Stellar Clusters and Galaxies

A breathtaking collection of star clusters and galaxies against a deep black sky, featuring bright stars, varying colors, and intricate cosmic formations.

The Hyades star cluster, with bright yellow Aldebaran star.

The Hyades star cluster, with bright yellow Aldebaran star.

Messier 88 and Messier 91 in the constellation Coma Berenices

The open cluster NGC 7243 in Lacerta.

Albireo, bouble star in Cygnus.

Messier galaxies M95, M96 and M105 in Leo.

Stretch of galaxies known as Markarian's Chain.

NGC 457, the ET or Owl Cluster in Cassiopeia.

NGC 6397 globular cluster in Ara, with stars Beta Arae and Gamma Arae.

A wide-field image of the field around the North Star, Polaris, at upper right.

A galactic star scene with Omega Centauri, NGC 5128 and NGC 4945.

Messier 5, a globular cluster in the constellation Serpens.

The constellation of Corona Borealis, the Northern Crown, in the northern spring sky.

Messier 44, the Beehive Cluster.

The large Hyades star cluster with the giant star Aldebaran and star cluster NGC 1647.

Messier 44, the Beehive Cluster, with stars Asellus Borealis and Asellus Australis.

A huge elliptical galaxy.

Panta rhei is a simplified version of the famous Greek philosopher Heraclitus' teachings. It basically means, everything flows. And everything in the Universe is indeed continually on the move, spiraling and shifting through space. Some cosmic objects move a little further than others take the subject of this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image, a globular cluster of stars known as Palomar 12. Although it currently lies on the outskirts of the Milky Way’s halo, Palomar 12 was not born here. When astronomers first studied this cluster, they were puzzled by its strangely young age when compared to the other clusters in the galaxy. It appeared to be around 30 percent younger than other Milky Way globulars. Surely if it had been born within our galaxy, it would have sprung to life at a similar time to its cluster companions A bit more digging revealed that Palomar 12 was actually ripped from its initial home, the Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical galaxy, around 1.7 billion years ago via tid

The glowing object in this Hubble Space Telescope image is an elliptical galaxy called NGC 3923. It is located over 90 million light-years away in the constellation of Hydra. NGC 3923 is an example of a shell galaxy where the stars in its halo are arranged in layers. Finding concentric shells of stars enclosing a galaxy is quite common and is observed in many elliptical galaxies. In fact, every tenth elliptical galaxy exhibits this onion-like structure, which has never been observed in spiral galaxies. The shell-like structures are thought to develop as a consequence of galactic cannibalism, when a larger galaxy ingests a smaller companion. As the two centers approach, they initially oscillate about a common center, and this oscillation ripples outwards forming the shells of stars just as ripples on a pond spread when the surface is disturbed. NGC 3923 has over twenty shells, with only a few of the outer ones visible in this image, and its shells are much more subtle than those of othe

The Splinter Galaxy (NGC 5907), located in the constellation Draco, is viewed edge on from our perspective of 39 million light years away, features looping structures that represent the orbit of a former satellite galaxy that finally became aborbed

Stars, dust and gas nebula in a far galaxy Stars, dust and gas nebula in a far galaxy. Elements of this image furnished by NASA Copyright: xZoonar.com/gannaxacheretx 11584269

NGC 1275 in the constellation Perseus.

The Small Magellanic Cloud, with globular cluster NGC 104 at right.

Messier 31, the Andromeda Galaxy.

Constellation of the Ursa Major, Galaxy

The Perseus OB Association surrounding the bright star Mirfak above centre.

NGC 4656, the Whale Galaxy (above), and NGC 4631, the Hockey Stick Galaxy (below).

Markarians Chainin Virgo Cluster

The Andromeda Galaxy above two guide stars, Mu Andromedae and Nu Andromedae.

NGC 55, a dwarf galaxy in Sculptor.

