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NGC 346
Protoplanetary Disks in NGC 346 (NIRCam Image)
This is a James Webb Space Telescope image of NGC 346, a massive star cluster in the Small Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy that is one of the Milky Way's nearest neighbors. With its relative lack of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium, the NGC 346 cluster serves as a nearby proxy for...
Sombrero Galaxy
Sombrero Galaxy Webb and Hubble Comparison
This image compares the view of the famous Sombrero Galaxy in mid-infrared light (top) and visible light (bottom). The James Webb Space Telescope’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) reveals the smooth inner disk of the galaxy, while the Hubble Space Telescope’s visible-light image shows the large...
Sombrero Galaxy
Sombrero Galaxy (MIRI)
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope recently imaged the Sombrero Galaxy with its MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument), resolving the clumpy nature of the dust along the galaxy’s outer ring. The mid-infrared light highlights the gas and dust that are part of star formation taking place within the...
IC 2163 and NGC 2207
Webb and Hubble Examine Galaxy Pair
The gruesome palette of these galaxies is owed to a mix of mid-infrared light from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, and ultraviolet and visible light from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. The pair grazed one another millions of years ago. The smaller spiral on the left, cataloged as IC 2163,...
MACS J1423.8+2404
Firefly Sparkle Galaxy Inset (NIRCam Image)
For the first time, astronomers have identified a still-forming galaxy that weighs about the same as our Milky Way if we could “wind back the clock” to weigh our galaxy as it developed. The newly identified galaxy, the Firefly Sparkle, is in the process of assembling and forming stars, and...
MACS J1423.8+2404
MACS J1423.8+2404 (NIRCam Image)
Thousands of glimmering galaxies are bound together by their own gravity, making up a massive cluster formally classified as MACS J1423. The largest bright white oval is a supergiant elliptical galaxy and the dominant member of this galaxy cluster. The galaxy cluster acts like a lens,...
NGC 7331
The Milky Way’s Unusual Twin in Pegasus
The magnificent spiral galaxy NGC 7331, located approximately 40 million light-years away in the constellation Pegasus, is the brightest and closest galaxy in the visual galaxy group that bears its name, the NGC 7331 Group. Revealed in the details of this image are populations of hot stars and...
NGC 6357
The Lobster Nebula seen with ESO’s VISTA telescope
This image from ESO’s VISTA telescope captures a celestial landscape of vast, glowing clouds of gas and tendrils of dust surrounding hot young stars. This infrared view reveals the stellar nursery known as NGC 6357 in a new light. It was taken as part of the VISTA Variables in the Vía Láctea...
Milky Way
A 340-million pixel starscape from Paranal
The second of three images of ESO’s GigaGalaxy Zoom project is a new and wonderful 340-million-pixel vista of the central parts of our galactic home, a 34 by 20-degree wide image that provides us with a view as experienced by amateur astronomers around the world. Taken by Stéphane Guisard, an...
HFG1
Planetary Nebula HFG1
This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. HFG1 is a planetary nebula in the constellation of Cassiopeia. It was produced by a binary star system (V664 Cas) that is moving rapidly through our Galaxy....
NGC 1003
NGC 1003 (wide crop)
A stunning long-exposure observation lasting 70 minutes from the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab, reveals the surroundings of the spiral galaxy NGC 1003 in glorious detail. NGC 1003 resides in front of a galaxy cluster — a vast...
NGC 1512
Wider crop of the NGC 1512 image
The interacting galaxy pair NGC 1512 and NGC 1510 take center stage in this image from the Dark Energy Camera, a state-of-the art wide-field imager on the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab. NGC 1512 has been in the process of...
NGC 1515
A Collection of Spirals
At the center of this image is NGC 1515, an intermediate barred spiral galaxy that is part of the Dorado Group. Large-scale observations of the Universe have found that galaxies “clump” together. These clumps are held together by a loose gravitational pull and designated a group or cluster,...
Sextans A
The Cosmic Jewels of Sextans A
This glittering image captured by the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab, shows the irregular dwarf galaxy Sextans A, which lies around 4.4 million light-years from Earth. This galaxy, which is only a fraction of the size of the...
Small Magellanic Cloud
Glowing Hydrogen Bauble in the Small Magellanic Cloud
Orbiting around the Milky Way about 210,000 light-years away is the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). This satellite galaxy is a dwarf galaxy, about a twentieth the size of our own galaxy. Sitting among its hundred million stars is a 'bauble' of hydrogen gas, captured here with the 4.1-meter...
