At the beginning of April, the Taschen publishing house will put up for sale a new book with a collection the most stunning images of deep space which were captured using a telescope Hubble. It's been 25 years since the telescope was launched into orbit, and it still continues to inform us about what our universe looks like, in all its incredible beauty.
Barnard 33, or the Horsehead Nebula, is a dark nebula in the constellation Orion
Position: 05h 40m, –02°, 27", distance from Earth: 1,600 light years; device/year: WFC3/IR, 2012.
M83, or the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy, is a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Hydra
Position: 13h 37m, –29°, 51", distance from Earth: 15,000,000 light years, instrument/year: WFC3/UVIS, 2009–2012.
Position: 18h 18m, –13°, 49", distance from Earth: 6,500 light years, instrument/year: WFC3/IR, 2014.
The book is called Expanding Universe(“The Expanding Universe”) and is dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the launch of Hubble. The Hubble photographs published in this book are not just breathtaking images, they are also an opportunity to learn more about space exploration. The book includes an essay by a photography critic, an interview with a specialist who explains exactly how these images are created, and two stories by astronauts about the role this unique telescope plays in space exploration.
RS Puppis is a variable star in the constellation Puppis
Position: 08h 13m, –34°, 34", distance from Earth: 6,500 light years, instrument/year: ACS/WFC, 2010.
M82, or the Cigar Galaxy, is a spiral galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major
Position: 09h 55m, +69° 40", distance from Earth: 12,000,000 light years, device/year: ACS/WFC, 2006.
M16, or the Eagle Nebula, is a young open star cluster in the constellation Serpens.
Position: 18h 18m, –13°, 49", distance from Earth: 6,500 light years, instrument/year: WFC3/UVIS, 2014.
Due to the fact that the telescope is located in space, it can detect radiation in the infrared range, which is completely impossible to do from the surface of the Earth. Therefore, Hubble's resolution is 7-10 times greater than that of a similar telescope located on the surface of our planet. For example, among other things, scientists for the first time obtained maps of the surface of Pluto, learned additional data about planets outside the solar system, they managed to make significant progress in the study of such mysterious black holes in the centers of galaxies, and also, which seems completely incredible, they were able to formulate the modern cosmological model and find out a more accurate age of the Universe (13.7 billion years).
Jupiter and its moon Ganymede
Sharpless 2-106, or the Snow Angel Nebula in the constellation Cygnus
Position: 20h 27m, +37°, 22", distance from Earth: 2,000 light years, device/year: Subaru, Telescope, 1999; WFC3/UVIS, WFC3/IR, 2011.
M16, or the Eagle Nebula, is a young open star cluster in the constellation Serpens.
Position: 18h 18m, –13°, 49", distance from Earth: 6,500 light years, instrument/year: ACS/WFC, 2004.
HCG 92, or Stephen's Quintet, is a group of five galaxies in the constellation Pegasus
Position: 22h 35m, +33°, 57", distance from Earth: 290,000,000 light years, device/year: WFC3/UVIS, 2009.
M81, NGC 3031, or Bode's Galaxy - a spiral galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major
The science
Space full of unexpected surprises and incredibly beautiful landscapes that today astronomers can capture in photographs. Sometimes space or ground-based spacecraft take such unusual photographs that scientists still They've been wondering for a long time what it is.
Space photos help make amazing discoveries, see details of planets and their satellites, draw conclusions regarding their physical properties, determine the distance to objects, and much more.
1) Glowing gas of the Omega Nebula . This nebula, open Jean Philippe de Chaizeau in 1775, located in the area constellation Sagittarius Milky Way galaxy. The distance to us from this nebula is approximately 5-6 thousand light years, and in diameter it reaches 15 light years. Photo taken with a special digital camera during the project Digitized Sky Survey 2.
New images of Mars
2) Strange lumps on Mars . This photo was taken by the panchromatic context camera of the automatic interplanetary station Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which explores Mars.
Visible in the photo strange formations, which formed on lava flows interacting with water on the surface. Lava, flowing down the slope, encircled the bases of the mounds, then swelled. Lava Swelling- a process in which the liquid layer, which appears under the hardening layer of liquid lava, lifts the surface slightly, forming such a relief.
