Journey to the Center of the Galaxy
21.01.1997

In Jules Verne's science fiction classic A Journey to the Center of the Earth, Professor Hardwigg and his fellow explorers encounter many strange and exciting wonders. What wonders lie at the center of our Galaxy?

APOD: 2026 September 8 Б Hubble: Decagon Around Saturns South Pole
8.09.2026

Why are SaturnБs poles geometric? SaturnБs North Pole has been known to be surrounded by a hexagonal (6 sides) cloud since discovery in 1987 in data taken by NASAБs Voyager spacecrafts, which quickly flew past the ringed world in the early 1980s.

Fragments of Comet LINEAR
11.08.2000

What do you call a bunch of comet fragments anyway ... a flock, a covey, a swarm? The question is definitely relevant to comet LINEAR (C/1999 S4 LINEAR) whose nucleus apparently fragmented late last month during its first trip through the inner solar system.

Elliptical Galaxy NGC 1132
13.02.2008

NGC 1132 is one smooth galaxy -- but how did it form? As an elliptical galaxy, NGC 1132 has little dust and gas, and few stars have formed in it recently. Although many elliptical galaxies are in clusters of galaxies, NGC 1132 appears as a large, isolated galaxy toward the constellation of the River (Eridanus).

A Spiral Nebula Surrounding Star R Sculptoris
16.10.2012

What's happening around that star? An unusual spiral structure has been discovered around the Milky Way star R Sculptoris, a red giant star located about 1,500 light years away toward the constellation of the Sculptor (Sculptoris).

Massive Stars in NGC 6357
5.02.2016

Massive stars lie within NGC 6357, an expansive emission nebula complex some 6,500 light-years away toward the tail of the constellation Scorpius. In fact, positioned near center in this ground-based close-up...

Mystic Mountain Monster being Destroyed
25.05.2020

Inside the head of this interstellar monster is a star that is slowly destroying it. The huge monster, actually an inanimate series of pillars of gas and dust, measures light years in length.

X Ray Milky Way
10.01.2002

If you had x-ray vision, the center regions of our galaxy would not be hidden from view by immense cosmic dust clouds opaque to visible light. Instead, the Milky Way toward Sagittarius might look something like this stunning mosaic of images from the orbiting Chandra Observatory.

DEM L71: When Small Stars Explode
14.03.2003

Large, massive stars end their furious lives in spectacular supernova explosions -- but small, low mass stars may encounter a similar fate. In fact, instead of simply cooling off and quietly fading away, some white...

Thackerays Globules
12.06.2012

These are larger dust bunnies than you will find under your bed. Situated in rich star fields and glowing hydrogen gas, these opaque clouds of interstellar dust and gas are so large they might be able to form stars.