IC 1613
Wider view of irregular dwarf galaxy IC 1613 from the Dark Energy Survey
The irregular dwarf galaxy IC 1613 contains some 100 million stars and is a member of our Local Group of galaxies, which also includes our Milky Way, the Andromeda spiral galaxy, and the Magellanic Clouds. This image is an excerpt from the Dark Energy Survey, which has released a massive,...
IC 2233
Portrait of a Needle Galaxy
The remarkably thin galaxy IC 2233 is featured in this image from the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab. IC 2233’s needle-thin profile is due to both its structure and its orientation towards Earth. The galaxy’s orientation — known...
NGC 1703
A Dorado’s Scale
This Image of the Week features a sky speckled with stars and galaxies. The most prominent galaxy, in the upper right quadrant of the image, is known as NGC 1703. It was observed using the Dark Energy Camera (DECam), a high-performance camera installed by the US Department of Energy at the...
NGC 1398
A Galaxy Adrift
This image captures the spiral galaxy NGC 1398, which lies roughly 65 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Fornax. NGC 1398 is a barred spiral galaxy, and both its bright central bar and delicate spiral arms are clearly visible in this image, with the galaxy itself seemingly...
NGC 1532
Wide-field View of NGC 1532
The spiral galaxy NGC 1532, also known as Haley’s Coronet, is caught in a lopsided tug of war with its smaller neighbor, the dwarf galaxy NGC 1531. The image — taken by the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Dark Energy Camera mounted on the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Víctor M. Blanco...
Donatiello II
Recently Discovered Dwarf Galaxy Donatiello II
The smudge in the center of this image from the Dark Energy Camera (DECam), built by the US Department of Energy, is the elusive dwarf galaxy Donatiello II. It is one of six dwarf galaxies discovered by Italian amateur astronomer Giuseppe Donatiello. Three of them — Donatiello II, III and...
NGC 1515
NGC 1515
Intermediate barred spiral galaxy NGC 1515 composed of data taken with the Dark Energy Camera on the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of NSF NOIRLab, as part of the Dark Energy Survey, a project that mapped millions of galaxies. One...
NGC 7793
A Very Wooly Galaxy
This observation from the international Gemini Observatory — a Program of NSF NOIRLab — showcases a flocculent spiral galaxy that lies nearly 12 million light-years away in the constellation Sculptor. The word flocculent means “fluffy” or “wooly,” and refers to these galaxies’ strangely tufty...
NGC 3923
NGC 3923
The onion-like layers of shell galaxy NGC 3923 are beautifully showcased in this image taken with the DOE-built Dark Energy Camera (DECam) on the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of NSF NOIRLab. Located in the constellation Hydra...
NGC 1808
NGC 1808
NGC 1808 is a barred spiral galaxy located in the southern constellation Columba (the dove). This image was captured using the Dark Energy Camera (DECam), which is mounted on the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of NSF NOIRLab, in...
Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope
Background Galaxy Found in Image of Vela Supernova Remnant
This image shows a distant, twinkling spiral galaxy — one of the many cosmic treasures found within the new 1.3 gigapixel Vela Supernova Remnant image, captured with the Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy Camera, mounted on the US National Science Foundation's Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter...
M101
Gemini North Back On Sky With Dazzling Image of Supernova in the Pinwheel Galaxy
Gemini North, part of the International Gemini Observatory operated by NSF NOIRLab, is back observing the night sky following the repair and refurbishment of its primary mirror. The telescope’s debut observation captured the supernova dubbed SN 2023ixf (lower left), which was discovered on 19...
NGC 1532
Cropped View of Galaxies in Lopsided Tug of War
The spiral galaxy NGC 1532, also known as Haley’s Coronet, is caught in a lopsided tug of war with its smaller neighbor, the dwarf galaxy NGC 1531. The image — taken by the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Dark Energy Camera mounted on the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Víctor M. Blanco...
IC 1727
A (Galactic) Arm’s Length Away
The two galaxies in this image — NGC 672 (top right) and IC 1727 (bottom left) — appear to be so close that they are almost elbowing each other, like playful children. In fact, the galaxies shown in this beautifully detailed image taken at the Kitt Peak National Observatory, a program of NSF...
