Picture This – Page 8 – Astronomy Now

The mesmerizing outskirts of NGC 4603 – a key galaxy in Hubble’s ‘key project’

30 August 2021 Astronomy Now

The spiral arms of galaxy NGC 4603 are home to multiple Cepheid variable stars, “standard candles” that helped astronomers pin down the age of the universe in one of the Hubble Space Telescope’s first major projects.

A flawless spiral galaxy in Aries an oasis of light in a spiralling sea of stars

20 August 2021 Astronomy Now

A tilted spiral galaxy, showing off beautifully symmetric arms tightly wrapped around a brilliant core, provides a spectacular target for the Hubble Space Telescope.

M61, a face-on titan of the Virgo galaxy cluster, reveals its star-studded structure

17 August 2021 Astronomy Now

One of the largest members of the Virgo galaxy cluster, M61 presents a spectacular face-on view of densely populated spiral arms and a brilliant stellar nucleus hosting a supermassive black hole.

Rings around a black hole from X-ray echoes off interstellar dust

8 August 2021 Astronomy Now

An X-ray outburst from a binary black hole system creates spectacular “light echoes” as the radiation bounces off intervening dust clouds, shedding light on the hole’s activity and the nature of the smoke-like dust grains.

Erosion in a Martian crater carves buttes and stair-like layers

4 August 2021 Astronomy Now

The powerful HiRISE camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captures an intriguing view of eroded rock formations on a crater floor carved billions of years ago.

Perseverance surveys the magnificent desolation of Jezero Crater

27 July 2021 Astronomy Now

The Perseverance Mars rover’s cameras capture the stark, desert-like beauty of Jezero Crater where a now-vanished lake once sparkled and where traces of ancient microbial life may preserved in lakebed sediments.

A frequently rediscovered globular cluster in Scorpius catches Hubble’s eye

13 July 2021 Astronomy Now

The origin of the globular clusters observed in most galaxies remains a mystery, but the vast star swarms provide some of the most stunning sights in the heavens for professional and amateur astronomers alike.

Hubble captures a colourful cluster in the Small Magellanic Cloud

3 July 2021 Astronomy Now

As engineers work to resolve a computer glitch aboard the Hubble Space Telescope, its images, like this one of NGC 330, are a reminder of the spectacular views the observatory has provided for the past three decades.

Supermassive black hole triggers blazing ring of star formation around galactic core

24 June 2021 Astronomy Now

A supermassive black hole at the heart of galaxy NGC 1097 powers a brilliant nuclear ring of run-away star formation as imaged by the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope.

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.