These formations are located on the Martian plain Amazonis Planitia- a huge territory that is covered with frozen lava. The plain is also covered a thin layer of reddish dust, which slides down steep slopes, forming dark stripes.
Planet Mercury (photo)
3) Beautiful colors of Mercury . This colorful image of Mercury was created by combining a large number of images taken by NASA's interplanetary station "Messenger" for a year of work in Mercury orbit.
Of course it is not the real colors of the planet closest to the Sun, but the colorful image reveals the chemical, mineralogical and physical differences in Mercury's landscape.
4) Space lobster . This image was taken by the VISTA telescope European Southern Observatory. It depicts a cosmic landscape, including a huge glowing cloud of gas and dust, which surrounds young stars.
This infrared image shows the nebula NGC 6357 in the constellation Scorpion, which is presented in a new light. The photo was taken during the project Via Láctea. Scientists are currently scanning the Milky Way in an attempt to map the more detailed structure of our galaxy and explain how it was formed.
Mysterious mountain of the Carina Nebula
5) Mysterious mountain . The image shows a mountain of dust and gas rising from the Carina Nebula. The top of a vertical column of cooled hydrogen, which is about 3 light years, is carried away by radiation from nearby stars. Stars located in the area of the pillars release jets of gas that can be seen at the tops.
Traces of water on Mars
6) Traces of an ancient water flow on Mars . This is a high resolution photo that was taken January 13, 2013 using a spacecraft European Space Agency Mars Express, offers to see the surface of the Red Planet in real colors. This is a shot of the area southeast of the plain Amenthes Planum and north of the plain Hesperia planum.
Visible in the photo craters, lava channels and valley, along which liquid water probably once flowed. The valley and crater floors are covered in dark, wind-blown deposits.
7) Dark space gecko . The picture was taken with a ground-based 2.2-meter telescope European Southern Observatory MPG/ESO in Chile. The photo shows a bright star cluster NGC 6520 and its neighbor - a strangely shaped dark cloud Barnard 86.
This cosmic couple is surrounded by millions of luminous stars in the brightest part of the Milky Way. The area is so filled with stars that you can hardly see the dark background of the sky behind them.
Star formation (photo)
8) Star Education Center . Several generations of stars are shown in an infrared image taken by NASA's space telescope. "Spitzer". In this smoky area known as W5, new stars are formed.
The oldest stars can be seen as blue bright dots. Younger stars highlight pinkish glow. In brighter areas, new stars form. Red indicates heated dust, while green indicates dense clouds.
Unusual nebula (photo)
9) Valentine's Day Nebula . This is an image of a planetary nebula, which may remind some of rosebud, was obtained using a telescope Kitt Peak National Observatory in USA.
Sh2-174- an unusual ancient nebula. It was formed during the explosion of a low-mass star at the end of its life. What remains of the star is its center - white dwarf.
Usually white dwarfs are located very close to the center, but in the case of this nebula, its the white dwarf is located on the right. This asymmetry is associated with the interaction of the nebula with the environment that surrounds it.
10) Heart of the Sun . In honor of the recent Valentine's Day, another unusual phenomenon appeared in the sky. More precisely it was done photo of an unusual solar flare, which is depicted in the photo in the shape of a heart.
Saturn's satellite (photo)
11) Mimas - Death Star . Photo of Saturn's moon Mimas taken by NASA spacecraft "Cassini" while it approaches the object at the closest distance. This satellite is something looks like the Death Star– a space station from a science fiction saga "Star Wars".
Herschel Crater has a diameter 130 kilometers and covers most of the right side of the satellite in the image. Scientists continue to explore this impact crater and its surrounding areas.
Photos were taken February 13, 2010 from a distance 9.5 thousand kilometers, and then, like a mosaic, assembled into one clearer and more detailed photo.
12) Galactic duo . These two galaxies, shown in the same photo, have completely different shapes. Galaxy NGC 2964 is a symmetrical spiral, and the galaxy NGC 2968(top right) is a galaxy that has a fairly close interaction with another small galaxy.