Barnard’s Galaxy
NOIRLab releases best view yet of a neighboring dwarf galaxy
Barnard’s Galaxy, a dwarf galaxy neighboring the Milky Way, is revealed in this stunning image from the Víctor M. Blanco 4-m Telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, operated by NSF NOIRLab. The image reveals regions of intense star formation and a scattering of immense cosmic...
M83
Southern Pinwheel Galaxy, Messier 83
Nicknamed the Southern Pinwheel, Messier 83 (or NGC 5236) is a stunning face-on spiral galaxy located about 15 million light-years away in the southern constellation of Hydra. Its spiral arms are lined with dark lanes of dust and peppered with reddish, star-forming clouds of hydrogen gas. One...
NGC 5364
A Grand Design of Imperfections
With its swirling arms and luminous core, NGC 5364 is unmistakably a spiral galaxy, lying in the constellation Virgo. But it’s not just any spiral galaxy imaged by the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) on the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a...
NGC 289
Gentle Giant Galaxy
In the constellation Sculptor lies this large extended spiral galaxy called NGC 289. Despite being around 75 million light-years away, the light of NGC 289 is stunningly captured here by the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) on the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American...
NGC 1365
Portrait of the Great Barred Spiral
This image captures the elegant galaxy NGC 1365 in the Fornax Cluster of galaxies. Also known as The Great Barred Spiral Galaxy, NGC 1365 is a strikingly perfect example of a barred spiral galaxy. This image shows the galaxy’s prominent bar and its graceful spiral arms, with lanes of dust...
M33
Destined to Collide
The Triangulum Galaxy, otherwise known as Messier 33, lies almost 3 million light-years from Earth, and is a near neighbor of the Andromeda Galaxy. The galaxy is imaged here by the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope, located at Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), a Program of NSF NOIRLab. ...
NGC 1058
Hidden Among Supernovae
Approximately as bright in the night sky as Proxima Centauri, this quiescent spiral galaxy known as NGC 1058 betrays its unassuming appearance with a record of supernovae and starburst activity. Captured by the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) at Gemini North, operated by NSF NOIRLab,...
NGC 454
Galactic Face-off
Far, far away in the constellation Phoenix, two interacting galaxies meet in an epic battle spanning a hundred thousand light-years, captured here with the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of NSF NOIRLab. Collectively known as NGC...
NGC 2403
A Galaxy of Birth and Death
Captured by the Mosaic camera on the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope at the Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), a Program of NSF NOIRLab, the spiral galaxy NGC 2403, also known as Caldwell 7, highlights the dynamic birth and death of stars. The glowing red spots dotting the galaxy are...
NGC 1808
The Many Layers of NGC 1808
NGC 1808 is a barred spiral galaxy located in the southern constellation Columba (the dove). This image was captured using the Dark Energy Camera (DECam), which is mounted on the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of NSF NOIRLab, in...
M106
Spiral Galaxy Messier 106
This image of the spiral galaxy Messier 106, or NGC 4258, was taken with the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab. A popular target for amateur astronomers, Messier 106 can also be spotted with a small telescope in the constellation...
RCW 120
A Crimson Nursery
RCW 120, also known as Sharpless 2-3, is an emission nebula and star-forming region located in the constellation Scorpius, about 4300 light-years away from Earth. The glowing nebula was captured here by the SMARTS 0.9-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program...
Abell 3827
Striking image shows mass distribution of nearby galaxy cluster
Using the Dark Energy Camera at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab, astronomers are measuring weak gravitational lensing to map the distribution of mass in nearby galaxy clusters. As well as producing remarkable images like this one, the information will shed...
NGC 1672
A Galactic Vortex
The arms of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1672 sweep across this Image of the Week, captured by the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of NSF NOIRLab. NGC 1672 is something of a celestial mystery, as it is difficult to define its...
NGC 1512
The interacting galaxy pair NGC 1512 and NGC 1510
The interacting galaxy pair NGC 1512 and NGC 1510 take center stage in this image from the Dark Energy Camera, a state-of-the art wide-field imager on the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab. NGC 1512 has been in the process of...
NGC 3198
A Lonely Spiral in a Tapestry of Galaxies
This stunning image features NGC 3198, a galaxy that lies about 47 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. This image was taken with the Mosaic instrument on the 4-meter Nicholas U. Mayall Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab, and shows the...
