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List		 Addition DateSort Ascending Target Mission Instrument Size
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-08-15 Messier 100 Spitzer Space Telescope
 IRAC
MIPS
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This infrared image, from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, of M100 is a classic example of a grand design spiral galaxy, with prominent and well-defined spiral arms winding from the hot center, out to the cooler edges of the galaxy.
PIA15910:
The Swirling Arms of the M100 Galaxy
Full Resolution:     TIFF (2.503 MB)     JPEG (150.8 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-08-15 Messier 100 Spitzer Space Telescope
 IRAC
MIPS
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The galaxy Messier 100, or M100, shows its swirling spiral in this infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The arcing spiral arms of dust and gas that harbor star forming regions glow vividly when seen in the infrared.
PIA15909:
Hot and Cold in the M100 Galaxy
Full Resolution:     TIFF (2.12 MB)     JPEG (148.6 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-07-18 Spitzer Space Telescope
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Astronomers using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have detected what they believe is an alien world just two-thirds the size of Earth -- one of the smallest on record.
PIA15808:
Exoplanet is Extremely Hot and Incredibly Close (Artist's Concept) Animation Icon
Full Resolution:     TIFF (44.26 MB)     JPEG (821.4 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-07-09 Adaptive Optics System and Coronagraph
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These two images show HD 157728, a nearby star 1.5 times larger than the sun. Project 1640 uses new technology on the Palomar Observatory's 200-inch Hale telescope near San Diego, Calif., to spot planets.
PIA15807:
Using 'Dark Holes' to Spot Planets
Full Resolution:     TIFF (1.898 MB)     JPEG (105.7 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-07-02 Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)
 WISE Telescope
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The Flame Nebula sits on the eastern hip of Orion the Hunter, a constellation most easily visible in the northern hemisphere during winter evenings in this view from NASA's WISE Telescope.
PIA15635:
A Different View of the Flame Nebula
Full Resolution:     TIFF (91.79 MB)     JPEG (1.767 MB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-06-28 NuSTAR
 NuSTAR
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NASA's NuSTAR has taken its first snapshots of the highest energy X-rays in the cosmos, the same kind used by doctors to take pictures of your bones. NuSTAR chose a black hole in the constellation Cygnus as its first target due to its brightness.
PIA15804:
NuSTAR's First View of High-Energy X-ray Universe
Full Resolution:     TIFF (4.198 MB)     JPEG (312.9 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-06-26 Hubble Space Telescope
 Advanced Camera for Surveys
WFC3
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Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have found a puzzling arc of light behind an extremely massive cluster of galaxies residing 10 billion light-years away.
PIA15803:
Galaxy Cluster and Giant Arc
Full Resolution:     TIFF (4.657 MB)     JPEG (195.2 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-06-19 Hubble Space Telescope
 WFC3
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The galaxies pictured here have so much dust surrounding them that the brilliant light from their quasars cannot be seen in these images from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.
PIA15831:
The Homes of Quasars
Full Resolution:     TIFF (1.738 MB)     JPEG (64.82 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-06-08 Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)
 WISE Telescope
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This image shows our own back yard, astronomically speaking, from a vantage point about 30 light-years away from the sun. It highlights the population of tiny brown dwarfs recently discovered by NASA's WISE. The image simulates actual positions of stars.
PIA15637:
Highlighting our Tiniest Neighbors Animation Icon
Full Resolution:     TIFF (28.8 MB)     JPEG (331.3 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-06-07 Spitzer Space Telescope
 IRAC
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Astronomers have uncovered patterns of light that appear to be from the first stars and galaxies that formed in the universe. The light patterns were hidden within a strip of sky observed by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.
PIA15634:
Hidden Patterns of Light Revealed by Spitzer
Full Resolution:     TIFF (6.205 MB)     JPEG (540.7 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-05-23 Spitzer Space Telescope
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This image of the Pinwheel Galaxy, or M101, in the constellation of Ursa Major, combines data from four of NASA's space telescopes. The view shows that both young and old stars are evenly distributed along M101's tightly wound spiral arms.
PIA15630:
Pinwheel Galaxy Rainbow
Full Resolution:     TIFF (15.87 MB)     JPEG (422.2 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-05-21 Kepler
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This artist's concept depicts a comet-like tail of a possible disintegrating super Mercury-size planet candidate as it transits, or crosses, its parent star, named KIC 12557548. The results are based on data from NASA's Kepler mission.
PIA15629:
Possible Disintegrating Planet (Artist's Concept)
Full Resolution:     TIFF (5.41 MB)     JPEG (116.9 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-05-17 Herschel Space Observatory
 SPIRE
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ESA's Herschel Space Observatory has discovered a giant, galaxy-packed filament ablaze with billions of new stars. The filament connects two clusters of galaxies that, along with a third cluster, will smash together in several billion years.
