#spothubble

[nasa]

What caused this outburst of this star named V838 Mon? For reasons unknown, this star’s outer surface suddenly greatly expanded with the result that it became the brightest star in the entire Milky Way Galaxy in January 2002. Then, just as suddenly, it faded. A stellar flash like this had never been seen before – supernovas and novas expel matter out into space.

Although the V838 Mon flash appears to expel material into space, what is seen in the above GIF from the Hubble Space Telescope is actually an outwardly moving light echo of the bright flash.

In a light echo, light from the flash is reflected by successively more distant rings in the complex array of ambient interstellar dust that already surrounded the star. V838 Mon lies about 20,000 light years away toward the constellation of the unicorn (Monoceros), while the light echo above spans about six light years in diameter.

Credit: NASA, ESA

To discover more, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_2472.html

[nonbinary-nature-lover-jeri]

Three million billion stars 🌟 but who’s counting?! This is a #repost from NASA ( @nasa ) via @PhotoAroundApp Millions AND billions! This enormous galaxy cluster, seen by our Hubble Space Telescope (@NASAHubble), contains the mass of a staggering three million billion suns! Nicknamed “El Gordo” (“the Fat One” in Spanish), it is the largest, hottest and brightest X-ray galaxy ever discovered in the distant Universe. Galaxy clusters are the largest objects in the Universe that are bound together by gravity. They form over billions of years as smaller groups of galaxies slowly come together. In 2012, observations showed that El Gordo is actually composed of two galaxy clusters colliding at millions of kilometers per hour. The formation of galaxy clusters depends heavily on dark matter and dark energy; studying such clusters can therefore help shed light on these elusive phenomena. In 2014, Hubble found that most of El Gordo’s mass is concealed in the form of dark matter. Evidence suggests that El Gordo’s “normal” matter — largely composed of hot gas that is bright in the X-ray wavelength domain — is being torn from the dark matter in the collision. The hot gas is slowing down, while the dark matter is not. Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, RELICS #nasa #space #hubble #spothubble #galaxy #cluster #galaxycluster #milliion #billion #telescope #elgordo #observe #science #discover #darkmatter #universe #astrophysics #solarsystem #light #beautiful #pictureoftheday #Stars #Galaxies #Wow

[ixaac-ty-blog]

This glittering ball of stars is a globular cluster lying toward the center of the Large Magellanic Cloud — one of our closest cosmic neighbors. Seen by the Hubble Space Telescope (@NASAHubble), it hosts an extremely rich population of star clusters making it an ideal laboratory for investigating star formation. Discovered in November 1834 by British astronomer John Herschel, NGC 1898 has been scrutinized numerous times by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Today we know that globular clusters are some of the oldest known objects in the universe and that they are relics of the first epochs of galaxy formation. While we already have a pretty good picture on the globular clusters of the Milky Way — still with many unanswered questions — our studies on globular clusters in nearby dwarf galaxies just started. The observations of NGC 1898 will help to determine whether their properties are similar to the ones found in the Milky Way, or if they have different features, due to being in a different cosmic environment. Image Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA #nasa #space #hubble #spothubble #spacetelescope #telescope #cluster #star #galaxy #universe #solarsystem #largemagellaniccloud #science https://www.instagram.com/p/BpJhiNOFEvg/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1f5ai72ko7isi

[bytheriversofbabylon]

good night. #Repost @nasa • • • These dots of color make up one of the most comprehensive portraits yet of the universe’s evolutionary history. This mosaic, captured with the ultraviolet vision of our Hubble Space Telescope (@NASAHubble), features approximately 15,000 galaxies, about 12,000 of which are star-forming – widely distributed in time and space. Hubble’s ultraviolet vision opens a new window on the evolving universe, tracking the birth of stars over the last 11 billion years back to the cosmos’ busiest star-forming period, which happened about 3 billion years after the big bang. Because Earth’s atmosphere filters most ultraviolet light, Hubble can provide some of the most sensitive space-based ultraviolet observations possible. Ultraviolet light has been the missing piece to the cosmic puzzle. Now, combined with infrared and visible-light data from Hubble and other space and ground-based telescopes, astronomers have assembled one of the most comprehensive portraits yet of the universe’s evolutionary history. Credit: NASA, ESA, P. Oesch (University of Geneva), and M. Montes (University of New South Wales) #nasa #space #hubble #spothubble #telescope #galaxy #stars #forming #universe #solarsystem #planets #astronomers #bigbang #earth #ultraviolet #science #portrait #mosaic

