Astronomy

Recent study, published in the July 17 issue of Nature, shows that vast regions of the ancient highlands of Mars, which cover about half the planet, contain clay minerals, which can form only in the presence of water. Volcanic lavas buried the clay-rich regions during subsequent, drier periods of the planet’s history, but impact craters […]

Popularity: 3%

Once thought to be unusual and rare, gravitational interactions between galaxies are now known to be quite common (especially in densely populated galaxy clusters) and are considered to play an important role in galaxy evolution. Here we can see two nearly identical spiral galaxies in Virgo, 90 million light-years distant, in the early stages of […]

Popularity: 8%

Aurora is caused when charged particles stream along the magnetic field of a planet and into its atmosphere. On Earth these charged particles come from the solar wind – a stream of particles that emanates from the Sun. Variations in the Sun control the frequency and intensity of these beautiful displays that can also herald […]

Popularity: 13%

Astronomy textbooks typically present galaxies as staid, solitary, and majestic island worlds of glittering stars. But galaxies also have a dynamical side. They have close encounters that sometimes end in grand mergers and overflowing sites of new star birth as the colliding galaxies morph into wondrous new shapes.
Celebrating 18th launch anniversary of the Hubble Space […]

Popularity: 18%

Pictured here is a Hubble Space Telescope image on Stingray Nebula. Located in constellation Ara (The Altar) at the distance of 18.000 light years, this beautiful object considered as the youngest planetary nebula ever observed!
Popularity: 32%

Popularity: 32%

This Chandra X-ray Observatory image shows the debris of a massive star explosion in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small galaxy about 160,000 light years from Earth. The supernova remnant (SNR) shown here, N132D, is the brightest in the Magellanic clouds, and belongs to a rare class of oxygen-rich remnants. Most of the oxygen that […]

Popularity: 23%

Yet another result from Cassini mission. During a close flyby on March 12, the spacecraft tasted and sampled a surprising organic brew erupting in geyser-like fashion from Saturn’s moon Enceladus. New heat maps of the surface show higher temperatures than previously known in the south polar region, with hot tracks running the length of giant […]

Popularity: 28%

After the Cat’s Eye Nebula, we also have Cat’s Paw Nebula. Located in southern Scorpius, near NGC 6357 and the H 12 region with the IC 4628 nebula, it is actually an emission nebula with a red color that originates from an abundance of ionized hydrogen atoms.
Like typical emission nebula, Cat’s Paw Nebula composed […]

Popularity: 29%

This is not a valentine card! The object pictured here, known as IC 1805, is a young star cluster surrounded by Ha emitting nebulosity, located in the constellation Cassiopeia. This region is also known as the “Heart Nebula,” since it resembles a heart on a wider field view. IC 1805 is located about 7,500 […]

Popularity: 28%

Pictured here is a 50-light-year-wide view of the central region of the Carina Nebula where a maelstrom of star birth - and death - is taking place. This picture also considered as one of the largest panoramic images ever taken with Hubble’s cameras.
The immense nebula contains at least a dozen brilliant stars that are […]

Popularity: 24%