What Happened To Mars?

A Gallery of ‘Tadpole Galaxies’

These postage-stamp-size images reveal 36 young galaxies caught in the act of merging with other galaxies. These galaxies appear as they existed many billions of years ago. Astronomers have dubbed them “tadpole galaxies” because of their distinct knot-and-tail shapes, which suggest that they are engaging in galactic mergers.

Credit: NASA, A. Straughn, S. Cohen, and R. Windhorst (Arizona State University), and the HUDF team (Space Telescope Science Institute) Source: http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/opo0604a/

The icy blue wings of Hen 2-437

The patterns and symmetries in space never cease to amaze. Hen 2-437 is a planetary nebula which has spectacularly symmetrical wings. It was first identified in 1946 by Rudolph Minkowski, who later also discovered the famous and equally beautiful M2-9, otherwise known as the Twin Jet Nebula:

Hen 2-437 was added to a catalogue of planetary nebula over two decades later by astronomer and NASA astronaut Karl Gordon Henize. If you’re interested in how planetary nebulae form, go here

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA

This is Pluto as never seen before in human history.

Hubble’s Bubble

To celebrate 26 years in space, Hubble has captured this magnificent view of NGC 7635, better known as the Bubble Nebula. The “bubble” is created by the stellar wind from a hot, young central star that is 10-20 times the mass of our Sun.

Hubble Finds an Einstein Ring : These graceful arcs are a cosmic phenomenon known as an Einstein ring - created as the light from distant galaxies warps around an extremely large mass, like a galaxy cluster. (via NASA)

Michael Benson

1. Mimas Above Saturn’s Rings and Shadows, Cassini, November, 7, 2004

2. Mimas Transits Saturn’s Ring Shadows, Cassini, January 18, 2005

Constellations.

M94: Bursting With Stars

Located about 16 million light-years away, this new Hubble image shows the sparkling galaxy Messier 94. You’ll notice the bright ring (or starburst ring) around Messier 94 where new stars are forming at a high rate. The cause of this star-forming region is thought to be a pressure wave going outwards from the galactic center, compressing the gas and dust in the outer region. The compression of material means the gas starts to collapse into denser clouds. Inside these dense clouds, gravity pulls the gas and dust together until temperature and pressure are high enough for stars to be born. (Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble)

In this amazing Hubble Space Telescope image, a blue bubble-like nebula surrounds a Wolf–Rayet star WR 31a, located about 30,000 light-years away in the constellation of Carina (The Keel).  Wolf–Rayet stars are the most massive and brightest stars known, and their lifecycle is only a few hundred thousand years — a blink of an eye in cosmic terms.

Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt

Edge-on Spiral Galaxy

New awesome edge-on view of the galaxy NGC 1055 captured by ESO’s Very Large Telescope. This large galaxy is thought to be up to 15 percent larger in diameter than the Milky Way but shares the characteristic spiral arms. (Credit: ESO)