13) Mercury colored crater . Although Mercury does not boast a particularly colorful surface, some areas on it still stand out with contrasting colors. The pictures were taken during the spacecraft mission "Messenger".
Halley's Comet (photo)
14) Halley's Comet in 1986 . This famous historical photograph of the comet as it made its final approach to Earth was taken 27 years ago. The photo clearly shows how the Milky Way is illuminated on the right by a flying comet.
15) Strange hill on Mars . This image shows a strange, spiky formation near the Red Planet's South Pole. The surface of the hill appears to be layered and shows signs of erosion. Its height is estimated 20-30 meters. The appearance of dark spots and stripes on the hill is associated with the seasonal thawing of a layer of dry ice (carbon dioxide).
Orion Nebula (photo)
16) Orion's beautiful veil . This beautiful image includes cosmic clouds and stellar wind around the star LL Orionis, which interacts with the stream Orion Nebula. The star LL Orionis produces winds that are stronger than those of our own middle-aged star, the Sun.
Galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici (photo)
17) Spiral galaxy Messier 106 in the constellation Canes Venatici . NASA Space Telescope "Hubble" with the participation of an amateur astronomer, took one of the best photographs of a spiral galaxy Messier 106.
Located at a distance of about 20 million light years away, which is not that far away by cosmic standards, this galaxy is one of the brightest galaxies, and also one of the closest to us.
18) Starburst galaxy . Galaxy Messier 82 or Galaxy Cigar located at a distance from us 12 million light years in the constellation Big Dipper. The formation of new stars occurs quite quickly in it, which puts it at a certain phase in the evolution of galaxies, according to scientists.
Because the Cigar Galaxy is experiencing intense star formation, it 5 times brighter than our Milky Way. This photo was taken Mount Lemmon Observatory(USA) and required a holding time of 28 hours.
19) Ghost Nebula . This photo was taken using a 4 meter telescope (Arizona, USA). The object, called vdB 141, is a reflection nebula located in the constellation Cepheus.
Several stars can be seen in the nebula area. Their light gives the nebula an unattractive yellowish-brown color. Photo taken August 28, 2009.
20) Powerful hurricane of Saturn . This colorful photo taken by NASA "Cassini", depicts Saturn's strong northern storm, which at that moment reached its greatest power. The contrast of the image has been increased to show troubled areas (in white) that stand out from other details. The photo was taken March 6, 2011.
Photo of the Earth from the Moon
21) Earth from the Moon . Being on the surface of the Moon, our planet will look exactly like this. From this angle, the Earth too phases will be noticeable: Part of the planet will be in shadow, and part will be illuminated by sunlight.
Andromeda Galaxy
22) New images of Andromeda . In a new image of the Andromeda Galaxy, obtained using Herschel Space Observatory, the bright streaks where new stars are forming are visible in especially detail.
The Andromeda Galaxy or M31 is the closest large galaxy to our Milky Way. It is located at a distance of about 2.5 million years, and is therefore an excellent object for studying the formation of new stars and the evolution of galaxies.
23) Star cradle of the constellation Unicorn . This image was taken using a 4-meter telescope Inter-American Observatory of Cerro Tololo in Chile January 11, 2012. The image shows part of the Unicorn R2 molecular cloud. This is a site of intense new star formation, especially in the red nebula region just below the center of the image.
Satellite of Uranus (photo)
24) Ariel's scarred face . This image of Uranus's moon Ariel is made up of 4 different images taken by the spacecraft. "Voyager 2". The pictures were taken January 24, 1986 from a distance 130 thousand kilometers from the object.
Ariel has a diameter about 1200 kilometers, most of its surface is covered with craters with a diameter of 5 to 10 kilometers. In addition to craters, the image shows valleys and faults in the form of long stripes, so the landscape of the object is very heterogeneous.
25) Spring "fans" on Mars . At high latitudes, each winter, carbon dioxide condenses from the Martian atmosphere and accumulates on its surface, forming seasonal polar ice caps. In the spring, the sun begins to heat the surface more intensely and the heat passes through these translucent layers of dry ice, heating the soil underneath.
