A Galaxy Under Strain | Hubble

A Galaxy Under Strain | Hubble

A galaxy being stretched out of shape has been imaged by the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope. Known as NGC 2146, it has been severely warped and deformed so that an immense dusty arm of glittering material now lies directly in front of the center of the galaxy, as seen in the image.

NGC 2146 is classified as a barred spiral due to its shape, but the most distinctive feature is the dusty spiral arm that has looped in front of the galaxy's core as seen from our perspective. The forces required to pull this structure out of its natural shape and twist it up to 45 degrees are colossal. The most likely explanation is that a neighboring galaxy is gravitationally perturbing it and distorting the orbits of many of NGC 2146’s stars. It is probable that we are currently witnessing the end stages of a process which has been occurring for tens of millions of years.

NCG 2146 is undergoing intense bouts of star formation, to such an extent that it is referred to as a starburst galaxy. This is a common state for barred spirals, but the extra gravitational disruption that NGC 2146 is enduring no doubt exacerbates the situation, compressing hydrogen-rich nebulae and triggering stellar birth.

Measuring about 80,000 light-years from end to end, NGC 2146 is slightly smaller than the Milky Way. It lies approximately 70 million light-years distant in the faint northern constellation of Camelopardalis (The Giraffe). Although it is fairly easy to see with a moderate-sized telescope as a faint elongated blur of light it was not spotted until 1876 when the German astronomer Friedrich Winnecke found it visually using just a 16 cm telescope.

This picture was created from images taken with the Wide Field Channel of Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys. Images through a near-infrared filter (F814W, colored blue and orange/brown) were combined with images taken in a filter that isolates the glow from hydrogen gas (F658N, colored red). An additional green color channel was also created by combining the two to help to create a realistic color rendition for the final picture from this unusual filter combination. The total exposure times were 120 s and 700 s respectively and the field of view is covers 2.6 x 1.6 arcminutes.

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Hubble & NASA 

Release Date: August 22, 2011

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Hubble #Galaxy #NGC2146 #BarredSpiral #Camelopardalis #Constellation #MilkyWay #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

The Prawn Nebula: Another Close-up Look | ESO

The Prawn Nebula: Another Close-up Look | ESO

This pan video takes a closer look at some of the strange and spectacular features in the glowing jumble of gas clouds making up a huge stellar nursery nicknamed the Prawn Nebula ((also known as Gum 56 and IC 4628). This view is a very sharp image taken using the MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile.

Distance: 6,000 light years

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/Nick Risinger

Music: Johan B. Monell

Release Date: September 2, 2015

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebula #PrawnNebula #Scorpius #IC4628 #Constellation #MilkyWay #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #VLT #ParanalObservatory #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education

The Prawn Nebula: Close-up View | ESO

The Prawn Nebula: Close-up View | ESO

The rich patchwork of gas clouds in this new image make up part of a huge stellar nursery nicknamed the Prawn Nebula (also known as Gum 56 and IC 4628). Taken using the MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile, this may well be one of the best pictures ever taken of this object. It shows clumps of hot new-born stars nestled in among the clouds that make up the nebula.

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)

Release Date: September 2, 2015

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebula #PrawnNebula #Scorpius #IC4628 #Constellation #MilkyWay #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #VLT #ParanalObservatory #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education

Zoom into The Cartwheel Galaxy | James Webb Space Telescope

Zoom into The Cartwheel Galaxy | James Webb Space Telescope

This video takes the viewer on a journey that zooms through space to reveal the Cartwheel Galaxy. 

This image of the Cartwheel and its companion galaxies is a composite from Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) and Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), which reveals details that are difficult to see in the individual images alone.

Webb’s observations capture Cartwheel in a very transitory stage. The form that the Cartwheel Galaxy will eventually take, given these two competing forces, is still a mystery. However, this snapshot provides perspective on what happened to the galaxy in the past and what it will do in the future.

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Webb, NASA, Canadian Space Agency (CSA), Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), Dark Energy Survey/DOE/FNAL/DECam/CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA, E. Slawik, N. Risinger, N. Bartmann  

Music: tonelabs - Happy Hubble (tonelabs.com)

Duration: 1 minute

Release Date: August 8, 2022

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #JWST #Galaxy #CartwheelGalaxy #ESO35040 #PGC2248 #MIRI #NIRCam #Science #JamesWebb #WebbTelescope #Telescope #Cosmos #Universe #UnfoldTheUniverse #Europe #CSA #Canada #Goddard #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

The Prawn Nebula: A Close-up Look | ESO

The Prawn Nebula: A Close-up Look | ESO

This pan video takes a closer look at some of the strange and spectacular features in the glowing jumble of gas clouds making up a huge stellar nursery nicknamed the Prawn Nebula. Taken using the VLT Survey Telescope at European Southern Observatory’s Paranal Observatory in Chile, this may well be the sharpest picture ever taken of this object.