PIA15659:
A Star-Bursting Filament
Full Resolution:     TIFF (80.29 MB)     JPEG (2.074 MB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-05-16 Helix Nebula Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX)
 Ultraviolet/Visible Camera
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NGC 7293, better known as the Helix nebula, displays its ultraviolet glow courtesy of NASA's GALEX. The Helix is the nearest example of a planetary nebula, which is the eventual fate of a star, like our own Sun, as it approaches the end of its life.
PIA15658:
NGC 7293, the Helix Nebula
Full Resolution:     TIFF (25.58 MB)     JPEG (884.6 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-05-16 Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)
 WISE Telescope
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Results from NASA's NEOWISE survey find that more potentially hazardous asteroids, or PHAs, are closely aligned with the plane of our solar system than previous models suggested.
PIA15628:
The Hustle and Bustle of our Solar System
Full Resolution:     TIFF (12.21 MB)     JPEG (508.5 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-05-16 Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)
 WISE Telescope
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NEOWISE, the asteroid-hunting portion of NASA's WISE mission, illustrates the differences between orbits of a typical near-Earth asteroid (blue) and a potentially hazardous asteroid, or PHA (orange). PHAs are a subset of the near-Earth asteroids (NEAs).
PIA15627:
Edge-on View of Near-Earth Asteroids
Full Resolution:     TIFF (45.56 MB)     JPEG (1.088 MB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-05-16 CW Leo Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX)
 Ultraviolet/Visible Camera
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A runaway star, called CW Leo, plowing through the depths of space and piling up interstellar material before it, can be seen in this ultraviolet image from NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer.
PIA15417:
CW Leo
Full Resolution:     TIFF (120 MB)     JPEG (8.366 MB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-05-16 M31 Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX)
 Ultraviolet/Visible Camera
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Hot stars burn brightly in this new image from NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer, showing the ultraviolet side of a familiar face. Approximately 2.5 million light-years away, the Andromeda galaxy, or M31, is our Milky Way's largest galactic neighbor.
PIA15416:
Andromeda
Full Resolution:     TIFF (197.4 MB)     JPEG (6.751 MB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-05-11 Cygnus-X Herschel Space Observatory
 PACS
SPIRE
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This new view of the Cygnus-X star-formation region by ESA's Herschel Space Observatory highlights chaotic networks of dust and gas that point to sites of massive star formation.
PIA15626:
Cygnus-X: The Cool Swan Glowing in Flight
Full Resolution:     TIFF (38.05 MB)     JPEG (963.3 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-05-09 Herschel Space Observatory
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Herschel Space Observatory has shown that galaxies with the most powerful, active, supermassive black holes at their cores produce fewer stars than galaxies with less active black holes in this artist concept.
PIA15625:
Artist's Concept: Active Black Hole Squashes Star Formation
Full Resolution:     TIFF (48.6 MB)     JPEG (1.935 MB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-05-08 Spitzer Space Telescope
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This graphic illuminates the process by which astronomers using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have, for the first time, detected the light from a super Earth planet.
PIA15624:
Measuring Brightness of Super Earth 55 Cancri e
Full Resolution:     TIFF (22.68 MB)     JPEG (708.5 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-05-08 Spitzer Space Telescope
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This artist's concept depicts 55 Cancri e as it orbits its star. NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has, for the first time, captured the light emanating from a distant super Earth, a planet more massive than Earth but lighter than Neptune.
PIA15623:
Super Earth Reveals Itself to Spitzer (Artist Animation) Animation Icon
Full Resolution:     TIFF (6.194 MB)     JPEG (42.26 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-05-08 Spitzer Space Telescope
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This artist's concept shows how NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope was able to detect a super Earth's direct light for the first time using its sensitive heat-seeking infrared vision.
PIA15622:
First-of-Its-Kind Glimpse at a Super Earth (Artist Animation)
Full Resolution:     TIFF (21.6 MB)     JPEG (164 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-05-08 Spitzer Space Telescope
 IRAC
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This plot of data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope reveals the light from a 'super Earth' called 55 Cancri e. The planet is the smallest yet, beyond our solar system, to reveal its direct light.
PIA15621:
Magician of a Planet Disappears to Reveal Itself
Full Resolution:     TIFF (21.6 MB)     JPEG (332.6 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-05-02 Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX)
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These images, taken with NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer and the Pan-STARRS1 telescope in Hawaii, show a brightening inside a galaxy caused by a flare from its nucleus. The arrow in each image points to the galaxy.
PIA15620:
Black Hole Swallows a Star
Full Resolution:     TIFF (2.568 MB)     JPEG (109.1 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-04-26 Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)
 IRAS
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It's a dust bunny of cosmic proportions. Astronomers used images from NASA's WISE to locate an aging star shedding loads of dust (orange dot at upper left).