Dry ice evaporates, immediately turning into gas, bypassing the liquid phase. If the pressure is high enough, the ice cracks and gas escapes from the cracks, forming "fans". These dark "fans" are small fragments of material that are carried away by the gas escaping from the cracks.
Galactic merger
26) Stefan Quintet . This group is from 5 galaxies in the constellation Pegasus, located in 280 million light years from the earth. Four of the five galaxies are undergoing a violent merger phase and will crash into each other, eventually forming a single galaxy.
The central blue galaxy appears to be part of this group, but this is an illusion. This galaxy is much closer to us - at a distance only 40 million light years. The image was obtained by researchers Mount Lemmon Observatory(USA).
27) Soap Bubble Nebula . This planetary nebula was discovered by an amateur astronomer Dave Jurasevich July 6, 2008 in the constellation Swan. The picture was taken with a 4-meter telescope Mayall National Observatory Kitt Peak V June 2009. This nebula was part of another diffuse nebula, and it is also quite faint, so it was hidden from the eyes of astronomers for a long time.
Sunset on Mars – photo from the surface of Mars
28) Sunset on Mars. May 19, 2005 NASA Mars rover MER-A Spirit I took this amazing photo of the sunset while being on the edge of Gusev crater. The solar disk, as you can see, is slightly smaller than the disk that is visible from Earth.
29) Hypergiant star Eta Carinae . In this incredibly detailed image taken by NASA's space telescope "Hubble", you can see huge clouds of gas and dust from the giant star Eta of Kiel. This star is located at a distance from us more than 8 thousand light years, and the overall structure is comparable in width to our Solar System.
Near 150 years ago a supernova explosion was observed. Eta Carinae became the second most luminous star after Sirius, but quickly faded away and ceased to be visible to the naked eye.
30) Polar Ring Galaxy . Amazing Galaxy NGC 660 is the result of the merger of two different galaxies. It is located at a distance 44 million light years from us in the constellation Pisces. On January 7, astronomers announced that this galaxy has powerful flash, which is most likely the result of the massive black hole at its center.
"Star Power"
This image of the Horsehead Nebula was taken in infrared using the Hubble Telescope's Wide Field Camera 3. It must be said that nebulae are one of the most “cloudy” objects in observational astronomy, and this photograph is striking in its clarity. The fact is that Hubble is able to see through clouds of interstellar gas and dust. Of course, the telescope images we are used to admiring are a composite of several photographs - this one, for example, was taken from four images.
The Horsehead Nebula is located in the constellation Orion and is a type of so-called dark nebula - interstellar clouds so dense that they absorb visible light from other nebulae or stars behind them. The Horsehead Nebula is about 3.5 light years in diameter.
"Heavenly Wings"
What we see as “wings” are actually gas released as a “goodbye” by an exceptionally hot dying star. The star glows brightly in ultraviolet light, but is hidden from direct observation by a dense ring of dust. Collectively called the Butterfly Nebula, or NGC 6302, it is located in the constellation Scorpio. However, it is better to admire the “Butterfly” from afar (fortunately, the distance from it to us is 4 thousand light years): the surface temperature of this nebula is 250 thousand degrees Celsius.
Butterfly Nebula / ©NASA
"Take off your hat"
The Sombrero spiral galaxy (M104) is located in the constellation Virgo at a distance of 28 million light years from us. Despite this, it is clearly visible from Earth. Recent studies, however, have shown that Sombrero is not one galaxy, but two: a flat spiral galaxy is located inside an elliptical one. In addition to its amazing shape, the Sombrero is also known for the supposed presence in its center of a supermassive black hole with a mass of 1 billion solar masses. Scientists made this conclusion by measuring the frantic rotation speed of stars near the center, as well as the strong X-ray radiation emanating from this twin galaxy.