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)

Music: movetwo

Acknowledgement: Martin Pugh

Duration: 56 seconds

Release Date: September 18, 2013

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebula #PrawnNebula #Scorpius #IC4628 #Gum56 #Constellation #MilkyWay #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #VLT #ParanalObservatory #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Zooming in on The Prawn Nebula | ESO

Zooming in on The Prawn Nebula | ESO

This video sequence starts with a view of the rich central parts of the Milky Way and then closes in on a spectacular region of star formation known as the Prawn Nebula (also known as Gum 56 and IC 4628) in the constellation of Scorpius (The Scorpion). The final close up view is a very sharp image taken using the MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope at the European Southern Observatory’s La Silla Observatory in Chile.

Distance: 6,000 light years

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/Nick Risinger

Music: Johan B Monell

Duration: 50 seconds

Release Date: September 2, 2015

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebula #PrawnNebula #Scorpius #IC4628 #Gum56 #Constellation #MilkyWay #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #VLT #ParanalObservatory #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

The Prawn Nebula | ESO

The Prawn Nebula | ESO

The glowing jumble of gas clouds visible in new image make up a huge stellar nursery nicknamed the Prawn Nebula. Taken using the VLT Survey Telescope at the European Southern Observatory’s Paranal Observatory in Chile, this may well be the sharpest picture ever taken of this object. It shows clumps of hot new-born stars nestled in among the clouds that make up the nebula.

This image also contains information from images of this object taken by Martin Pugh.

Distance: 6,000 light years

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)

Acknowledgement: Martin Pugh

Release Date: September 18, 2013

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebula #PrawnNebula #Scorpius #IC4628 #Constellation #MilkyWay #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #VLT #ParanalObservatory #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education

The North America Nebula | Samuel Oschin Observatory

The North America Nebula | Samuel Oschin Observatory

This image is a composite from black and white images taken with the Palomar Observatory's 48-inch (1.2 meter) Samuel Oschin Telescope as a part of the second National Geographic Palomar Observatory Sky Survey (POSS II). The images were recorded on two glass photographic plates—one sensitive to red light and the other to blue and later they were digitized. In order to produce the color image seen here a total of 62 different frames were processed with the European Space Agency/European Southern Observatory/NASA FITS Liberator by Italian amateur astronomer Davide De Martin—31 frames for each color band, coming from 4 different plates taken from 1990 to 1993. The original file is 14,264 x 15,429 pixels with a resolution of about 1 arc-second per pixel. The image covers an area of sky larger than 4› x 4.3› (for comparison, the Full Moon is about 0.5› in diameter).

Credit: Davide De Martin (European Space Agency /Hubble), the ESA/ESO/NASA FITS Liberator & Digitized Sky Survey 2

Release Date: August 8, 2005

#NASA #ESO #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebula #NorthAmericaNebula #NGC7000 #Caldwell20 #Cygnus #Constellation #MilkyWay #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #PalomarObservatory #SamuelOschinTelescope #California #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

The Seagull Nebula: Wide-field View | ESO

The Seagull Nebula: Wide-field View | ESO

This wide-field view captures the evocative and colorful star formation region of the Seagull Nebula, IC 2177, on the borders of the constellations of Monoceros (The Unicorn) and Canis Major (The Great Dog). This view was created from images forming part of the Digitized Sky Survey 2.

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/Digitized Sky Survey 2 

Acknowledgement: Davide De Martin

Release Date: February 6, 2013

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebula #SeagullNebula #IC2177 #Sharpless2296 #Sh2296 #CanisMajor #Monoceros #Constellation #MilkyWay #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #LaSillaObservatory #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education

Panning across the Head of The Seagull Nebula | ESO

Panning across the Head of The Seagull Nebula | ESO

This video gives a close-up view of an image from the European Southern Observatory's La Silla Observatory showing part of a stellar nursery nicknamed the Seagull Nebula. This cloud of gas, known as Sh 2-292, RCW 2 and Gum 1, seems to form the head of the seagull and glows brightly due to the energetic radiation from a very hot young star lurking at its heart. The detailed view was produced by the Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope.

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)

Music: Disasterpeace

Release Date: September 27, 2012

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebula #SeagullNebula #IC2177 #Sharpless2296 #Sh2296 #RCW2 #Gum1 #Star #Sirius #CanisMajor #Constellation #MilkyWay #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #LaSillaObservatory #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Zooming in on The Seagull Nebula | ESO

Zooming in on The Seagull Nebula | ESO

This video sequence starts with a broad view of the Milky Way before closing in on the familiar bright star Sirius and the nearby constellation of Orion (The Hunter). We see a faint red object resembling a bird in flight—the Seagull Nebula (IC 2177) and zoom in on what turns out to be a dramatic star formation region. The final view of the head part of the seagull is a detailed image from the Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope.

