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Spritely behaviour

Two rare phenomena associated with thunderstorms are captured in this expansive vista seen from 4,200 metres above sea level at the Gemini North telescope, overlooking the other observatories atop Mauna Kea in Hawaii.

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A fourth-century supernova

These delicate yet fast-moving filaments of gas belong to a supernova remnant designated as 1E 0102.2-7219, which resulted from the destruction of a massive star long ago in the Small Magellanic Cloud, 200,000 light years away.

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The magic of gravity

The great sculptor of the Universe is gravity. It is gravity’s force that assembles the galaxies into arrays of cartwheeling spirals, flocculant sunflowers and immense ellipticals.