NGC 2541
Glistening Spiral Galaxy
The spiral galaxy NGC 2541 is shown in extravagant detail in this astronomical snapshot from the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab. Astronomers recognize a variety of galaxy types, and NGC 2541 is classified as an unbarred spiral...
Fornax Cluster
Galaxies in the Fornax Cluster
Members of the Fornax galaxy cluster fill this image from the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of NSF NOIRLab. Appearing in the constellation Fornax (the Furnace), the Fornax Cluster is a relatively nearby galaxy cluster, only about...
NGC 474
Wider view of elliptical galaxy NGC 474 from the Dark Energy Survey
NGC 474 is at a distance of about 100 million light-years in the constellation of Pisces. This image shows unusual structures around NGC 474 characterized as tidal tails and shell-like structures made up of hundreds of millions of stars. This image is an excerpt from the Dark Energy Survey,...
NGC 1512
Wider crop of the NGC 1512 image
The interacting galaxy pair NGC 1512 and NGC 1510 take center stage in this image from the Dark Energy Camera, a state-of-the art wide-field imager on the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab. NGC 1512 has been in the process of...
LCRS B041803.7-391607
A Sky Full of Galaxies
The blackness of space is punctuated by bright dots. This image could almost be mistaken for a particularly detailed shot of the night sky as seen from Earth, full of stars. Appearances, however, can be deceptive. This image was taken from Earthʻs southern hemisphere, but the bright dots are...
IC 1613
The irregular dwarf galaxy IC 1613 — excerpt from the Dark Energy Survey
The irregular dwarf galaxy IC 1613 contains some 100 million stars and is a member of our Local Group of galaxies, which also includes our Milky Way, the Andromeda spiral galaxy, and the Magellanic Clouds. It is at a distance of 2.4 million light-years and contains several examples of Cepheid...
NGC 891
Silver Galactic Sliver
The Silver Sliver Galaxy — more formally known as NGC 891 — is shown in this striking image from the Mosaic instrument on the 4-meter Nicholas U. Mayall Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab. NGC 891 is a spiral galaxy that lies almost perfectly edge-on to us,...
Milky Way
Center of the Milky Way with DECam
This image of a region near the center of the Milky Way galaxy covers 0.5 by 0.25 degrees on the sky (an area about twice as wide as the full Moon) and contains over 180,000 stars. The image captures a portion of our galaxy about 220 by 110 light-years across. It was taken with the Dark Energy...
NGC 3628
NGC 3628 and an example of an ultra-compact dwarf galaxy (no annotations)
NGC 3628, sometimes nicknamed the Hamburger Galaxy or Sarah's Galaxy, is an unbarred spiral galaxy about 35 million light-years away in the constellation Leo. Extending to the left of NGC 3628 for around 300,000 light-years is a ‘tidal tail’ — an elongated region of stars that arises as a...
M106
Wide View of Spiral Galaxy Messier 106
This image of the spiral galaxy Messier 106, or NGC 4258, was taken with the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab. A popular target for amateur astronomers, Messier 106 can also be spotted with a small telescope in the constellation...
NGC 1003
NGC 1003
A stunning long-exposure observation lasting 70 minutes from the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab, reveals the spiral galaxy NGC 1003 in glorious detail. NGC 1003 resides in front of a galaxy cluster — a vast collection of galaxies...
NGC 7020
A Hexagonal Galactic Center
NGC 7020, a barred lenticular galaxy in the southern constellation Pavo, holds a geometric mystery. Clear but subtle in this image from Gemini South, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab, the core of NGC 7020 is visibly hexagonal in shape. A hexagon is not...
M83
The Southern Pinwheel Galaxy (rotated)
Twelve million light-years away lies the galactic masterpiece Messier 83, also known as the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy. Its swirling spiral arms display a high rate of star formation and host six detected supernovae. This image was captured with the Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy...
M83
The Outskirts of the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy
Twelve million light-years away lies the galactic masterpiece Messier 83, also known as the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy. Its swirling spiral arms display a high rate of star formation and host six detected supernovae. This image was captured with the Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy...
NGC 4753
The Twisted Dusty Disk of NGC 4753
Discovered by astronomer William Herschel in 1784, NGC 4753 displays some truly fascinating features. In this image captured by the Gemini South telescope, one half of the International Gemini Observatory operated by NSF NOIRLab, the galaxy’s intricate dust lanes are a sight to behold. NGC 4753...