PIA15428:
Dusty Star Stands Out From the Rest
Full Resolution:     TIFF (15.07 MB)     JPEG (265 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-04-24 Spitzer Space Telescope
 IRAC
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This infrared vision of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has revealed that the Sombrero galaxy, named after its appearance in visible light to a wide-brimmed hat, is in fact two galaxies in one.
PIA15426:
The Sombrero Galaxy's Split Personality
Full Resolution:     TIFF (14.2 MB)     JPEG (437.7 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-04-24 Spitzer Space Telescope
 IRAC
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New observations from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope reveal the Sombrero galaxy is not simply a regular flat disk galaxy of stars as previously believed, but a more round elliptical galaxy with a flat disk tucked inside.
PIA15427:
Sombrero Galaxy Not So Flat After All
Full Resolution:     TIFF (14.2 MB)     JPEG (339.1 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-04-17 Chandra X-ray Observatory
Hubble Space Telescope
Spitzer Space Telescope
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This composite of 30 Doradus, the Tarantula Nebula, contains data from Chandra (blue), Hubble (green), and Spitzer (red). Located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, the Tarantula Nebula is one of the largest star-forming regions close to the Milky Way.
PIA14415:
A New View of the Tarantula Nebula
Full Resolution:     TIFF (31.1 MB)     JPEG (1.774 MB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-04-12 Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)
 WISE Telescope
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This image from NASA's WISE spacecraft shows a blazar, a voracious supermassive black hole inside a galaxy with a jet that happens to be pointed right toward Earth. Active black holes are often found at the hearts of elliptical galaxies.
PIA15424:
Lone Blazar
Full Resolution:     TIFF (29.77 MB)     JPEG (981.1 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-04-12 Herschel Space Observatory
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New data from the Herschel Space Observatory suggest comets are constantly smashing together around the star Fomalhaut, a young star, just a few hundred million years old, and twice as massive as the sun.
PIA15425:
Herschel Spots Comet Massacre Around Nearby Star
Full Resolution:     TIFF (16.72 MB)     JPEG (114.8 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-04-04 Herschel Space Observatory
 PACS
SPIRE
XMM-Newton
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Inner structural features seen in this image from ESA's Herschel Space Observatory are helping scientists to understand the mechanisms and interactions within the galaxy.
PIA15422:
Centaurus A All Prettied Up in Infrared and X-Rays
Full Resolution:     TIFF (2.683 MB)     JPEG (38.6 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-04-04 Herschel Space Observatory
 PACS
SPIRE
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This parallelogram shaped region of dust observed by ESA's Herschel Space telescope can be best described using galaxy formation models where a flat spiral galaxy collides with an elliptical galaxy becoming warped in the process.
PIA15421:
The Action-Packed Centaurus A
Full Resolution:     TIFF (2.683 MB)     JPEG (24.94 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-04-03 Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX)
Spitzer Space Telescope
 IRAC
Ultraviolet/Visible Camera
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Time is running out for the galaxy NGC 3801, seen in this composite image from NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer and other instruments combining light from across the spectrum, ranging from ultraviolet to radio.
PIA15419:
The Beginning of the End of Star Formation
Full Resolution:     TIFF (3.835 MB)     JPEG (129 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-03-29 SOFIA
 FORCAST
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Researchers using NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) have captured infrared images of the last exhalations of a dying sun-like star. This image is of the planetary Nebula M2-9.
PIA15420:
NASA's SOFIA Captures Images of the Planetary Nebula M2-9
Full Resolution:     TIFF (9.175 MB)     JPEG (78.26 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-03-22 Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX)
 Ultraviolet/Visible Camera
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Wispy tendrils of hot dust and gas glow brightly in this ultraviolet image of the Cygnus Loop nebula, taken by NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer. The nebula lies about 1,500 light-years away.
PIA15415:
Cygnus Loop Nebula
Full Resolution:     TIFF (108 MB)     JPEG (5.259 MB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-03-16 Hubble Space Telescope
 WFC3
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NASA's Hubble Space Telescope's sharp view was used to look for gravitational arcs and rings which are produced when one galaxy acts as a lens to magnify and distort the appearance of another galaxy behind it.
PIA15418:
Quasar Lenses
Full Resolution:     TIFF (1.677 MB)     JPEG (61.94 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-03-14 Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)
 WISE Telescope
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This mosaic of images covering the entire sky was observed by NASA's WISE telescope and is part of its All-Sky Data Release. The projection used in this image of the sky is called an 'equirectangular.'