The galaxy cutting dramatically across the frame of this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image is a slightly warped dwarf galaxy known as UGC1281. Seen here from an edge-on perspective, this galaxy lies roughly 18 million light-years away in the constellation of Triangulum (The Triangle). The bright companion to the lower left of UGC 1281 is the small galaxy PGC 6700, officially known as 2MASX J01493473+3234464. Other prominent stars belonging to our own galaxy, the Milky Way, and more distant galaxies can be seen scattered throughout the sky. The side-on view we have of UGC 1281 makes it a perfect candidate for studies into how gas is distributed within galactic halos the roughly spherical regions of diffuse gas extending outwards from a galaxy’s center. Astronomers have studied this galaxy to see how its gas vertically extends out from its central plane, and found it to be a quite typical dwarf galaxy. However, it does have a slightly warped shape to its outer edges, and is forming

Seine et Marne. Constellation of the Great Bear. A famous couple composed of galaxies M81 (right) and M82 (left), respectively distant 12 and 15 million light-years.

Spiral galaxy viewed edge on. US Naval Observatory

Jupiter in the constellation Taurus above the Hyades open cluster and Aldebaran, below the Pleiades. NGC 1647 and NGC 1746 clusters are also visible at left.

Distant galaxies, Supernova Core pulsar neutron star. Elements of this image furnished by NASA. Retouched image

Omega Centauri globular star cluster.

ISS006-E-28068 (February 2003) --- Canopus, the second-brightest star in the sky, is visible in this view photographed by astronaut Donald R. Pettit, Expedition 6 NASA ISS science officer, on board the International Space Station (ISS). Canopus is about 300 light years from Earth in the southern hemisphere constellation Carina and is a rare class F yellow-white (7800 Kelvin) super giant. It is 65 times wider and 15,000 times more luminous than the Sun and is large enough to stretch three-fourths of the way across Mercurys orbit.

View a video clip zoom in on galaxy ESO 306-17 here a href= http //www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/4409589832/ www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/4409589832/ /a This image from the Advanced Camera for Surveys aboard the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope highlights the large and bright elliptical galaxy called ESO 306-17 in the southern sky. In this image, it appears that ESO 306-17 is surrounded by other galaxies but the bright galaxies at bottom left are thought to be in the foreground, not at the same distance in the sky. In reality, ESO 306-17 lies fairly abandoned in an enormous sea of dark matter and hot gas. Researchers are also using this image to search for nearby ultra-compact dwarf galaxies. Ultra-compact dwarfs are mini versions of dwarf galaxies that have been left with only their core due to interaction with larger, more powerful galaxies. Most ultra-compact dwarfs discovered to date are located near giant elliptical galaxies in large clusters of galaxies, so it will be interesting to se

Andromeda Galaxy, Germany, Europe

Astronomers think there are roughly as many brown dwarfs as regular stars like our sun, but brown dwarfs are often too cool to find using visible light.

Algol star, in Perseus the Hero.

NORTH AMERICA NEBULA IN CYGNUS TAKEN BY ASTRONOMY TELESCOPE APPEARS AS SHINING STARS IN NIGHT SKY

The Abell 2065 cluster are a group of galaxies 1.5 billion light years from Earth. These galaxies are the foreground objects as many more distant galaxies can be seen under close inspection in this very deep image.

Mars (at right) near the orange giant star Mebsuta, aka Epsilon Geminorum.

Dwarf galaxy UGC 1281 in the Triangulum constellation.

The Leo Triplet

Messier 52, also known as NGC 7654, is an open cluster in the Cassiopeia constellation

The Andromeda Galaxy, also known as Messier 31 or NGC 224.

Messier 44, the Beehive Star Cluster in Cancer.

NGC 4013 is an edge-on unbarred spiral galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major

The northern spring constellation of Coma Berenices.

Messier 33 galaxy in Triangulum.

Saturn in the Beehive Star Cluster, also known as Messier 44 or NGC 2632

Altair, a star spinning so fast its mid-section is stretched out has been directly measured by an ultra-high-resolution NASA telescope system on Palomar Mountain near San Diego.