NGC 7727
Gemini South Reveals Tangled Spiral Arms of the Peculiar Galaxy NGC 7727
Gemini South, one half of the International Gemini Observatory operated by NSF NOIRLab, captures the billion-year-old aftermath of a double spiral galaxy collision. At the heart of this chaotic interaction, entwined and caught in the midst of the chaos, is a pair of supermassive black holes —...
NGC 474
Elliptical galaxy NGC 474 — excerpt from the Dark Energy Survey
Elliptical galaxies are generally characterized by their relatively smooth appearance when compared with spiral galaxies (one of which is to the left), which have more flocculent structures interwoven with dust lanes and spiral arms. NGC 474 is at a distance of about 100 million light-years in...
NGC 1566
Spiral galaxy NGC 1566
This image, taken by astronomers using the US Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy Camera on the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab, captures the galaxy NGC 1566 as it twirls, flinging its arms through the vastness of...
Barnard 86
NGC 6520 with Barnard 86
An image of the open star cluster NGC 6520 and nearby dust cloud Barnard 86, in the constellation Sagittarius, one of the densest parts of our Galaxy. This image was taken on June 24th, 2007 at the NSF's Blanco 4-m telescope in CTIO, with B (blue), V (green) , I (orange) and H-alpha (red)...
ESO 440-11
Dark Energy Camera's 1 millionth exposure
The Dark Energy Camera's 1 millionth exposure. At the time of this exposure DECam was making an of a galaxy cluster. The 1 millionth exposure has been combined with 127 earlier exposures to make this view of the field. This demonstrates the power of DECam and an archive of a million exposures....
NGC 520
NGC 520
A galactic collision of two galaxies which began more than 300 million years ago, NGC 520 is actually made up of two disk galaxies which will eventually merge together to form one larger, more massive system. NGC 520 was discovered by William Herschel in 1784 and is one of the largest and...
NGC 5394
Galactic Dance
Image of the interacting galaxy pair NGC 5394/5 obtained with NSF NOIRLab's Gemini North 8-meter telescope on Hawai'i's Maunakea using the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph in imaging mode. This four-color composite image has a total exposure time of 42 minutes
Andromeda Galaxy
The ultra-faint dwarf galaxy Pegasus V
A unique ultra-faint dwarf galaxy has been discovered in the outer fringes of the Andromeda Galaxy thanks to the sharp eyes of an amateur astronomer examining archival data from the US Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy Camera on the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo...
REBELS-25
Infrared image of stars and galaxies near the REBELS-25 galaxy
This image shows a field of stars and galaxies taken with VISTA’s near-infrared camera. Among them is REBELS-25, the most distant rotating disc galaxy ever discovered. VISTA, ESO’s Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy, is located in Chile’s Atacama Desert.
WOH G64
Image of the star WOH G64 taken by the VLTI
This is an image of the star WOH G64, taken by the GRAVITY instrument on the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope Interferometer (ESO’s VLTI). This is the first close-up picture of a star outside our own galaxy, the Milky Way. The star is located in the Large Magellanic Cloud,...
Aries Dust Clouds
Dusty Veil of Aries
This infrared image from NASA's WISE might look like the glow of aurorae in the night sky, but it actually reveals patterns of wispy dust that fills the space between stars. This region of sky in the constellation of Aries covers a large swath of sky, about as wide as the span of 11 full moons.
Milky Way
Star Map of the Milky Way's Outer Halo
Images of the Milky Way and the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) are overlaid on a map of the surrounding area, our galaxy's galactic halo. Dark blue represents a low concentration of stars; lighter blues indicate increasing stellar density. The map spans from about 200,000 light-years to 325,000...
NGC 772
Galaxy NGC 772
The overdeveloped spiral arm of the galaxy NGC 772, which was created by tidal interactions with an unruly neighbor, dominates this observation made by astronomers using the Gemini North telescope located near the summit of Maunakea in Hawai‘i.
Large Magellanic Cloud
Deepest, widest view of the Large Magellanic Cloud from SMASH
Part of the SMASH dataset showing an unprecedented wide-angle view of the Large Magellanic Cloud. The Large and Small Magellanic Clouds are the largest satellite galaxies of the Milky Way and, unlike the rest of the satellite galaxies, are still actively forming stars — and at a rapid pace. The...