PIA15482:
Mapping the Infrared Universe: The Entire WISE Sky -- Rectangular Format
Full Resolution:     TIFF (150 MB)     JPEG (7.365 MB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-03-14 Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)
 WISE Telescope
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This is a mosaic of the images covering the entire sky as observed by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), part of its All-Sky Data Release. In this mosaic, the Milky Way Galaxy runs horizontally across the map.
PIA15481:
Mapping the Infrared Universe: The Entire WISE Sky
Full Resolution:     TIFF (150.9 MB)     JPEG (6.828 MB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-03-14 Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)
 WISE Telescope
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Listed as Cassiopeia A, this remnant of the supernova is one of the brightest radio sources in the known universe. More recently, NASA's WISE telescope detected infrared echoes of the flash of light rippling outwards from the supernova.
PIA15480:
Echoes of a Stellar Ending
Full Resolution:     TIFF (72.9 MB)     JPEG (2.817 MB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-03-08 Spitzer Space Telescope
 IRAC
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This nebula, which is in the constellation of Scutum, has no common name since it is hidden behind dust clouds. It takes an infrared telescope like NASA's Spitzer to see through this dark veil and reveal this spectacular hidden nebula.
PIA15413:
An Audience Favorite Nebula
Full Resolution:     TIFF (21.6 MB)     JPEG (964.2 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-03-08 Spitzer Space Telescope
 GLIMPSE
MIPSGAL
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A team of volunteers from the general public has pored over observations from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and discovered more than 5,000 'bubbles' in the disk of our Milky Way galaxy.
PIA15412:
Finding Bubbles in the Milky Way
Full Resolution:     TIFF (16.17 MB)     JPEG (546.9 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-02-29 Herschel Space Observatory
Spitzer Space Telescope
 Herschel Telescope
IRAC
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NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and ESA's Herschel mission combined to show this view of the Orion nebula, found below the three belt stars in the famous constellation of Orion the Hunter, highlights fledgling stars hidden in the gas and clouds.
PIA13959:
Orion's Rainbow of Infrared Light
Full Resolution:     TIFF (24.19 MB)     JPEG (321.2 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-02-22 Spitzer Space Telescope
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NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has detected the solid form of buckyballs in space for the first time. To form a solid particle, the buckyballs must stack together, as illustrated in this artist's concept showing the very beginnings of the process.
PIA15266:
Building a Buckyball Particle in Space (Artist Concept)
Full Resolution:     TIFF (30.73 MB)     JPEG (699.1 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-02-13 Planck
 Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope
Planck LFI-HFI
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This all-sky image shows the distribution of the galactic haze seen by ESA's Planck mission at microwave frequencies superimposed over the high-energy sky, as seen by NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope.
PIA15229:
Galactic Haze seen by Planck and Galactic 'Bubbles' seen by Fermi
Full Resolution:     TIFF (2.363 MB)     JPEG (113.3 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-02-13 Planck
 Planck LFI-HFI
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This all-sky image shows the spatial distribution over the whole sky of the galactic haze at 30 and 44 GHz, extracted from the Planck observations.
PIA15228:
The Mysterious Galactic Haze seen by Planck
Full Resolution:     TIFF (2.363 MB)     JPEG (95.5 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-02-13 Planck
 High Frequency Instrument
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This all-sky image shows the distribution of carbon monoxide (CO), a molecule used by astronomers to trace molecular clouds across the sky, as seen by Planck.
PIA15227:
All-sky Image of Molecular Gas and Three Molecular Cloud Complexes seen by Planck
Full Resolution:     TIFF (2.792 MB)     JPEG (78.38 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-01-18 Herschel Space Observatory
XMM-Newton
 PACS
SPIRE
XMM-Newton X-ray
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This image of the Eagle nebula shows the self-emission of the intensely cold nebula's gas and dust as never seen before; the nebula's intricate tendril nature, with vast cavities forms an almost cave-like surrounding to the famous pillars.
PIA15260:
Herschel Sees Through Ghostly Pillars
Full Resolution:     TIFF (5.493 MB)     JPEG (151 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-01-11 Kepler
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This artist's conception compares the KOI-961 planetary system to Jupiter and the largest four of its many moons. The KOI-961 planetary system hosts the three smallest planets known to orbit a star beyond our sun.
PIA15259:
'Honey I Shrunk the Planetary System' (Artist Concept)
Full Resolution:     TIFF (18 MB)     JPEG (175.4 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-01-11 Kepler
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Astronomers using data from NASA's Kepler mission and ground-based telescopes recently discovered the three smallest exoplanets known to circle another star, called KOI-961.01, KOI-961.02 and KOI-961.03.
PIA15258:
Sizing Up Exoplanets
Full Resolution:     TIFF (38.88 MB)     JPEG (484.3 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-01-11 Kepler
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This artist's concept, based on data from NASA's Kepler mission and ground-based telescopes, depicts an itsy bitsy planetary system -- so compact, in fact, that it's more like Jupiter and its moons than a star and its planets.
