Galactic Merger

In this composite image of the galaxy grouping, the bright, distorted object at middle, left, is actually two colliding dwarf galaxies. Myriad star clusters have formed in the streamers of debris pulled from the galaxies and at the site of their head-on collision. The cigar-shaped object above the galaxy duo is another member of the group. A bridge of star clusters connects the trio. A long rope of bright star clusters points to the fourth member of the group, at lower right. The bright object in the center is a foreground star. The image was composed from observations made by the Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, and the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX).
Credit: NASA, ESA, S. Gallagher (The University of Western Ontario), and J. English (University of Manitoba)

Color Mosaic Of The Eastern Limb Of Mercury

This image acquired during a January 2008 flyby--the colors of which are not those that would be seen by the human eye but instead convey information about the distribution of different rock types on Mercury's surface--is just a taste of things to come when MESSENGER becomes the first spacecraft ever to orbit Mercury in 2011.
Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington

Andromeda Galaxy Among WISE's First Images

NASA released its first set of images from its Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE. Among them were these of the Andromeda Galaxy.
The immense Andromeda galaxy, also known as Messier 31 or simply M31, is captured in full in this new image from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE.


Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA

VISTA's Visible And Infrared View Of The Orion Nebula

The ESO's VISTA (Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy) survey telescope's powers are amply demonstrated in this new image of the Orion Nebula. VISTA's huge field of view enables it to image the entire Orion Nebula in both visible and infrared wavelengths, resulting in a composite image that is vast in its breadth and depth--not to mention breathtakingly beautiful.

Credit: ESO/J. Emerson/VISTA. Acknowledgment: Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit

Hubble: Most Detailed View To Date Of The Entire Surface Of Pluto

Just released, these images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope are the most detailed maps of Pluto to date, and won't be surpassed until 2015 when the New Horizons probe is within 6 months of its flyby of the dwarf planet.

By comparing these images with those previously taken by Hubble, astronomers have been able to detect brightness and color changes--a mix of white, dark-orange, and charcoal-black--on Pluto's surface.

Pluto has become significantly redder, while its illuminated northern hemisphere is getting brighter. These changes are most likely consequences of surface ice melting on the sunlit pole and then refreezing on the other pole, as the dwarf planet heads into the next phase of its 248-year-long seasonal cycle. -- Press Release

These images will be used to help further plan which hemisphere the New Horizons probe will gather its most detailed data on during its quick passage by Pluto.

Pluto: 90° Longitude

Pluto: 180° Longitude

Pluto: 270° Longitude




Full Photomap of Pluto
Credit: NASA, ESA, and M. Buie (Southwest Research Institute)

Starburst Region Home To Milky Way's Most Massive Known Star

Several blue supergiant stars crowd into a volume of less than a cubic light-year, along with three so-called Wolf-Rayet stars — extremely bright and massive stars that are ejecting vast amounts of material before finishing off in glorious explosions known as supernovae. Using another recent set of observations performed with the SINFONI instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have confirmed that one of these stars is about 120 times more massive than our Sun, standing out as the most massive star known so far in the Milky Way -- Press Release

Credit: ESO/Digitized Sky Survey 2

Images In The Raw #2

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