Cosmic vision.

Credit: ESO/WFI (Optical); MPIfR/ESO/APEX/A.Weiss et al. (Submillimetre); NASA/CXC/CfA/R.Kraft et al. (X-ray). Date: January 28th, 2009 Colour composite image of Centaurus A, revealing the lobes and jets emanating from the active galaxy’s central black hole. This is a composite of images obtained with three instruments, operating at very different wavelengths. The 870-micron submillimetre data, from LABOCA on APEX, are shown in orange. X-ray data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory are shown in blue. Visible light data from the Wide Field Imager (WFI) on the MPG/ESO 2.2 m telescope located at La Silla, Chile, show the stars and the galaxy’s characteristic dust lane in close to "true colour". #L Image Source: https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso0903a/ Position (ICRS) RA = 13h 25m 27.7s DEC = -43° 1’ 9.5” Orientation North is up Field of View 22.7 x 23.9 arc minutes Constellation Centaurus

redit: NASA, ESA, Imad Pasha (Yale), Pieter van Dokkum (Yale) Date: February 4th, 2025 LEDA 1313424 (Advanced Camera for Surveys Image), aptly nicknamed the Bullseye, is two and a half times the size of our Milky Way and has nine rings — six more than any other known galaxy. High-resolution imagery from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope confirmed eight rings, and data from the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii confirmed a ninth. Hubble and Keck also confirmed which galaxy dove through the Bullseye, creating these rings: the blue dwarf galaxy that sits to its immediate center-left. Image Source: https://hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/2025/news-2025-006 Position (ICRS) RA = 0h 9m 39.2s DEC = 7° 4’ 49.6” Orientation North is 29.6° CCW Field of View 3.2 x 3.0 arc minutes Constellation Pisces

Credit: KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage), H. Schweiker & S. Pakzad (NOIRLab/NSF/AURA) Date: June 30th, 2020 This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. NGC 1788 is an unusual reflection nebula (bluish white at the center of the image) surrounded by a glowing red ring of hydrogen gas. The stars inside the nebula are only about a million years old, which is very young compared to most stars. The ring of glowing hydrogen gas is energized by nearby hot, massive stars not visible in the image. The image was generated with observations in the B (blue), I (orange) and Hydrogen-Alpha (red) filters. In this image, North is up, East is to the left. Image Source: https://noirlab.edu/public/images/noao-ngc1788/ Position (ICRS) RA = 5h 6m 55.3s DEC = -3° 21’ 24.9”Orientation North is upField of View 33.4 x 36.3 arc minutes Constellation Orion

Credit: ESO/Digitized Sky Survey 2. Acknowledgement: Davide De Martin Date: September 11th, 2024 This wide-field view, created from Digitized Sky Survey 2 images, shows the region around R Doradus, the bright, orange star in the centre. The star’s surface was recently imaged in detail using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), in which ESO is a partner. Image Source: https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso2412d/

Credit: KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/George Hatfield and Flynn Haase Date: February 20th, 2014 A spiral galaxy very similar to our own Milky Way, seen face-on. There are a couple of hundred billion stars here. The dark splotches are dust clouds, and the tiny pink spots are star forming regions, where new stars (and probably solar systems) are born.The bright object to the right is another galaxy, a small barred spiral captured by M51. Eventually, they will merge, making a single large galaxy (probably very distorted from its present state). Both galaxies are about 35 million light-years away.Go to the NOAO image gallery entry for M51 for more information on these galaxies. This image was taken as part of Advanced Observing Program (AOP) program at Kitt Peak Visitor Center during 2014. Image Source: https://noirlab.edu/public/images/noao-m51haase/ Position (ICRS)RA = 13h 30m 9.0s DEC = 47° 19’ 25.1”Orientation North is 82.8° CW Field of View16.1 x 10.8 arc minutes Constellation Canes Venatici

Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA Image processing: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF NOIRLab), J. Miller (Gemini Observatory/NSF NOIRLab), M. Rodriguez (Gemini Observatory/NSF NOIRLab), & M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab) Date: November 1st, 2023 IC 5148, nicknamed the Spare Tyre Nebula, is a beautiful planetary nebula located about 3000 light-years away near the ‘neck’ of the southern constellation Grus (The Crane). This image, captured with the Gemini South telescope, one half of the International Gemini Observatory operated by NSF NOIRLab, showcases the looming cloud of gas of IC 1548 and the central stellar remnant from which the gas radiates. It’s one of the fastest expanding planetary nebulae, pushing out into space at 180,000 kilometers per hour (112,000 miles per hour). With small telescopes, this nebula looks like a bright central star with an outer ring. The mesmerizing layers of gas are faint. They are almost undetectable without the use of larger telescopes, and not with the clarity captured in this image using the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) on Gemini South. Around the time IC 5148 was discovered by astronomers in 1894, researchers coined the term planetary nebula to refer to these giant gaseous balls that looked like giant planets. Today we know that these balls are in fact stellar remnants. At the center of IC 5148 is a white dwarf, the hot core of the dying star, surrounded by asymmetrical gaseous ‘blooms’ and a faint halo ring. The predecessor of the white dwarf was likely a star of a similar mass to our Sun. At the end of that star’s life, the internal pressure imbalance resulted in the star swelling up into a red giant. As it grew, the outer layers of the gas and stellar material were pushed into space to form the nebula we see today. The central hole — the dark patch surrounding the star — is due to the pressure of the radiation from the star that pushes the surrounding gas away from the core and leaves a vacant space. The formation of the ring and the bow-like structures of gas are marks of the evolutionary history of IC 5148 — but the mechanisms that created them remain a mystery to astronomers. Image Source: https://noirlab.edu/public/images/iotw2344a/ Position (ICRS) RA = 21h 59m 35.2s DEC = -39° 23’ 14.8” Orientation North is 14.9° CW Field of View 5.5 x 4.9 arc minutes Constellation Grus

Credit: ESO/VPHAS+ team. Acknowledgement: CASU Date: April 11th, 2024 This image, taken with the VLT Survey Telescope hosted at ESO’s Paranal Observatory, shows the beautiful nebula NGC 6164/6165, also known as the Dragon’s Egg. The nebula is a cloud of gas and dust surrounding a pair of stars called HD 148937. In a new study using ESO data, astronomers have shown that the two stars are unusually different from each other — one appears much younger and, unlike the other, is magnetic. Moreover, the nebula is significantly younger than either star at its heart, and is made up of gases normally found deep within a star and not on the outside. These clues together helped solve the mystery of the HD 148937 system — there were most likely three stars in the system until two of them clashed and merged, creating a new, larger and magnetic star. This violent event also created the spectacular nebula that now surrounds the remaining stars. Image Source: https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso2407a/

Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI Date: October 31st, 2024 The gruesome palette of these galaxies is owed to a mix of mid-infrared light from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, and visible and ultraviolet light from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. The pair grazed one another millions of years ago. The smaller spiral on the left, catalogued as IC 2163, passed behind NGC 2207, the larger spiral galaxy at right. Both have increased star formation rates. Combined, they are estimated to form the equivalent of two dozen new stars that are the size of the Sun annually. Our Milky Way galaxy forms the equivalent of two or three new Sun-like stars per year. Both galaxies have hosted seven known supernovae, each of which may have cleared space in their arms, rearranging gas and dust that later cooled, and allowed many new stars to form. (Find these areas by looking for the bluest regions). [Image description: Two spiral galaxies take up almost the entire view and appear to be overlapping. The galaxy at left, IC 2163, is smaller and more compact than the galaxy at right, NGC 2207. The black background of space is dotted with foreground stars and extremely distant galaxies.] Image Source: https://esahubble.org/images/heic2414a/ Position (ICRS) RA = 6h 16m 25.2s DEC = -21° 22’ 29.2” Orientation North is 11.9° CW Field of View 4.8 x 2.3 arc minutes Constellation Canis Major

