The Skull And Crossbones Nebula, NGC 2467 // Michal N

Gravitational arcs in ‘El Gordo’ galaxy cluster.

Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, J. Diego (Instituto de Física de Cantabria), B. Frye (University of Arizona), P. Kamieneski (Arizona State University), T. Carleton (Arizona State University), R. Windhorst (Arizona State University), A. Pagan (STScI), J. Summers (Arizona State University), J. D’Silva (University of Western Australia), A. Koekemoer (STScI), A. Robotham (University of Western Australia).

We are truly children of the stars. —Brian Cox

l all taken by David Moulton

Dance of Light

ESO 350-40, Cartwheel Galaxy

Think we're the only planet with life? 350mp quality. Remember to download to your phone and zoom in. Gets even more beautiful. Yes this is a nebula, yes I know there’s no life in a nebula. Of course these are not real photos. Duh!

Before you ask, yes, we see that face-shaped cloud made of dust and gas (with stars for eyes) on the right side of this image as well.  

But the Tarantula Nebula is a far wilder place than weird red blobs. It is a large star-forming region of ionized hydrogen gas that lies 161,000 light-years from Earth in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Its turbulent clouds of gas and dust can be seen swirling between the region’s luminous, newly formed stars.

Also known as 30 Doradus, it is the brightest star-forming region in our galactic neighborhood and home to the hottest, most massive stars known. This makes it an excellent natural laboratory to test theories of star formation and evolution. 

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, C. Murray, E. Sabbi; Y.-H. Chu.

Tom Killion.

This winter snow angel is out of this world! The Hubble Space Telescope captured this festive image of the bipolar star-forming region Sharpless 2-106. A massive, young star, IRS 4 is responsible for the furious star birth we see in this nebula. Twin lobes of super-hot gas, glowing blue in this image, stretch outward from the central star. This hot gas creates the “wings” of the celestial angel.

A ring of dust and gas orbiting the star acts like a belt, cinching the expanding nebula into an hourglass shape. Hubble's sharp resolution reveals ripples and ridges in the gas as it interacts with the cooler interstellar medium.

Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA).

ALT TEXT: Looking somewhat like an angel with outstretched wings, this blue-and-orange star-forming region is set against a black background punctuated by bright stars of various sizes. Some of the stars are white, while others are orange, and one in the bottom-right corner is bright red. Many of these stars have starburst-like diffraction spikes. The “angel’s” long wings are cavities outlined in a feathery pattern of blue and white. Its flowing, “dress” is a triangular, orange area of denser, dustier gas that trails off into the blackness of space. At its waist is a bright white-and-orange, centrally located star.

NASA Telescopes Discover Record-Breaking Black Hole (unlabeled) by James Webb Space Telescope

NGC 1512 (Hubble + Webb) by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope