The Radio Sky: Tuned to 408MHz
5.02.2005

Tune your radio telescope to 408MHz (408 million cycles per second) and check out the Radio Sky! In the 1970s large dish antennas at three radio observatories, Jodrell Bank, MPIfR, and Parkes Observatory, were used to do just that - the data were combined to map the entire sky.

Massive Stars in NGC 6357
9.10.2008

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...

Herschel Views the Milky Way
16.10.2009

With a 3.5 meter diameter mirror, larger than the Hubble Space Telescope, Herschel is ESA's new infrared observatory. The space-based telescope is named for German-born British astronomer Frederick William Herschel who discovered infrared light over 200 years ago.

Star Cluster R136 Bursts Out
29.07.2012

In the center of star-forming region 30 Doradus lies a huge cluster of the largest, hottest, most massive stars known. These stars, known collectively as star cluster R136, were captured above in visible light by the newly installed Wide Field Camera peering though the recently refurbished Hubble Space Telescope.

Milky Way Over Spains Bardenas Reales
2.09.2013

What's that below the Milky Way? First, across the top of the above image, lies the faint band that is our planet's sideways view of the central disk of our home Milky Way Galaxy.

A Stellar Jewel Box: Open Cluster NGC 290
13.10.2019

Jewels don't shine this bright -- only stars do. Like gems in a jewel box, though, the stars of open cluster NGC 290 glitter in a beautiful display of brightness and color. The photogenic cluster, pictured here, was captured in 2006 by the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope.

APOD: 2020 August 13 Б Jupiter and Saturn Rising Beyond Alien Throne Rock
13.08.2020

Whatбplanets are those behind that unusualбrock spire? Saturn (lower left) and Jupiter.б This month, after sunset, the bright planetary duo are quite prominent toward the southeast.б Now your view of our Solar...

Globular Cluster Omega Centauri
15.10.2000

Does an old, red globular cluster have any hot, blue stars? The rightmost picture, taken by the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope in ultraviolet light, shows that indeed it does. Pictured, Omega Centauri is the largest known globular cluster of over 200 in our Galaxy, containing well over a million stars.

NGC 3293: A Bright Young Open Cluster
29.03.1998

Hot blue stars shine brightly in this beautiful, recently formed galactic or "open" star cluster. Open cluster NGC 3293 is located in the constellation Carina, lies at a distance of about 8000 light years, and has a particularly high abundance of these young bright stars.

The N44 Superbubble
6.02.2006

What created this gigantic hole? The vast emission nebula N44 in our neighboring galaxy the Large Magellanic Cloud has a large, 250 light-year hole and astronomers are trying to figure out why. One possibility is particle winds expelled by massive stars in the bubble's interior that are pushing out the glowing gas.