NGC 925
Cosmic Fireworks (wide angle)
The spiral galaxy NGC 925 reveals cosmic pyrotechnics in its spiral arms where bursts of star formation are taking place in the red, glowing clouds scattered throughout it.
SN 2019ehk
Hubble Space Telescope image of SN 2019ehk
Hubble Space Telescope image of SN 2019ehk in its spiral host galaxy, Messier 100. The image is a composite made of pre- and post-explosion images.
NGC 925
Cosmic Fireworks
The spiral galaxy NGC 925 reveals cosmic pyrotechnics in its spiral arms where bursts of star formation are taking place in the red, glowing clouds scattered throughout it.
IC 10
Portrait of a Starburst Galaxy
KPNO captures irregular starburst galaxy IC 10 in glorious detail This striking image from NOIRLab’s Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) presents a portrait of the irregular galaxy IC 10, a disorderly starburst galaxy close to the Milky Way. As well as a population of bright young stars, this...
Abell 3827
Main image without lensing map
This image is a snapshot from the Local Volume Complete Cluster Survey (LoVoCCS), a survey program investigating 107 nearby galaxy clusters.
Abell 3827
Excerpt of main image with lensing map
Galaxy clusters are massive conglomerations of hundreds or even thousands of galaxies, bound together by their mutual gravitational attraction.
FRB 180916.J0158+65
Fast Radio Burst 180916 Host Galaxy (unannotated)
Image of the host galaxy of FRB 180916 (center) acquired with the 8-meter Gemini-North telescope of NOIRLab on Hawaii’s Maunakea. Images acquired in SDSS g’, r’, and z’ filters are used for the blue, green, and red colors, respectively.
Sextans constellation
Dark Energy Survey deep field image
Ten areas in the sky were selected as “deep fields” that the Dark Energy Camera imaged several times during the survey, providing a glimpse of distant galaxies and helping determine their 3D distribution in the cosmos. The image is teeming with galaxies — in fact, nearly every single object in...
Centaurus A
Centaurus A captured by the Dark Energy Camera
The galaxy Centaurus A, which lies over 12 million light-years away in the direction of the southern-hemisphere constellation Centaurus (The Centaur), is the leading light of this striking image. This image provides a spectacular view of the luminous glow of stars and dark tendrils of dust that...
NGC 2685
NGC 2685: A Helix in the Sky
The very unusual galaxy NGC 2685, also known as the Helix Galaxy, is located about 40 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. This image was captured by the Gemini North telescope, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, operated by NSF NOIRLab which is funded by the...
NGC 4410
A Galactic Illusion
A wide shot of this Image of the Week captures both NGC 4410 and NGC 4411. In the center of the image, NGC 4411 is a serene pair of spiral galaxies in a deceptive union. Though the companions are thought to be right next to each other — both at a distance of about 50 million light-years from us...
Abell 3158
Image of Abell 3158, Part of the DESI Legacy Imaging Survey
This is an image centered on a relatively nearby galaxy cluster dubbed Abell 3158; light from these galaxies had a redshift value of 0.059, meaning that it traveled approximately 825 million years on its journey to Earth. The image is a small part of the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys — a...
NGC 4567
The merging galaxy pair NGC 4568 and NGC 4567
This image from the Gemini North telescope in Hawai‘i reveals a pair of interacting spiral galaxies — NGC 4568 (bottom) and NGC 4567 (top) — as they begin to clash and merge. The galaxies will eventually form a single elliptical galaxy in around 500 million years.
NGC 4495
A Storm of Light
The constellation Coma Berenices hosts the galaxy NGC 4495 among myriad other astronomical objects. This galaxy has a tumultuous history: several supernovae have been recorded over the years, including the three named 1994S, 2010lo, and 2011ca. This last burst of energy from a dying star can be...
Sextans B
Sextans B
Sextans B is an irregular dwarf galaxy, meaning that it is irregularly shaped and smaller than our galaxy, the Milky Way. It lies around 4.5 million light-years from Earth and is located in the constellation Sextans in the southern sky. Captured with the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope,...
IC 4212
IC 4212
IC 4212 is a barred spiral galaxy located in the constellation Virgo. It is situated close to the celestial equator, meaning it is at least partly visible from both hemispheres in certain times of the year.