PIA15257:
Mini Planetary System (Artist Concept)
Full Resolution:     TIFF (30.73 MB)     JPEG (575.6 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-01-10 Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)
 WISE Telescope
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This enormous section of the Milky Way galaxy is a mosaic of images from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer. The constellations Cassiopeia and Cepheus are featured in this 1,000-square degree expanse.
PIA15256:
A Royal Celebration
Full Resolution:     TIFF (199.3 MB)     JPEG (16.67 MB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-01-10 Herschel Space Observatory
Spitzer Space Telescope
 IRAC
SPIRE
PACS
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In combined data from ESA's Herschel and NASA's Spitzer telescopes, irregular distribution of dust in the Small Magellanic Cloud becomes clear. A stream of dust extends to left, known as the galaxy's 'wing,' and a bar of star formation appears to right.
PIA15255:
A Dwarf Galaxy's Star Bar and Dusty Wing
Full Resolution:     TIFF (150 MB)     JPEG (6.56 MB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-01-10 Herschel Space Observatory
Spitzer Space Telescope
 IRAC
SPIRE
PACS
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This image shows the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy in infrared light as seen by ESA's Herschel Space Observatory and NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The brightest center-left region is called 30 Doradus, or the Tarantula Nebula.
PIA15254:
Dusty Space Cloud
Full Resolution:     TIFF (720.8 MB)     JPEG (22.21 MB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2012-01-10 Spitzer Space Telescope
 IRAC
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A bubbling cauldron of star birth is highlighted in this image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Massive stars have blown bubbles, or cavities, in the dust and gas -- a violent process that triggers both the death and birth of stars.
PIA15253:
Stars Brewing in Cygnus X
Full Resolution:     TIFF (492.3 MB)     JPEG (14.61 MB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2011-12-23 Pleiades MESSENGER
 MDIS - Narrow Angle
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This image is a 'star cal' frame collected about a month before NASA's MESSENGER's first flyby of Venus.
PIA15244:
Stars Are Stars
Full Resolution:     TIFF (260.6 kB)     JPEG (58.4 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2011-12-22 Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)
 WISE Telescope
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NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer mission presents the 'Wreath nebula.' The nebula's official name is Barnard 3, or IRAS Ring G159.6-18.5. Regions similar to this nebula are found near the band of the Milky Way galaxy in the night sky.
PIA15252:
A Cosmic Wreath
Full Resolution:     TIFF (61.34 MB)     JPEG (892.8 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2011-12-21 Hubble Space Telescope
Spitzer Space Telescope
 Hubble Space Telescope
Spizter Space Telescope
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This image from NASA's Hubble telescope shows one of the most distant galaxies known, called GN-108036, dating back to 750 million years after the Big Bang that created our universe. The galaxy's light took 12.9 billion years to reach us.
PIA15251:
Distant Galaxy Bursts with Stars
Full Resolution:     TIFF (3.597 MB)     JPEG (146.2 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2011-12-20 Kepler-20 Kepler
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Kepler-20f is the closest object to the Earth in terms of size ever discovered. With an orbital period of 20 days and a surface temperature of 800 degrees Fahrenheit (430 degrees Celsius), it is too hot to host life, as we know it.
PIA14889:
Kepler-20f -- An Earth-size World (Artist's Concept)
Full Resolution:     TIFF (30.7 MB)     JPEG (1.344 MB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2011-12-20 Kepler-20 Kepler
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Kepler-20e is the first planet smaller than the Earth discovered to orbit a star other than the sun. A year on Kepler-20e only lasts 6 days, as it is much closer to its host star than the Earth is to the sun.
PIA14888:
Kepler-20e -- The Smallest Exoplanet (Artist's Concept)
Full Resolution:     TIFF (30.7 MB)     JPEG (1.439 MB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2011-12-20 Kepler-20 Kepler
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This artist's concept flies through the Kepler-20 star system, where NASA's Kepler mission discovered the first Earth-size planets around a star beyond our own. The system is jam-packed with five planets.
PIA14887:
An Unusual Planetary System (Artist's Concept) Animation Icon
Full Resolution:     TIFF (2.768 MB)     JPEG (134.7 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2011-12-20 Kepler-20 Kepler
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This chart compares the first Earth-size planets found around a sun-like star to planets in our own solar system, Earth and Venus. NASA's Kepler mission discovered the newfound planets, called Kepler-20e and Kepler-20f.
PIA14886:
Earth-class Planets Line Up
Full Resolution:     TIFF (34.02 MB)     JPEG (440.2 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2011-12-12 Spitzer Space Telescope
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This infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the nebula nicknamed 'the Dragonfish.' This turbulent region, jam-packed with stars, is home to some of the most luminous massive stars in our Milky Way galaxy.
