Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 captured a stunning composite image of galaxy M88, which shows a massive spiral system twisted at an angle, stretching its appearance and displaying an orderly set of arms looping inward with exceptional symmetry. Pink knots represent the formation of new stars, blue clusters outline younger stellar populations, and darker red lanes highlight the disk’s dust. The galaxy’s nucleus is surrounded by older stars that emit a warm light.

Photo credit: NASA/MSFC/David Higginbotham/Emmett Given
Astronomers released a composite image of Westerlund 2 that merges X-ray observations from Chandra with infrared data from the James Webb Space Telescope. The result turns a distant star cluster into a scene of gleaming points ringed by neon pink against swaths of warmer dust tones.

Astronomers examining deep views from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have identified a supermassive black hole that reached enormous size while the material around it had barely begun to form stars or build a full galaxy. The object, known as Abell2744-QSO1 or simply QSO1, sat in the universe when it was only about 700 million years old. Its light has traveled more than 13 billion years to reach us.

NASA released a new image from the Hubble Space Telescope that brings a modest galactic resident into view. ESO 490-017 lies about 23 million light-years away in the constellation Canis Major. The galaxy spans roughly 12,000 light-years from one side to the other and belongs to the dwarf irregular category, a group whose stars and gas sit in loose, disorganized arrangements rather than neat spirals or bright central cores.

Rows of plain sheds sit on former cattle land near Rockwood in central Texas. During daylight hours they look ordinary enough to store tools or hay. Once the sun drops low, the roofs slide open together and expose long lines of telescopes mounted on solid bases. Owners scattered around the globe then take control from their laptops or phones. They point the instruments, collect images, and gather data on distant galaxies or nebulae without ever leaving home.

Messier 51 (M51) is located around 31 million light-years away in the constellation Canes Venatici. Astronomers call it the Whirlpool Galaxy because of the elegant way its spiral arms extend outward from the center. NGC 5195, a smaller companion galaxy, interacts with it, helping to sculpt its sweeping characteristics. Recent observations have focused on one stretch of a spiral arm where stars develop in huge groupings. Infrared photos from the James Webb Space Telescope now reveal details hidden inside dense clouds of gas and dust.

Astronomers released a striking new portrait from the Hubble Space Telescope that centers on the galaxy cluster MACS J1141.6-1905. Galaxies crowd together in the frame, showing a rich mix of shapes and sizes pulled toward the center-left area. Some appear stretched or distorted while others hold more familiar forms. A handful of foreground stars cut through the scene with sharp spikes extending outward, marking their closer position to us.

Photo credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Chris Smith (USRA/GESTAR)
Astronomers have tracked thousands of exploding stars over the years yet a handful stand out for their extreme brightness. Data from NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has now delivered a direct answer for one of those rare cases and changed how scientists view these events.

Sharp detail from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope brings every feature of NGC 1266 into clear view. Dust lanes in shades of reddish brown stretch across the galaxy’s flattened disk and weave around a bright central bulge. Hints of spiral structure linger in the disk even though no obvious arms stand out. Tiny clumps and filaments of dust partly hide the core while distant background galaxies shine through the outer haze in red, blue, and orange tones against the black of space.

Last month, NASA astronaut Chris Williams floated aboard the Crew Dragon Freedom, pointing his camera out the window. What he photographed shows our planet enveloped in a delicate ribbon of light, called airglow, with the Milky Way arching overhead like a faint road through the stars. The photograph, shot on April 13 while the spacecraft was docked to the International Space Station, provides a clear view of something that occurs high above us every night.