PLCKESZ G287.0+32.9
PLCK G287.0+32.9 Gravitational Lensing
An extremely large gravitational lens around galaxy cluster PLCK G287.0+32.9
2MASX J11493310-2814370
Face-on spiral galaxy LEDA 744285
The face-on spiral galaxy LEDA 744285
ESO 440-11
Face-on spiral galaxy ESO 440-11
The face-on spiral galaxy ESO 440-11
GRB 151229A
Hidden Galaxy Home of GRB (Unannotated)
Unannotated image of the region of the sky surrounding a recently identified galaxy that was found to be the home of GRB 151229A, a short gamma-ray burst. Astronomers calculate that this burst, which lies in the direction of the constellation Capricornus, occurred approximately 9 billion years...
NGC 1386
The NGC 1386 galaxy as seen by ALMA
This image shows the central regions of the spiral galaxy NGC 1386 observed by the Atacama Large Millimetre/Submillimetre Array (ALMA), operated by ESO and its international partners. It shows multiple clouds of gas ready to form new stars in a galaxy otherwise dominated by old stars. Links ...
NGC 1386
A galactic rejuvenation
Something odd is happening in NGC 1386, a spiral galaxy located 53 million light years away in the constellation Eridanus. This Picture of the Week combines data from the VLT Survey Telescope (VST), hosted at ESO’s Paranal Observatory in Chile, and the Atacama Large Millimetre/Submillimetre...
NGC 1386
The NGC 1386 galaxy as seen by the VLT Survey Telescope
This image shows the spiral galaxy NGC 1386 observed by the VLT Survey Telescope (VST), hosted at ESO’s Paranal Observatory in Chile. While stars in this galaxy are mostly old, the blue ring at the centre is ripe with stellar clusters full of young stars. Links Research paper More details...
NGC 1386
The NGC 1386 galaxy as seen by the VLT Survey Telescope and ALMA
This image shows the spiral galaxy NGC 1386 observed by the VLT Survey Telescope (VST), hosted at ESO’s Paranal Observatory in Chile, and the Atacama Large Millimetre/Submillimetre Array (ALMA), operated by ESO and its international partners. The VST image displays the entire galaxy in visible...
Abell 3381
Euclid spots interacting galaxies
This image shows an area of the mosaic released by ESA’s Euclid space telescope on 15 October 2024. On the left of the image, Euclid captured two galaxies (called ESO 364-G035 and G036) that are interacting with each other, 420 million light-years from us. On the right of the image, galaxy...
Abell 3381
Euclid captures core of Abell 3381 galaxy cluster
This image shows an area of the mosaic released by ESA’s Euclid space telescope on 15 October 2024. In this image, the core of galaxy cluster Abell 3381 is visible, 678 million light-years away from us. The image shows many different galaxies of various shapes and sizes, from massive elliptical...
ESO 364-G036
Euclid beholds a distant swirling spiral galaxy
This image shows an area of the mosaic released by ESA’s Euclid space telescope on 15 October 2024. In this image, a single spiral galaxy (called ESO 364-G036) is visible in great detail, 420 million light-years from us. This image shows 0.0003% of the initial image of 208 gigapixels, that is...
Milky Way
Euclid’s extragalactic view in Southern Sky patch
This image displays an area of the mosaic released by ESA’s Euclid space telescope on 15 October 2024. This patch of the Southern Sky shows numerous stars in our own Milky Way, and many galaxies beyond. Thanks to its visible and infrared cameras, Euclid captures the stars in their various...
Abell 3381
Euclid sees spiral galaxy NGC 2188 and galaxy cluster Abell 3381
This image shows an area of the mosaic released by ESA’s Euclid space telescope on 15 October 2024. In the middle left, spiral galaxy NGC 2188 is visible edge-on at a distance of 25 million light-years. In the top right corner, galaxy cluster Abell 3381 is now clearly noticeable, 678 million...
NGC 1232
Spiral galaxy NGC 1232
This image is of the central region of the large spiral galaxy NGC 1232 and was obtained on September 21, 1998, during a period of good observing conditions. It is based on three exposures in ultra-violet, blue and red light, respectively. This central area contains older stars of reddish...
TN J1338-1942
Faint, distant cluster of galaxies
The image shows the sky region near the powerful radio galaxy TN J1338-1942 at a redshift of 4.1. The photo is a "negative" rendering (the objects are dark on a bright background) of an image obtained with the FORS2 multi-mode instrument on the 8.2-m VLT KUEYEN telescope (ESO Paranal...
