The United States’ space exploration program is taking a critical step forward with a successful major technical review of the core stage of the Space Launch System (SLS), the rocket that will take astronauts farther into space than ever before. Continue reading
This image of a dwarf galaxy called NGC 1569 was taken by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. It is of one of the most active galaxies in our local neighborhood. NGC 1569 gives birth to stars at a rate that is 100 times faster than the rate observed in our Milky Way Galaxy. Continue reading
This photo taken by the Hubble Space Telescope shows a magnificent view of the spiral galaxy NGC 4603. It is a very distant galaxy because it is located in the Centaurus cluster about 108 million light-years away from Earth. Continue reading
This stunning pair of interacting galaxies are in the process of merging. The barred spiral Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 7469 and its smaller companion IC 5283 are both located about 200 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation of … Continue reading
NGC 2346 is a planetary nebula which is ejected from Sun-like stars which are near the ends of their lives. It is remarkable because its central star is a very close pair of stars, orbiting each other every 16 days. The nebula lies about 2,000 light-years away from us, and is about one-third of a light-year in size. Continue reading
This spiral galaxy is called NGC 6782. When seen in visible light, it exhibits tightly wound spiral arms that give it a pinwheel shape similar to that of many other spirals. However, when viewed in ultraviolet light with NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, its shape is startlingly different. Continue reading
This view of the majestic disk of stars and dust lanes of the spiral galaxy NGC 2841 was taken by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope in 2010. The galaxy lies 46 million light-years away in the constellation of Ursa Major. Credit: … Continue reading
This spiral galaxy, called NGC 3982, looks similar to our own galaxy but it is much smaller. NGC 3982 spans about 30,000 light-years which makes it roughly one-third of the size of the Milky Way galaxy. It is located about … Continue reading
This near-collision has been caught in a photo by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. Two spiral galaxies pass by each other like majestic ships in the night. They are located in the direction of the constellation Canis Major. Continue reading
This photo of nebula NGC 1999 was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in December 1999. It is a good example of a reflection nebula. Just like fog around a street lamp, a reflection nebula shines only because a light … Continue reading