PIA14885:
Dragonfish Coming At You in Infrared
Full Resolution:     TIFF (125.4 MB)     JPEG (8.273 MB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2011-12-10 Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)
 WISE Telescope
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Seen as a red dusty cloud in this image from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Puppis A is the remnant of a supernova explosion.
PIA14884:
Ancient Supernova Revealed
Full Resolution:     TIFF (84.08 MB)     JPEG (2.397 MB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2011-11-25 Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)
 WISE Telescope
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This view from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer takes in an area of the sky in the constellation of Scorpius surrounding Jabbah (Arabic name means 'the forehead of the scorpion') which is larger than a grid of eight by eight full moons.
PIA14881:
Jabbah and Associates
Full Resolution:     TIFF (356 MB)     JPEG (5.949 MB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2011-11-16 Chandra X-ray Observatory
Spitzer Space Telescope
 Chandra X-ray Telescope
IRAC
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About 2,400 massive stars in the center of 30 Doradus, the Tarantula Nebula, produce intense radiation and powerful winds as they blow off material seen as infrared emission from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and X-rays from Chandra X-ray Observatory.
PIA15079:
30 Doradus: The Growing Tarantula Within
Full Resolution:     TIFF (33.15 MB)     JPEG (457 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2011-11-09 Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)
 WISE Telescope
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Between the claws of the dreaded scorpion imagined by the ancient Greeks lies this giant dust cloud, imaged by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer. The constellation of Scorpius is prominent in the summer night sky in North America.
PIA14874:
Dusty Reflections in the Scorpion's Claws
Full Resolution:     TIFF (81.12 MB)     JPEG (2.361 MB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2011-10-26 Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)
 WISE Telescope
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NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer observed the star-forming cloud NGC 281 in the constellation of Cassiopeia as it appears to be chomping through the cosmos, earning it the nickname the 'Pacman' nebula.
PIA14873:
Does 'Pacman' Have Teeth?
Full Resolution:     TIFF (32.67 MB)     JPEG (778.2 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2011-10-24 Chandra X-ray Observatory
Spitzer Space Telescope
Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)
 Chandra X-ray Telescope
IRAC
WISE Telescope
XMM-Newton X-ray
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This image combines data from four different space telescopes to create a multi-wavelength view of all that remains of the oldest documented example of a supernova, called RCW 86.
PIA14872:
All Eyes on Oldest Recorded Supernova
Full Resolution:     TIFF (18.16 MB)     JPEG (361.1 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2011-10-24 Spitzer Space Telescope
Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)
 IRAC
WISE Telescope
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Infrared images from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer are combined in this image of RCW 86, the dusty remains of the oldest documented example of an exploding star, or supernova.
PIA14871:
All That Remains of Exploded Star
Full Resolution:     TIFF (18.16 MB)     JPEG (660.9 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2011-10-20 Herschel Space Observatory
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This artist's concept, based on data from NASA's Herschel telescope, illustrates an icy planet-forming disk around a young star called TW Hydrae, located about 175 light-years away in the Hydra, or Sea Serpent, constellation.
PIA14870:
Misty Star in the Sea Serpent (Artist's Concept)
Full Resolution:     TIFF (21.6 MB)     JPEG (258.7 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2011-10-19 Spitzer Space Telescope
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This artist's conception illustrates a storm of comets around a star near our own, called Eta Corvi. Evidence for this barrage comes from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope's infrared detectors.
PIA14739:
It's Raining Comets (Artist's Concept)
Full Resolution:     TIFF (30.72 MB)     JPEG (328.2 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2011-09-28 NGC 281 Chandra X-ray Observatory
Spitzer Space Telescope
 Chandra X-ray Telescope
IRAC
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This composite image of the star cluster NGC 28 contains X-ray data from Chandra, in purple, with infrared observations from Spitzer, in red, green, blue. NGC 281 is known informally as the 'Pacman Nebula' because of its appearance in optical images.
PIA14731:
The 'Pacman Nebula'
Full Resolution:     TIFF (29.37 MB)     JPEG (797.6 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2011-09-20 Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)
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This artist's concept illustrates what the flaring black hole called GX 339-4 might look like. Infrared observations from NASA's WISE reveal the best information yet on the chaotic and extreme environments of this black hole's jets.
PIA14730:
Flaring Black Hole (Artist's Concept)
Full Resolution:     TIFF (48.39 MB)     JPEG (390.1 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2011-09-16 Spitzer Space Telescope
 IRAC
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Swirling dust clouds and bright newborn stars dominate the view in this image of the Lagoon nebula from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The nebula lies in the general direction of the center of our galaxy in the constellation Sagittarius.
