Zebras That Freely Roam The Hills

Within Carina

Earliest Galaxies

Star cluster NGC 2264, also called the "Christmas tree cluster," is an array of young stars that are between one and five million years old. We know what you're thinking: young?! For a little comparison, the Sun is a middle-aged star about 5 billion years old about 1,000 times older than the stars in this cluster.

This image combines data from Chandra (red, green, and blue) with optical data (green and white) captured by astrophotographer Michael Clow with his telescope in Arizona in November 2024.

X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: Clow, M.; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare and K. Arcand

By Smithsonian and NASAChandraXray

The horns of Paine (Los Cuernos) - Chile | Nick Fitzhardinge

This surreal timelapse, landscape, panorama spans predawn, blue hour, and sunrise skies. Close to the start of spring in the northern hemisphere, this amazing lapse was captured between 4:30 and 7:00 am from a location overlooking northern New Mexico's Rio Grande Valley. In tracked images of the night sky just before twilight begins, the Milky Way is cast across the southern (right) edge of the panoramic frame. Toward the east, a range of short and long exposures resolves the changing brightness as the Sun rises over the distant peaks of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. In between, exposures made during the spring morning's tantalizing blue hour are used to blend the night sky and sunrise over the high desert landscape.

Image Credit & Copyright: Paul Schmit

Milky Way over Canadian Forest, August 2019.

Milky Way Galaxy Mt. Fuji over Lake Kawaguchiko at sunrise in Fujikawaguchiko, Japan

by ณัฐวุฒิ อุตมหาราช

M42, Heart of Orion 

NGC 2170, Stardust Angel

Rippling dust and gas lanes are what give the Flaming Star Nebula its name. The orange and purple colors of the nebula are present in different regions and are created by different processes. The bright star AE Aurigae, visible toward the middle of the image to the left, is so hot it is blue, emitting light so energetic it knocks electrons away from surrounding gas. When a proton recaptures an electron, red light is frequently emitted (depicted here in orange). The purple region's color is a mix of this red light and blue light emitted by AE Aurigae but reflected to us by surrounding dust. The two regions are referred to as emission nebula (the orange portion) and reflection nebula (the purple portion).

Pictured here in the Hubble color palette, the Flaming Star Nebula, officially known as IC 405, lies about 1500 light years distant, spans about 5 light years, and is visible with a small telescope toward the constellation of the Charioteer (Auriga).



Image Credit & Copyright: Eric Coles and Mel Helm