TN J1338-1942
Spectra from faint, distant galaxies
The spectra (brightness as a function of wavelength) for ten of the confirmed galaxies in the very distant, young cluster found near the radio galaxy TN J1338-1942 . Each galaxy displays a sharp peak in colour showing the signature of its hydrogen gas - this is the redshifted Lyman-alpha...
PLCK G165.7
Galaxy Cluster PLCK G165.7 (NIRCam Image)
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) image of the galaxy cluster PLCK G165.7+67.0, also known as G165. A foreground cluster, located 3.6 billion light-years away from Earth, is magnifying and bending the light of the distant universe beyond. In this image,...
PLCK G165.7
Galaxy Cluster PLCK G165.7 (NIRCam Image)
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) image of the galaxy cluster PLCK G165.7+67.0, also known as G165, on the left shows the magnifying effect a foreground cluster can have on the distant universe beyond. The zoomed region on the right shows supernova H0pe triply...
PLCK G165.7
Galaxy Cluster PLCK G165.7 (NIRCam Image)
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) image of the galaxy cluster PLCK G165.7+67.0, also known as G165. A foreground cluster, located 3.6 billion light-years away from Earth, is magnifying and bending the light of the distant universe beyond. In this image,...
GS-NDG-9422
Fluorescent Galaxy GS-NDG-9422 (NIRCam Image)
The galaxy GS-NDG-9422 may easily have gone unnoticed. However, what appears as a faint blur in this James Webb Space Telescope NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) image may actually be a groundbreaking discovery that points astronomers on a new path of understanding galaxy evolution in the early...
Arp 107
Arp 107 (NIRCam and MIRI Image)
This composite image of Arp 107, created with data from the James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) and MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) reveal a wealth of information about the star-formation and how these two galaxies collided hundreds of million years ago. The near-infrared...
MACS J0417.5-1154
MACS J0417.5-1154 Wide Field (NIRCam)
A cosmic question mark appears amid a powerful gravitational lens in the James Webb Space Telescope’s wide-field view of the galaxy cluster MACS-J0417.5-1154. Gravitational lensing occurs when something is so massive, like this galaxy cluster, that it warps the fabric of space-time itself,...
Digel Cloud 2
Extreme Outer Galaxy
Scientists used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to examine select star-forming areas in the Extreme Outer Galaxy in near- and mid-infrared light. Within this star-forming region, known as Digel Cloud 2S, the telescope observed young, newly formed stars and their extended jets of material....
Arp 107
Arp 107 (MIRI Image)
This image of Arp 107, shown by Webb’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument), reveals the supermassive black hole that lies in the center of the large spiral galaxy to the right. This black hole, which pulls much of the dust into lanes, also display’s Webb’s characteristic diffraction spikes, caused...
MACS J0417.5-1154
Lensed Question Mark Galaxy (NIRCam)
Astronomers are astounded by a rare cosmic alignment showcasing highly magnified star-forming regions in distant galaxies.
Sh2-68
Planetary Nebula Sh2-68
This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. Sh2-68 is an ancient planetary nebula that is estimated to be at least 45,000 years old. The diffuse orange emission to the upper right is the result of the...
NGC 1531
Galactic Waltz NGC 1532-31
The interacting galaxy pair NGC 1532 and NGC 1531 were imaged using the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) at Gemini South in Chile on December 5, 2004. This view reveals spectacular details in the galactic pair embraced in a fiery waltz. The larger galaxy (NGC 1532) is a spiral, and from...
NGC 922
The Tidal Tales of NGC 922
In the southern constellation of Fornax lies NGC 922, a peculiar galaxy with a structure that has puzzled astronomers for years. Previously, researchers thought its distinctive features — the stellar plume and off-center galactic bar — resulted from a collision with a nearby dwarf galaxy some...
NGC 4449
Starburst Galaxy NGC 4449
An explosive array of bright pinks and blues makes for a remarkable sight in this image captured with the Gemini North telescope, one half of the International Gemini Observatory. Resembling a cloud of cosmic confetti, this image is being released in celebration of Gemini North’s 25th...
NGC 4410
A Menagerie of Intertwined Galaxies
Collectively known as RSCG 55, this captivating spectacle of gravitationally intertwined galaxies lies in the constellation Virgo. This image was taken by the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) which was built by the Department of Energy and mounted on the prime focus of Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter...