Credit: KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/Brad Ehrhorn/Adam Block Date: June 12th, 2014 This mysterious ball of gas is about half a degree from M52, in Cassiopeia. See NGC 2359-Thor's Helmet for more information on this type of object. This image was taken as part of Advanced Observing Program (AOP) program at Kitt Peak Visitor Center during 2014. Image Source: https://noirlab.edu/public/images/noao-n7635ehrhorn/ Position (ICRS) RA = 23h 20m 44.4s DEC = 61° 12’ 52.0” Orientation North is 179.3° CCW Field of View 12.3 x 8.3 arc minutes Constellation Cassiopeia

Credit: NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF NOIRLab) & H. Schweiker (NSF NOIRLab) Date: June 30th, 2020 This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. HFG1 is a planetary nebula in the constellation of Cassiopeia. It was produced by a binary star system (V664 Cas) that is moving rapidly through our Galaxy. The star is moving towards the upper-right of the image. As HFG1 plows through the interstellar medium, a bluish bowshock is produced; and a red trail of gas is left behind in its wake. The image was generated with observations in the Hydrogen alpha (red) and Oxygen [OIII] (blue) filters. In this image, North is down and East is to the right. Image Source: https://noirlab.edu/public/images/noao-hfg1/ Position (ICRS)RA = 3h 2m 58.6sDEC = 64° 50’ 10.9”Orientation North is 180.0° CCW Field of View 26.6 x 19.8 arc minutes Constellation Cassiopeia

Credit: KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA Acknowledgments: PI: M T. Patterson (New Mexico State University) Image processing: Travis Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage), Mahdi Zamani & Davide de Martin Date: May 6th, 2020 The two galaxies in this image — NGC 672 (top right) and IC 1727 (bottom left) — appear to be so close that they are almost elbowing each other, like playful children. In fact, the galaxies shown in this beautifully detailed image taken at the Kitt Peak National Observatory, a program of NSF NOIRLab, are classified as a galactic pair, and the gravity of each galaxy influences the other. The pair are located around 20 million light-years away from Earth and the space between them spans over 80,000 light-years, a seemingly enormous gap. However, from the perspective of the galaxies themselves, that separation is not so significant, as it is roughly equivalent to the size of the galaxies themselves. Image Source: https://noirlab.edu/public/images/iotw2019a/Position (ICRS)RA = 1h 47m 42.2s DEC = 27° 22’ 18.9”Orientation North is 90.1° CW Field of View15.8 x 14.9 arc minutes Constellation Triangulum

Credit: T. A. Rector/University of Alaska Anchorage and WIYN/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA Date: June 30th, 2020 This image of the Veil Nebula was taken with the Mosaic camera on the WIYN 0.9-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. The Veil Nebula (NGC 6960) is part of a supernova remnant known as the Cygnus Loop. It is the shattered remains of one, and possibly two, supernovae that exploded more than 15,000 years ago at a distance of 2,500 light-years from Earth in the direction of the constellation of Cygnus, the Swan. At the time of the explosion, it would have been seen as a very bright star, rivaling the crescent Moon. The bright star near the center of the image, known as 52 Cygnus, is not associated with the supernova. The color image was generated by combining data from narrowband filters; data from H-alpha was assigned a red color, [OIII] is blue, and [SII] is green. North is to the left and east is down. Image Source: https://noirlab.edu/public/images/noao-veil-wiyn-0-9-m/ Position (ICRS) RA = 20h 44m 20.4s DEC = 30° 36’ 26.0” Orientation North is 89.8° CCW Field of View 59.8 x 53.0 arc minutes Constellation Cygnus

Credit: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage) and H. Schweiker (WIYN and NOIRLab/NSF/AURA) Date: June 30th, 2020 This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. The edge-on galaxy NGC 5981 (top), the elliptical galaxy NGC 5982 (middle) and the spiral galaxy NGC 5985 (bottom) form a distinct trio. It is not clear if or when these galaxies might merge with each other. But there is already evidence that NGC 5982 has already merged with one or more smaller galaxies in the recent past. The image was generated with observations in the B (blue), V (green), and I (red) filters. In this image, North is left, East is down. Image Source: https://noirlab.edu/public/images/noao-ngc5982/ Position (ICRS) RA = 15h 38m 59.7s DEC = 59° 18’ 1.4” Orientation North is 179.9° CCW Field of View 13.9 x 20.7 arc minutes Constellation Draco