Skyfactory> Announces!

NGC2264 and the Christmas Tree cluster captured by the Wide Field Imager at 2.2 meters ESO telescope - Credit: ESO

The festive season has arrived for astronomers at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in the form of this dramatic new image. It shows the swirling gas around the region known as NGC 2264 — an area of sky that includes the sparkling blue baubles of the Christmas Tree star cluster.

Omega Centauri captured by the WFI camera at 2.2 meters ESO telescope

Omega Centauri is one of the finest jewels of the southern hemisphere night sky, as ESO's latest stunning image beautifully illustrates. Containing millions of stars, this globular cluster is located roughly 17 000 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Centaurus.

Fomalhaut (alpha PsA)

The image shows Fomalhaut, the star around which a newly discovered planet orbits. Fomalhaut is much hotter than our Sun, 15 times as bright, and lies 25 light-years from Earth in the constellation Piscis Austrinus (the Southern Fish).

Hubble captures outstanding views of mammoth stars

Two of our Galaxy's most massive stars have been scrutinised in an impressive view by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. They have, until recently, been shrouded in mystery, but the new image shows them in greater detail than ever before.

The Thousand-Ruby Galaxy

ESO's Wide Field Imager has captured the intricate swirls of the spiral galaxy Messier 83, a smaller look-alike of our own Milky Way. Shining with the light of billions of stars and the ruby red glow of hydrogen gas, it is a beautiful example of a barred spiral galaxy, whose shape has led to it being nicknamed the Southern Pinwheel.

Hubble sees magnetic monster in erupting galaxy

The Hubble Space Telescope has found the answer to a long-standing puzzle by resolving giant but delicate filaments shaped by a strong magnetic field around the active galaxy NGC 1275. It is the most striking example of the influence of these immense tentacles of extragalactic magnetic fields, say researchers.

New feature: Voyager Photo Library!

Do you want to see the thousands of stunning planetary images captured by the Voyager spacecrafts nearly 30 years ago? Yes? Well! I've started a new website section that brings you the wonderful sights seen by Voyagers during their amazing journey throughout the Solar System. Thousands of never-seen-before images from the NASA's archives.

Pencil Nebula NGC 2736 and Surroundings

At 500,000 kilometers per hour, a supernova shockwave plows through interstellar space. This shockwave is known as the Pencil Nebula, or NGC 2736, and is part of the Vela supernova remnant, an expanding shell of a star that exploded about 11,000 years ago.

NGC 2327 and the Seagull Nebula IC 2177

The Seagull nebula is part of the Canis Majoris OB1 association and Canis Majoris R1 reflection nebula complex at a distance of 3750 light-years (1150 parsecs). Most of the nebulosity visible on the bottom of this image is part of the Seagull's Wings

Did You Edit Your Virtual Solar System Today?

Did You Edit Your Virtual Solar System Today?

EHLERANGE, Luxembourg, July 1st, 2007 - The Galaxiki Project...

Stellar fireworks are ablaze in galaxy NGC 4449

Nearly 12.5 million light-years away in the dwarf galaxy NGC 4449 a veritable stellar "fireworks" is on display – here...

International Space Station holed by meteorite

A mini-meteorite has left a bullet-sized hole in a module of the International Space Station (ISS), but the three-person US-Russian...

NASA Updates Shuttle Target Launch Date for Hubble Mission

NASA managers officially are targeting Sept. 10, 2008, for the launch of the fifth and final space shuttle servicing mission...

28 new planets, 7 new brown dwarfs reported by California, Carnegie team

The world's largest and most prolific team of planet hunters announced the discovery of 28 new planets outside our solar...

Star Cluster Holds Midweight Black Hole, VLA Indicates

Astronomers using the National Science Foundation's Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope have greatly strengthened the case that supermassive black...

M101 by Tony and Daphne Hallas

Tony and Daphne Hallas have a stunning image of M101, the Pinwheel Galaxy, in...

Edge-on Galaxy Group by Johannes Schedler

Johannes Schedler has a very nice image of a group of edge-on galaxies (NGC4206, NGC4216...

Hubble finds ring of dark matter

An international team of astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has discovered a ghostly ring of dark matter that...

China's largest optical astronomical telescope completed

China's largest optical astronomical telescope was put into operation on Saturday or May 12, in the Lijiang Gaomeigu astronomical observatory...

A huge supernova raises questions about the early universe

Until recently, astronomers corralled all the stars in the universe into one of two retirement...

Star is Found to be 13.2 Billion Years Old

How old are the oldest stars? Using ESO's VLT, astronomers recently measured the age of a star located in our...

The Crab Nebula by Jay GaBany

Jay GaBany has a very nice image of the Crab Nebula, M1, in Taurus constellation.

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Astronomer finds that hottest measured extrasolar planet is 3700 degrees

"HD 149026b is simply the most exotic, bizarre planet," Harrington said. "It’s pretty small, really dense, and now we find...

Leo Triplet by Richard Bennion

Richard Bennion has a nice image of the Leo Triplet. This small group of galaxies...

Chandra sees brightest supernova ever

The brightest stellar explosion ever recorded may be a long-sought new type of supernova, according to observations by NASA's Chandra...

Venus Express’ infrared camera goes filming

VIRTIS edge-enhanced video of the south polar vortex

An exciting new series of videos from...

NGC 4438 & 4435 by Tony and Daphne Hallas

Tony and Daphne Hallas have a stunning image of NGC4438 and NGC 4435 interacting galaxies.

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Wally Schirra has died

Wally Schirra has died at the age of 84. He was one of the original Mercury 7 astronauts. He was...

M106 galaxy by Wolfgang Promper

Wolfgang Promper has an outstanding image of galaxy M106 in Canes Venatici. Don't miss to admire...

Hubble finds multiple stellar "baby booms" in a globular cluster

Analysis of Hubble observations of the massive globular cluster NGC 2808 provides evidence that...

Pluto-Bound New Horizons Provides New Look at Jupiter System

NASA's New Horizons spacecraft has provided new data on the Jupiter system, stunning scientists with never-before-seen...

M76, The Little Dumbbell in Perseus by John Smith

John Smith took this nice image of M76, the little Dumbbell, a planetary nebula in...

Greetings to planet Gliese 581 c

To the people (no, that’s not right), to the creatures (too harsh), to the inhabitants of planet Gliese 581 c,...

NGC 5033, Spiral Galaxy in Canes Venatici by Robert Gendler

Robert Gendler has a great image of NGC 5033, a Seyfert galaxy in Canes Venatici...

Astronomers Find First Earth-like Planet in Habitable Zone

Astronomers have discovered the most Earth-like planet outside our Solar System to date, an exoplanet with a radius only 50%...

Black Holes May Fill The Universe With the Seeds of Life

New research shows that black holes are not the ultimate destroyers that are often portrayed in popular culture. Instead, warm...

Hubble’s 17th anniversary – extreme star birth in the Carina Nebula

24-Apr-2007: One of the largest panoramic images ever taken with Hubble’s cameras has been released to...

Hubble space telescope reveals the aftermath of 'Star Wars'

An Anglo-American team of astronomers have used the Advanced Camera for Surveys on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) to obtain...