PIA14728:
Into the Depths of the Lagoon Nebula
Full Resolution:     TIFF (7.481 MB)     JPEG (449.4 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2011-08-24 Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)
 WISE Telescope
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This infrared image from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer shows exceptionally cold, dense cloud cores seen in silhouette against the bright diffuse infrared glow of the plane of the Milky Way galaxy.
PIA14723:
Dark Murky Clouds in the Bright Milky Way
Full Resolution:     TIFF (33.17 MB)     JPEG (1.251 MB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2011-08-23 Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)
 WISE Telescope
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NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer has uncovered the coldest brown dwarf known so far (green dot in very center of this infrared image). WISE 1828+2650 is located in the constellation Lyra. The blue dots are a mix of stars and galaxies.
PIA14721:
Reigning Title-Holder for Coldest Brown Dwarf
Full Resolution:     TIFF (2.294 MB)     JPEG (96.81 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2011-08-10 Helix Nebula Spitzer Space Telescope
 IRAC
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The 'Dumbbell nebula,' also known as Messier 27, pumps out infrared light in this image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Planetary nebulae are now known to be the remains of stars that once looked a lot like our sun.
PIA14417:
Weighing in on the Dumbbell Nebula
Full Resolution:     TIFF (11.76 MB)     JPEG (495.8 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2011-08-01 Herschel Space Observatory
Spitzer Space Telescope
 HIFI
IRAC
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This graphic illustrates where astronomers at last found oxygen molecules in space -- near the star-forming core of the Orion nebula. The squiggly lines, or spectra, reveal the signatures of oxygen molecules, detected by ESA's Hershel Space Observatory.
PIA14407:
Oxygen in Orion
Full Resolution:     TIFF (21.6 MB)     JPEG (308.4 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2011-08-01 Herschel Space Observatory
Spitzer Space Telescope
 HIFI
IRAC
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ESA's Herschel Space Observatory found oxygen molecules in a dense patch of gas and dust adjacent to star-forming regions in the Orion nebula.
PIA14406:
Oxygen No Longer Lost in Space
Full Resolution:     TIFF (21.6 MB)     JPEG (276.5 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2011-07-27 Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)
 WISE Telescope
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Asteroid 2010 TK7, the first known Earth Trojan asteroid, is circled in green, in this single frame taken by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer. The majority of the other dots are stars or galaxies far beyond our solar system.
PIA14405:
A Glimmer in the Eye of WISE
Full Resolution:     TIFF (27 MB)     JPEG (1.194 MB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2011-07-27 Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)
 WISE Telescope
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This artist's concept illustrates the first known Earth Trojan asteroid, discovered by NEOWISE, the asteroid-hunting portion of NASA's WISE mission. The asteroid is shown in gray and its extreme orbit is shown in green. Objects are not drawn to scale.
PIA14404:
Trojan Asteroid Shares Orbit with Earth (Artist Animation) Animation Icon
Full Resolution:     TIFF (21.6 MB)     JPEG (682 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2011-07-21 Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)
 WISE Telescope
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A large spiral galaxy dominates this view from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer. The galaxy, often called the Pinwheel galaxy, was designated object 101 in astronomer Charles Messier's catalog of fuzzy things in the sky that are not comets.
PIA14403:
M 101: The Pinwheel Galaxy
Full Resolution:     TIFF (10.85 MB)     JPEG (235.8 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2011-07-20 IC 342 Spitzer Space Telescope
 IRAC
MIPS
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Looking like a spider's web swirled into a spiral, galaxy IC 342 presents its delicate pattern of dust in this infrared light image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The very center glows especially brightly in the infrared.
PIA14402:
A Twisted Star-Forming Web in the Galaxy IC 342
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Add Image to Favorite List 2011-07-20 IC 342 Spitzer Space Telescope
 IRAC
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Looking like a spider's web swirled into a spiral, galaxy IC 342 presents its delicate pattern of dust in this infrared light image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.
PIA14401:
Spider Web of Stars in IC 342A
Full Resolution:     TIFF (15.77 MB)     JPEG (490.6 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2011-07-19 Herschel Space Observatory
 PACS
SPIRE
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This image from ESA's Herschel Space Observatory reveals a suspected ring at the center of our galaxy is warped for reasons scientists cannot explain. The ring is twisted so that part of it rises above and below the plane of our Milky Way galaxy.
PIA14400:
The Case of the Warped Galactic Ring
Full Resolution:     TIFF (18.77 MB)     JPEG (251.5 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2011-07-05 Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)
 WISE Telescope
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This stellar object is called Spitzer 073425.3-465409, as seen by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer; the cloud CG4 might be imagined as a cosmic alligator eating its way across the sky.
