Picture This – Page 23 – Astronomy Now

A dazzling swirl of suns in the northern sky

13 January 2019 Astronomy Now

NGC 6946, nicknamed the “Fireworks Galaxy,” presents a dazzling spectacle in the northern sky between the constellations Cygnus and Cepheus as viewed by the Hubble Space Telescope and Japan’s Subaru Telescope in Hawaii.

Caught in the act, a young star lights up surrounding nebula in veil of glory

5 January 2019 Astronomy Now

A hot young star about 15 times more massive than the Sun, nearing the translation to main sequence maturity, lights up its parent nebula in a blaze of ionised hydrogen.

The Helix Nebula’s amazing (and perplexing) structure

29 December 2018 Astronomy Now

The Helix Nebula is a familiar target to amateur astronomers, a dim, eyepiece-filling doughnut that belies the complexity revealed by spectacular images from the Hubble Space Telescope and other sensitive instruments.

Viewing the moon through a VERY large telescope

27 December 2018 Astronomy Now

While removing a decommissioned instrument from one of the four telescopes making up the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope, astronomers took time to enjoy an unprecedented view of the Moon.

An iconic image of Earth, a Christmas gift from the crew of Apollo 8

24 December 2018 Astronomy Now

Fifty years ago this week, the crew of Apollo 8 witnessed Earthrise over the limb of the moon, capturing the historic moment in an iconic photo that came to symbolize the Cold War space race, the budding environmental movement and the dream of a slain president. Many at NASA consider Apollo 8 the agency’s boldest mission.

A holiday “star wreath” from the Hubble Space Telescope

21 December 2018 William Harwood

In a holiday Hubble image, the Cepheid variable star RS Puppis, 10 times more massive than the sun and 200 times larger, shines in a wreath-like “gossamer cocoon” of dust, brightening and dimming over a 41.5-day cycle.

Galaxies peek through star clouds in massive cluster

19 December 2018 Astronomy Now

A middle-age star cluster in the Small Magellanic Cloud is populated by countless stars, but galaxies in the far distance peak through, giving viewers at least a sense of the overwhelming scale of the cosmos.

M100 shows just how far Hubble has come since spherical aberration

14 December 2018 Astronomy Now

Twenty-five years ago this month, spacewalking astronauts installed corrective optics aboard the Hubble Space Telescope, correcting its famously blurred vision. Galaxy M100 was used to demonstrate the success of the repair, and the imagery has steadily improved since then.

Comet-like tails seen stretching away from massive young stars

9 December 2018 Astronomy Now

Combining data from the Hubble Space Telescope and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array provides a spectacular view of comet-like tails stretching away from massive young stars in a cluster of giant suns, an indicator of the dynamic environment in such stellar assemblies.

A dolphin-shaped cloud formation found in Jupiter’s atmosphere

3 December 2018 Astronomy Now

Finding figures and other shapes in overhead clouds is a familiar pastime on Earth, but on Jupiter? An image from the Juno orbiter features a cloud formation that looks remarkably like a dolphin swimming through the giant planet’s turbulent atmosphere.