X-Highlight – Astronomy Now

26 July 2021

Another look at the densely packed stars of Omega Centauri

11 June 2021 Astronomy Now

The magnificent Omega Centauri globular cluster is a riveting sight in even small telescopes, but it takes the Hubble Space Telescope to provide the jaw-dropping vista seen here.

Jupiter’s moon Ganymede seen up close for first time in 21 years

9 June 2021 Graham Carr

NASA’s Juno spacecraft flew by Ganymede, Jupiter’s largest moon, Monday on the first close-up visit to the icy world since 2000. The first images from the flyby show Ganymede’s cratered, icy surface in “remarkable detail,” NASA said.

Hubble Space Telescope captures intriguing view of lopsided galaxy

4 June 2021 Astronomy Now

The Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies features more than 300 galaxies exhibiting an unusual appearance, including NGC 2276, seen here in a spectacular photo from the Hubble Space Telescope.e

Galaxy cluster warps space, magnifying more distant galaxies

19 May 2021 Astronomy Now

The combined gravity of a remote galaxy cluster warps the space around it and brings the distorted shapes of background galaxies into view.

Rare luminous blue variable provides stellar spectacle for Hubble anniversary

27 April 2021 Astronomy Now

To mark the Hubble Space Telescope’s 31st anniversary in space, astronomers captured a dramatic image of a rare luminous blue variable, one of the most massive and brightest stars in the Milky Way.

A stunning intermediate spiral, a brilliant Seyfert galaxy, shows off a compact core

7 January 2021 Astronomy Now

The Hubble Space Telescope captures a bird’s eye view of an energetic Seyfert galaxy, showing a compact, brilliant core that likely harbours a supermassive black hole.

A new angle on the Andromeda galaxy wins astrophotography prize

14 September 2020 Astronomy Now

French photographer Nicolas Lefaudeux has beaten thousands of amateur and professional photographers from around the globe to win the Royal Observatory Greenwich’s title of Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2020.

Spitzer spies a hot spot of star formation

30 August 2020 Astronomy Now

The star-forming nebula W51 is one of the largest “star factories” in the Milky Way galaxy. Interstellar dust blocks the visible light emitted by the region, but it is revealed by NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, which captures infrared light that can penetrate dust clouds.

“Space Butterfly” in Vela offers remarkable view of twin-lobed planetary nebula

7 August 2020 Astronomy Now

ESO’s Very Large Telescope captures a colourful view of an unusual bipolar planetary nebula resembling a vast butterfly stretching up to four light years across in the southern constellation Vela.

Set your sights on Saturn

20 July 2020 Mark Armstrong

The magnificent ringed planet Saturn, the jewel in the Solar System’s crown, comes to opposition on the night of 20/21 July. At around this time, the ringed wonder offers its best observing circumstances for 2020.