PIA14108:
Cosmic Alligator Eats its Way through the Sky
Full Resolution:     TIFF (23.52 MB)     JPEG (780.8 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2011-06-30 Spitzer Space Telescope
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This artist's concept shows how a normal spiral galaxy around our local universe (left) might have looked back in the distant universe, when astronomers think galaxies would have been filled with larger populations of hot, bright stars (right).
PIA14107:
Galaxies Near and Far (Artist's Concept)
Full Resolution:     TIFF (28.35 MB)     JPEG (677.8 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2011-06-30 Spitzer Space Telescope
 IRAC
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NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope exposes the depths of this dusty nebula with its infrared vision, showing stellar infants that are lost behind dark clouds when viewed in visible light.
PIA14106:
Making a Spectacle of Star Formation in Orion
Full Resolution:     TIFF (19.99 MB)     JPEG (597.6 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2011-06-24 Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)
 WISE Telescope
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This image from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer highlights several star-forming regions. There are five distinct centers of star birth in this one image alone. The largest, brightest cloud, in the upper right is known as Gum 22.
PIA14105:
Star Formation Everywhere You Look
Full Resolution:     TIFF (72 MB)     JPEG (1.391 MB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2011-06-15 Spitzer Space Telescope
 IRAC
MIPS
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This glowing emerald nebula seen by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope is named RCW 120; this region of hot gas and glowing dust can be found in the murky clouds encircled by the tail of the constellation Scorpius.
PIA14104:
In the Blackest Night, a Green Ring Nebula
Full Resolution:     TIFF (38.88 MB)     JPEG (1.234 MB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2011-06-13 Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)
 WISE Telescope
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This image of the Elephant's Trunk nebula from NASA's Wide-field Survey Explorer shows clouds of dust and gas being pushed and eroded by a massive star. The bright 'trunk' of the nebula near the center is an especially dense cloud.
PIA14103:
Blowin' in the Stellar Wind
Full Resolution:     TIFF (145.5 MB)     JPEG (3.896 MB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2011-06-09 Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)
 WISE Telescope
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Best known as a swan winging its way across the night, the constellation Cygnus is easily seen in the northern hemisphere's summertime sky. NASA's WISE telescope captured this image of a huge complex of star-forming clouds and stellar clusters.
PIA14102:
Star Formation in the Heart of the Swan
Full Resolution:     TIFF (113.2 MB)     JPEG (2.875 MB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2011-05-26 Spitzer Space Telescope
 IRAC
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This image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows what lies near the sword of the constellation Orion -- an active stellar nursery containing thousands of young stars and developing protostars. Many will turn out like our sun.
PIA14101:
Stars Adorn Orion's Sword
Full Resolution:     TIFF (57.96 MB)     JPEG (859.1 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2011-05-26 Spitzer Space Telescope
 IRAC
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This graphic illustrates a stellar fountain of crystal rain, beginning with a NASA Spitzer picture of the star in question, and ending with an artist's concept of what the crystal 'rain' might look like.
PIA14099:
Finding Forsterite Around a Developing Star (Artist Concept)
Full Resolution:     TIFF (19.5 MB)     JPEG (443.8 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2011-05-26 Spitzer Space Telescope
 Infrared Spectrograph (IRS)
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Using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, astronomers have, for the first time, found signatures of silicate crystals around a newly forming protostar in the constellation of Orion.
PIA14100:
Cosmic Fountain of Crystal Rain
Full Resolution:     TIFF (21.6 MB)     JPEG (297.9 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2011-05-25 Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)
 WISE Telescope
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A colorful collection of galaxy specimens from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer mission showcases galaxies of several types, from elegant grand design spirals to more patchy flocculent spirals.
PIA14098:
The Galaxy Menagerie from WISE
Full Resolution:     TIFF (38.88 MB)     JPEG (1.506 MB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2011-05-25 Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX)
Spitzer Space Telescope
 IRAC
Ultraviolet/Visible Camera
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This montage combines observations from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) spacecraft showing three examples of colliding galaxies from a new photo atlas of galactic 'train wrecks.'
PIA14097:
Galactic Train Wrecks
Full Resolution:     TIFF (16.29 MB)     JPEG (537.9 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2011-05-23 Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)
 WISE Telescope
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Star clusters such as the Pleiades are often considered some of the most beautiful objects in the sky. This image of the star cluster NGC 2259 is from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer.
PIA14096:
Star Cluster Overshadowed by Infrared Objects
Full Resolution:     TIFF (26.96 MB)     JPEG (837.1 kB)
Add Image to Favorite List 2011-05-19 Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX)
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New results from NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer and the Anglo-Australian Telescope atop Siding Spring Mountain in Australia confirm that dark energy is a smooth, uniform force that now dominates over the effects of gravity.
PIA14094:
Dark Energy and Gravity: Yin and Yang of the Universe (Artist's Concept)
Full Resolution:     TIFF (37.75 MB)     JPEG (1.858 MB)
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