Sombrero Galaxy / ©NASA
"Unsurpassed beauty"
This image is considered the hallmark of the Hubble telescope. In this composite image, we see the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1300, which lies about 70 million light-years away in the constellation Eridanus. The size of the galaxy itself is 110 thousand light years - it is slightly larger than our Milky Way, which, as is known, has a diameter of about 100 thousand light years and which also belongs to the type of barred spiral galaxies. A special feature of NGC 1300 is the absence of an active galactic nucleus, which may indicate that there is not a sufficiently massive black hole at its center, or a lack of accretion.
This image, taken in September 2004, is one of the largest ever taken by the Hubble Telescope. Which is not at all surprising, since it shows the entire galaxy.
"Pillars of Creation"
This image is considered one of the most famous photographs of the famous telescope. Its name is not accidental, since it depicts an active region of star formation in the Eagle Nebula (the nebula itself is located in the constellation Serpens). The dark regions in the Pillars of Creation Nebula are protostars. The most amazing thing is that “at the moment” the pillars of creation as such no longer exist. According to the Spitzer infrared telescope, they were destroyed by a supernova explosion about 6 thousand years ago, but since the nebula was located at a distance of 7 thousand light years from us, we will be able to admire it for another thousand years.
"Pillars of Creation" / ©NASA
Mysterious nebulae, which are millions of light years away, the birth of new stars and collisions of galaxies. A selection of the best photographs from the Hubble Space Telescope in recent times.
1. Dark nebulae in a cluster of young stars. Shown here is a section of the Eagle Nebula star cluster, which formed about 5.5 million years ago and is located 6,500 light-years from Earth. (Photo ESA | Hubble & NASA):
2. The giant galaxy NGC 7049, located 100 million light years from Earth, in the constellation Indian. (Photo by NASA, ESA and W. Harris - McMaster University, Ontario, Canada):
3. The emission nebula Sh2-106 is located two thousand light years from Earth. It is a compact star-forming region. At its center is the star S106 IR, which is surrounded by dust and hydrogen - in the photograph it is colored blue. (Photo by NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team, STScI | AURA, and NAOJ):
4. Abell 2744, also known as the Pandora Cluster, is a giant cluster of galaxies, the result of the simultaneous collision of at least four separate small clusters of galaxies that occurred over the course of 350 million years. The galaxies in the cluster make up less than five percent of its mass, and the gas (about 20%) is so hot that it glows only in X-rays. Mysterious dark matter makes up about 75% of the cluster's mass. (Photo by NASA, ESA, and J. Lotz, M. Mountain, A. Koekemoer, & the HFF Team):
5. “Caterpillar” and the Carina emission nebula (a region of ionized hydrogen) in the constellation Carina. (Photo by NASA, ESA, N. Smith, University of California, Berkeley, and The Hubble Heritage Team. STScI | AURA):
6. Barred spiral galaxy NGC 1566 (SBbc) in the constellation Doradus. It is located 40 million light years away. (Photo by ESA | Hubble & NASA, Flickr user Det58):
7. IRAS 14568-6304 is a young star located 2500 light years from Earth. This dark region is the Circinus molecular cloud, which has 250,000 solar masses and is filled with gas, dust and young stars. (Photo by ESA | Hubble & NASA Acknowledgments: R. Sahai | JPL, Serge Meunier):
8. Portrait of a star kindergarten. Hundreds of brilliant blue stars covered in warm, glowing clouds make up R136, a compact star cluster that lies at the center of the Tarantula Nebula.
The R136 cluster consists of young stars, giants and supergiants, estimated to be approximately 2 million years old. (Photo by NASA, ESA, and F. Paresce, INAF-IASF, Bologna, R. O"Connell, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, and the Wide Field Camera 3 Science Oversight Committee):
9. Spiral galaxy NGC 7714 in the constellation Pisces. Located at a distance of 100 million light years from Earth. (Photo by ESA, NASA, A. Gal-Yam, Weizmann Institute of Science):
