger from Hubble
9.11.2009

Where do stars form when galaxies collide? To help find out, astronomers imaged the nearby galaxy merger NGC 2623 in high resolution with the Hubble Space Telescope in 2007. Analysis of this Hubble image...

NGC 2623: Merging Galaxies from Hubble
10.01.2018

Where do stars form when galaxies collide? To help find out, astronomers imaged the nearby galaxy merger NGC 2623 in high resolution with the Hubble Space Telescope. Analysis of this and other Hubble images...

Abell 2218: A Galaxy Cluster Lens
10.07.1995

Sometimes one of the largest concentrations of mass known can act like a lens. Almost all of the bright objects in this image are galaxies in the cluster known as Abell 2218. The cluster...

Starry Night Scavenger Hunt
15.06.2010

Did you know that Van Gogh's painting Starry Night includes Comet Hale-Bopp? Hopefully not, because it doesn't. But the above image does. Although today's featured picture may appear at first glance...

Starry Night Scavenger Hunt
18.09.2016

Did you know that van Gogh's painting Starry Night includes Comet Hale-Bopp? Hopefully not, because it doesn't. But the featured image does. Although today's picture may appear at first glance...

The Heart Of NGC 4261
19.10.1997

What evil lurks in the hearts of galaxies? This Hubble Space Telescope picture of the center of the nearby elliptical galaxy NGC 4261 tells one dramatic tale. The gas and dust in this disk are swirling into what is almost certainly a massive black hole.

The Heart Of NGC 4261
7.11.1999

Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of galaxies? The Hubble knows. This Hubble Space Telescope picture of the center of the nearby elliptical galaxy NGC 4261 tells one dramatic tale. The gas and dust in this disk are swirling into what is almost certainly a massive black hole.