[ixaac-ty-blog]

#Repost @nasa • • • • • A treasure trove of wonders! With bright stars from the Milky Way sparkling in the foreground to the magnificent swirls of several spiral galaxies and a glowing assortment of objects at the center, take a look at all that makes up this massive galaxy cluster in this new image from the Hubble Space Telescope (@NASAHubble). Such clusters are the biggest objects in the universe that are held together by gravity and can contain thousands of galaxies of all shapes and sizes. Typically, they have a mass of about one million billion times the mass of the Sun — unimaginably huge! Their incredible mass makes clusters very useful natural tools to test theories in astronomy, such as Einstein’s theory of general relativity. This tells us that objects with mass warp the fabric of space-time around them; the more massive the object, the greater the distortion. An enormous galaxy cluster like this one therefore has a huge influence on the space-time around it, even distorting the light from more distant galaxies to change a galaxy’s apparent shape, creating multiple images, and amplifying the galaxy’s light — a phenomenon called gravitational lensing. Image Credit: @EuropeanSpaceAgency & NASA, RELICS #nasa #space #hubble #spothubble #webb #universe #science #distant #galaxies #clusters #celestial #stars #cosmic #origins #exploration #picoftheday #pictureoftheday

[rjbailey]

Regrann from @nasa - Twinkle, twinkle, many stars! ⭐️ Spotted by our @NASAHubble telescope roughly in the direction of the center of the Milky Way, is this gravitationally bound collection of stars, also known as a globular cluster. Globular clusters contain hundreds of thousands of stars that are thought to have formed at roughly the same time. Studies have shown that the globular cluster seen here is home to an aging population of stars. Most globular clusters orbiting the Milky Way are estimated to be over 10 billion years old; as a result, they contain some of the oldest stars in our galaxy, formed very early in the galaxy’s history. However, their role in galactic evolution is still a matter of study. Credit: NASA/ESA/Hubble #nasa #hubble #stars #stargazing #space #astronomy #spothubble #solarsystem #universe #galaxy #science #pictureoftheday #beautiful #light #picoftheday - #regrann

[spinningblueball]

NGC 6752 Globular Cluster

The amazing thing about NGC 6752 is that it is considered to be 10 billion years old.  Amazing.  

NGC 6752 is a large, very bright globular cluster containing many hundreds of thousands of stars. It is located about 13,000 light-years away in the constellation Pavo (the Peacock). It is estimated to be over 10 billion years old, what makes it one the most ancient collections of stars known in the Universe, well over twice as long as our solar system has existed.

Globular clusters like NGC 6752 contain some of the Milky Way’s oldest stars. They are distributed within a spherical halo around the galaxy, in contrast with open clusters, which are found only in the disc.

NGC 6752 also contains a high number of “blue straggler” stars, some of which are visible in this image. These blue stragglers are hot and bright stars which display characteristics of stars younger than their neighbors, despite models suggesting that most of the stars within globular clusters should have formed at approximately the same time. Their origin is therefore something of a mystery.

Studies of NGC 6752 may shed light on this situation. It appears that a very high number (up to 38 percent) of the stars within its core region are binary systems. Collisions between stars in this turbulent area could produce the blue stragglers that are so prevalent.

Sun-sized stars in NGC 6752 contain heavy elements that cannot be manufactured in stars that small. Astronomers think that the stars acquired the material from now-defunct larger stars… a type of recycling.

Even though its great distance, the clarity of this Hubble image brings NGC 6752 tantalizingly close.

[spinningblueball]

Galactic Core Of The Heart Of The Milky Way Galaxy

Peering deep into the heart of our Milky Way galaxy, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope reveals a rich tapestry of more than half a million stars. Except for a few blue foreground stars, the stars are part of the Milky Way’s nuclear star cluster, the most massive and densest star cluster in our galaxy. So packed with stars, it is equivalent to having a million suns crammed between us and our closest stellar neighbor, Alpha Centauri. At the very hub of our galaxy, this star cluster surrounds the Milky Way’s central supermassive black hole, which is about 4 million times the mass of our sun.

Astronomers used Hubble’s infrared vision to pierce through the dust in the disk of our galaxy that obscures the star cluster. In this image, scientists translated the infrared light, which is invisible to human eyes, into colors our eyes can see. The red stars are either embedded or shrouded by intervening dust. Extremely dense clouds of gas and dust are seen in silhouette, appearing dark against the bright background stars. These clouds are so thick that even Hubble’s infrared capability could not penetrate them.

Read more on NASA’s website