Though fragile comet nuclei have been seen falling apart as they near the Sun, nothing like the slow breakup of an asteroid has ever before been observed in the asteroid belt. A series of Hubble Space Telescope images shows that the fragments are drifting away from each other at a leisurely one mile per hour. This makes it unlikely that the asteroid is disintegrating because of a collision with another asteroid. A plausible explanation is that the asteroid is crumbling due to a subtle effect of sunlight. This causes the rotation rate to slowly increase until centrifugal force pulls the asteroid apart. The asteroid's remnant debris, weighing in at 200,000 tons, will in the future provide a rich source of meteoroids. Hubble Observation of P/2013 R3 - November 15, 2013

Comet Hyakutake

The small constellation of Delphinus.

The asteroid Euphrosyne glides across a field of background stars in this time-lapse view from NASA's WISE spacecraft. Euphrosyne is quite dark in visible light, but glows brightly at infrared wavelengths.

Night Photography of the Andromeda Galaxy

The central region of the northern spring constellation of Canes Venatici.

This image taken by NASA'S Galaxy Evolution Explorer shows one of the largest flares, or star eruptions, ever recorded at ultraviolet wavelengths. This star is called GJ 3685A.

Hercules Globular Cluster in¶ÿconstellation¶ÿof¶ÿHercules

Messier 81 and Messier 82 in Ursa Major.

Vintage photograph. Stars in night sky - Faint Nebula

Messier 13, the Hercules Globular Cluster.

This new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows a beautiful spiral galaxy known as PGC 54493, located in the constellation of Serpens (The Serpent). This galaxy is part of a galaxy cluster that has been studied by astronomers exploring an intriguing phenomenon known as weak gravitational lensing. This effect, caused by the uneven distribution of matter (including dark matter) throughout the Universe, has been explored via surveys such as the Hubble Medium Deep Survey. Dark matter is one of the great mysteries in cosmology. It behaves very differently from ordinary matter as it does not emit or absorb light or other forms of electromagnetic energy hence the term "dark." Even though we cannot observe dark matter directly, we know it exists. One prominent piece of evidence for the existence of this mysterious matter is known as the "galaxy rotation problem." Galaxies rotate at such speeds and in such a way that ordinary matter alone the stuff we see would no

This image of the Beehive star cluster points out the location of its first known planets, Pr0201b and Pr0211b, or, as astronomers call them, the first 'b's' in the Beehive.

Aldebaran, a red giant star.

Orion Nebula

The Pleiades Star Cluster (M45) is located in the constellation of Taurus

NGC 3718 and its companion galaxy NGC 3729.

A lone source shines out brightly from the dark expanse of deep space, glowing softly against a picturesque backdrop of distant stars and colorful galaxies. Captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescopes Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), this scene shows PGC 83677, a lenticular galaxy — a galaxy type that sits between the more familiar elliptical and spiral varieties. It reveals both the relatively calm outskirts and intriguing core of PGC 83677. Here, studies have uncovered signs of a monstrous black hole that is spewing out high-energy X-rays and ultraviolet light.

Atlas Image mosaic, covering 34' x 34' on the sky, of the Coma cluster, aka Abell 1656. This is a particularly rich cluster of individual galaxies (over 1000 members), most prominently the two giant ellipticals, NGC 4874 (right) and NGC 4889 (left).

Small part of an infinite star field. Small part of an infinite star field of space in the Universe. Elements of this image furnished by NASA".

This Hubble Space Telescope image shows a fuzzy cloud of dust, called a coma, surrounding the comet C/2017 K2 PANSTARRS (K2), the farthest active comet ever observed entering the solar system. The image was taken in June 2017 by Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3.

Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF).