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/Digitized Sky Survey 2/Nick Risinger

Music: Disasterpeace

Duration: 1 minute

Release Date: September 27, 2012

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebula #SeagullNebula #IC2177 #Sharpless2296 #Sh2296 #Star #Sirius #CanisMajor #Constellation #MilkyWay #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #LaSillaObservatory #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

The Seagull Nebula | ESO

The Seagull Nebula | ESO

This image shows the intricate structure of part of the Seagull Nebula, known more formally as IC 2177. These wisps of gas and dust are known as Sharpless 2-296 (officially Sh 2-296) and form part of the “wings” of the celestial bird. This region of the sky is a fascinating muddle of intriguing astronomical objects—a mix of dark and glowing red clouds, weaving amongst bright stars. This new view was captured by the Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile.

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO) 

Release Date: February 6, 2013

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebula #SeagullNebula #IC2177 #Sharpless2296 #Sh2296 #CanisMajor #Constellation #MilkyWay #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #LaSillaObservatory #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education

Celestial Cloudscape in the Orion Nebula | Hubble

Celestial Cloudscape in the Orion Nebula | Hubble

This celestial cloudscape from the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope captures the colorful region surrounding the Herbig-Haro object HH 505. Herbig-Haro objects are luminous regions surrounding newborn stars, and are formed when stellar winds or jets of gas spewing from these newborn stars form shockwaves colliding with nearby gas and dust at high speeds. In the case of HH 505, these outflows originate from the star IX Ori, which lies on the outskirts of the Orion Nebula around 1,000 light-years from Earth. The outflows themselves are visible as gracefully curving structures at the top and bottom of this image, and are distorted into sinuous curves by their interaction with the large-scale flow of gas and dust from the core of the Orion Nebula.

This observation was captured with Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) by astronomers studying the properties of outflows and protoplanetary discs. The Orion Nebula is awash in intense ultraviolet radiation from bright young stars. The shockwaves formed by the outflows are brightly visible to Hubble, but the slower-moving currents of stellar material are also highlighted by this radiation. This allows astronomers to directly observe jets and outflows and learn more about their structures.

The Orion Nebula is a dynamic region of dust and gas where thousands of stars are forming, and is the closest region of massive star formation to Earth. As a result, it is one of the most scrutinized areas of the night sky and has often been a target for Hubble. This observation was also part of a spellbinding Hubble mosaic of the Orion Nebula, which combined 520 ACS images in five different colors to create the sharpest view ever taken of the region.

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Hubble & NASA, J. Bally

Acknowledgement: M. H. Özsaraç

Release Date: August 8, 2022

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Hubble #OrionNebula #NGC1976 #Messier42 #M42 #Star #StarIXOri #HerbigHaroObject #HH505 #Orion #Constellation #MilkyWay #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

The Trifid Nebula: Stellar Sibling Rivalry | Hubble

The Trifid Nebula: Stellar Sibling Rivalry | Hubble

Massive newborn stars are being created in this dramatic torn apart image of the Trifid Nebula. The Trifid Nebula is home to many thousands of newly created stars. The source of the jet is a young very hot star buried in the cloud.

This NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope image of the Trifid Nebula reveals a stellar nursery being torn apart by radiation from a nearby, massive star.

The picture also provides a peek at embryonic stars forming within an ill-fated cloud of dust and gas, which is destined to be eaten away by the glare from the massive neighbor.

This stellar activity is a beautiful example of how the life cycles of stars like our Sun is intimately connected with their more powerful siblings.

Distance: 9,000 light years

Credit: NASA/European Space Agency (ESA) and Jeff Hester (Arizona State University)

Release Date: November 9, 1999

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Hubble #Nebula #TrifidNebula #Messier20 #M20 #NGC6514 #Sagittarius #Constellation #MilkyWay #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

Details of The Trifid Nebula | Hubble

Details of The Trifid Nebula | Hubble

Three huge intersecting dark lanes of interstellar dust make the Trifid Nebula one of the most recognizable and striking star birth regions in the night sky. The dust, silhouetted against glowing gas and illuminated by starlight, cradles the bright stars at the heart of the Trifid Nebula. This nebula, also known as Messier 20 and NGC 6514, lies within our own Milky Way Galaxy about 9,000 light-years (2,700 parsecs) from Earth, in the constellation Sagittarius.

Credit: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), and The Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI)

Release Date: June 3, 2004

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Hubble #Nebula #TrifidNebula #Messier20 #M20 #NGC6514 #Sagittarius #Constellation #MilkyWay #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

The Heart of The Trifid Nebula | Hubble

The Heart of The Trifid Nebula | Hubble

The Trifid Nebula, cataloged by astronomers as Messier 20 or NGC 6514, is a well-known region of star formation lying within our own Milky Way Galaxy. It is called the Trifid because the nebula is overlain by three bands of obscuring interstellar dust, giving it a trisected appearance as seen in small telescopes. The Trifid lies about 9,000 light-years (2,700 parsecs) from Earth, in the direction of the constellation Sagittarius.

Credit: NASA, European Space Agency, and The Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI)

Release Date: June 3, 2004

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Hubble #Nebula #TrifidNebula #Messier20 #M20 #NGC6514 #Sagittarius #Constellation #MilkyWay #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education