10. The image taken by the orbiting Hubble Telescope shows the warm planetary Red Spider Nebula, also known as NGC 6537.
This unusual wave-like structure is located about 3,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Sagittarius. A planetary nebula is an astronomical object consisting of an ionized shell of gas and a central star, a white dwarf. They are formed when the outer layers of red giants and supergiants with a mass of up to 1.4 solar masses are shed at the final stage of their evolution. (Photo by ESA & Garrelt Mellema, Leiden University, the Netherlands):
11. The Horsehead Nebula is a dark nebula in the constellation Orion. One of the most famous nebulae. It is visible as a dark spot in the shape of a horse's head against the background of a red glow. This glow is explained by the ionization of hydrogen clouds located behind the nebula under the influence of radiation from the nearest bright star (Z Orionis). (Photo by NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team, AURA | STScI):
12. This Hubble Space Telescope image shows the nearby spiral galaxy NGC 1433 in the constellation Hours. It is located at a distance of 32 million light years from us, and is a type of very active galaxy/ (Photo by Space Scoop | ESA | Hubble & NASA, D. Calzetti, UMass and the LEGU.S. Team):
13. A rare cosmic phenomenon is the Einstein ring, which occurs as a result of the fact that the gravity of a massive body bends electromagnetic radiation traveling towards the Earth from a more distant object.
Einstein's general theory of relativity states that the gravity of large cosmic objects such as galaxies bends the space around them and bends light rays. In this case, a distorted image of another galaxy appears - the source of light. The galaxy that bends space is called a gravitational lens. (Photo ESA | Hubble & NASA):
14. Nebula NGC 3372 in the constellation Carina. A large bright nebula that contains several open star clusters within its boundaries. (Photo by NASA, ESA, M. Livio and the Hubble 20th Anniversary Team, STScI):
15. Abell 370 is a cluster of galaxies at a distance of about 4 billion light years in the constellation Cetus. The cluster core consists of several hundred galaxies. It is the most distant cluster. These galaxies are located at a distance of about 5 billion light years. (Photo by NASA, ESA, and J. Lotz and the HFF Team, STScI):
16. Galaxy NGC 4696 in the constellation Centaurus. Located 145 million light years from Earth. It is the brightest galaxy in the Centaurus cluster. The galaxy is surrounded by many dwarf elliptical galaxies. (Photo by NASA, ESA | Hubble, A. Fabian):
17. Located within the Perseus-Pisces galaxy cluster, the UGC 12591 galaxy attracts the attention of astronomers with its unusual shape - it is neither lenticular nor spiral, that is, it exhibits features characteristic of both classes.
The star cluster UGC 12591 is relatively massive - its mass, as scientists have been able to calculate, is about four times higher than that of our Milky Way.
At the same time, the galaxy of a unique shape also very quickly changes its spatial position, at the same time rotating around its axis at an anomalously high speed. Scientists have yet to understand the reasons for such a high speed of rotation of UGC 12591 around its axis. (Photo ESA | Hubble & NASA):
18. How many stars! This is the center of our Milky Way, 26,000 light-years away. (ESA Photo | A. Calamida and K. Sahu, STScI and the SWEEPS Science Team | NASA):
The Hubble Space Telescope, named after its inventor Edwin Hubble, is located in low Earth orbit. Today it is the most modern and powerful telescope worth about one billion dollars. Hubble takes stunning photographs of planets and their satellites, asteroids, distant galaxies, stars, nebulae... High quality images are ensured by the fact that the telescope is located above a thick layer of the Earth's atmosphere, which does not affect image distortion. With its help, we are also seeing the Universe in ultraviolet and infrared light for the first time. This part presents the best photographs of galaxies taken with a telescope.