Comet Hartley 2 within the Double Cluster in the constellation Perseus

This new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows the globular cluster IC 4499. Globular clusters are big balls of old stars that orbit around their host galaxy. It has long been believed that all the stars within a globular cluster form at the about same time, a property which can be used to determine the cluster's age. For more massive globulars however, detailed observations have shown that this is not entirely true there is evidence that they instead consist of multiple populations of stars born at different times. One of the driving forces behind this behavior is thought to be gravity more massive globulars manage to grab more gas and dust, which can then be transformed into new stars. IC 4499 is a somewhat special case. Its mass lies somewhere between low-mass globulars, which show a single generation build-up, and the more complex and massive globulars which can contain more than one generation of stars. By studying objects like IC 4499 astronomers can therefore explore how

73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann, also known as Schwassmann-Wachmann 3, is a periodic comet in our solar system which is in the process of disintegrating

$A closeup of Betelgeuse in Orion, taken in moonlight, with the 130mm f/6 apo refractor. This is a stack of six 2-minute exposures and three 30-second exposures to reduce the core brilliance, with the short exposures blended in with a luminosity mask. All with the Canon 6D MkII at ISO 800. The diffraction spikes were added with Astronomy Tools Photoshop actions.$

Hubble sees a galaxy 60 million light-years away This new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows the galaxy IC 335 in front of a backdrop of distant galaxies. IC 335 is part of a galaxy group containing three other galaxies, and located in the Fornax Galaxy Cluster 60 million light-years away. As seen in this image, the disk of IC 335 appears edge-on from the vantage point of Earth. This makes it harder for astronomers to classify it, as most of the characteristics of a galaxys morphology — the arms of a spiral or the bar across the center — are only visible on its face. Still, the 45 000 light-year-long galaxy could be classified as an S0 type. These lenticular galaxies are an intermediate state in galaxy morphological classification schemes between true spiral and elliptical galaxies. They have a thin stellar disk and a bulge, like spiral galaxies, but in contrast to typical spiral galaxies they have used up most of the interstellar medium. Only a few new stars can be created o

Globular cluster Messier 92.

Constellation of the Pleiades (Seven Sisters), c1890. Artist: Unknown

An Interstellar Hamburger

Messier 27, the Dumbbell Nebula in Vulpecula.

This image, taken with the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 on board the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, shows the globular cluster Terzan 1. Lying around 20,000 light-years from us in the constellation of Scorpius (The Scorpion), it is one of about 150 globular clusters belonging to our galaxy, the Milky Way. Typical globular clusters are collections of around a hundred thousand stars, held together by their mutual gravitational attraction in a spherical shape a few hundred light-years across. It is thought that every galaxy has a population of globular clusters. Some, like the Milky Way, have a few hundred, while giant elliptical galaxies can have several thousand. They contain some of the oldest stars in a galaxy, hence the reddish colors of the stars in this image the bright blue ones are foreground stars, not part of the cluster. The ages of the stars in the globular cluster tell us that they were formed during the early stages of galaxy formation! Studying them can also help us t

Roestte Nebula NGC2244 in Hydrogen alpha with Galaxy,Open Cluster,Globular Cluster, stars and space dust in the universe

One of the brightest stars, Vega

Whirlpool Galaxy Messier 51.

Comet Hyakutake Coma

Constellation of The Pleiades (Seven Sisters) photographed with the 36 inch Crossley reflector at the Lick Observatory. From 'The Publications of the Lick Observatory' Vol.VIII, Sacramento 1908

Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF)

Messier 1, the Crab Nebula.

Globular cluster 47 Tucanae, NGC 104 in the constellation Tucana Elements furnished by NASA

Spiral Galaxy Type SC in Cygnas

This image shows comet Tempel 1 as seen through the clear filter of the medium resolution imager camera on NASA's Deep Impact. It was taken on July 1, 2005.

Two Moons and the Pleiades from Mars

Photograph of a dumb-bell nebula (NGC 6853) in the constellation of Vulpecula. Dated 19th century

Namibia, Region Khomas, near Uhlenhorst, Astrophoto of the planetary nebula Helix Nebula (NGC 7293) with a telescope

Picture from the Atomarium at the Technical Museum.Partikelspela depicting an atomic core.

Comet on sky

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