NGC 4038 is a galaxy in the constellation Raven. The galaxies NGC 4038 and NGC 4039 are interacting galaxies, called “antenna galaxies”:
The Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) in the constellation Canes Venatici. Consists of the large spiral galaxy NGC 5194, at the end of one of whose arms is the companion galaxy NGC 5195:
Tadpole Galaxy in the direction of the constellation Draco. In the recent past, the Tadpole Galaxy experienced a collision with another galaxy, resulting in the formation of a long tail of stars and gas. The long tail gives the galaxy a tadpole-like appearance, hence its name. If we follow the earthly analogy, then as the tadpole grows, its tail will die off - stars and gas will form into dwarf galaxies, which will become satellites of the large spiral:
Stefan's Quintet is a group of five galaxies in the constellation Pegasus. Four of the five galaxies in Stefan's Quintet are in constant interaction:
The barred galaxy NGC 1672 is located in the constellation Doradus, 60 million light-years from Earth. The picture was taken in 2005 using the Advanced Camera for Surveys:
The Sombrero Galaxy (Messier 110) is a spiral galaxy in the constellation Virgo at a distance of 28 million light years from Earth. As recent studies of this object with the Spitzer telescope have shown, it is two galaxies: a flat spiral is located inside an elliptical one. The very strong X-ray emission is due, according to many astronomers, to the presence of a black hole with a mass of a billion solar masses in the center of this galaxy:
Pinwheel Galaxy. To date, this is the largest and most detailed image of the galaxy taken by the Hubble Telescope. The picture was composed of 51 separate frames:
Lenticular galaxy NGC 7049 in the constellation Indian:
The Spindle Galaxy (NGC 5866) in the constellation Draco. The galaxy is observed almost edge-on, which allows one to see dark regions of cosmic dust located in the galactic plane. The Spindle Galaxy is approximately 44 million light years away. It takes light about 60 thousand years to cross the entire galaxy:
Barred Galaxy NGC 5584. The galaxy is only slightly smaller in size than the Milky Way. It has two dominant, clearly defined spiral arms and several deformed ones, the nature of which may be related to interaction with neighboring galactic structures:
NGC 4921 is a galaxy in the constellation Coma Berenices. The facility was opened on April 11, 1785 by William Herschel. This image is compiled from 80 photographs:
Galaxy NGC 4522 with a bar in the constellation Virgo:
Galaxy NGC 4449. While studying the galaxy using the Hubble telescope, astronomers managed to capture a picture of active star formation. It is assumed that the cause of the process was the absorption of a smaller satellite galaxy. Thousands of young stars are visible in photographs in various ranges, and there are also massive gas and dust clouds in the galaxy:
NGC 2841 is a spiral galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major:
The lens-shaped galaxy Perseus A (NGC 1275), consists of two interacting galaxies:
Two spiral galaxies NGC 4676 (Mice Galaxies) in the constellation Coma Berenices, photographed in 2002:
The Cigar Galaxy (NGC 3034) is a star-forming galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major. At the center of the galaxy there is supposedly a supermassive black hole, around which two less massive black holes, weighing 12 thousand and 200 suns, revolve:
Arp 273 is a group of interacting galaxies in the constellation Andromeda, located at a distance of 300 million light years from Earth. The larger of the spiral galaxies is known as UGC 1810 and is about five times as massive as its neighbor:
NGC 2207 is a pair of interacting galaxies in the constellation Canis Major, 80 million light years from Earth:
NGC 6217 is a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Ursa Minor. The image was taken with the Hubble Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) in 2009:
Centaurus A (NGC 5128) is a lenticular galaxy in the constellation Centaurus. This is one of the brightest and closest neighboring galaxies to us; we are separated by only 12 million light years. The galaxy ranks fifth in brightness (after the Magellanic clouds, the Andromeda nebula and the Triangulum galaxy). The radio galaxy is a powerful source of radio emission:
NGC 1300 is a barred spiral galaxy located about 70 million light years away in the constellation Eridanus. Its size is 110 thousand light years, which is slightly larger than our Milky Way galaxy. A characteristic feature of this galaxy is the absence of an active nucleus, which indicates the absence of a central black hole. The image was taken from the Hubble Space Telescope in September 2004. It is one of the largest Hubble images showing the entire galaxy:
Progress does not stand still, and they plan to replace the Hubble telescope with a technically more advanced observatory called James Webb. This truly historic event will take place, according to various sources, in 2016-2018. The James Webb Space Telescope will have a mirror 6.5 meters in diameter (Hubble's diameter is 2.4 meters) and a solar shield the size of a tennis court.
The best photos of the Hubble telescope. Part 1. Galaxies (22 photos)