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Galaxies, giants of the Universe
Close-up of 0313-192   Turbulent Cauldron of Starbirth in Nearby Active Galaxy  The picture is a mosaic of two Hubble Space Telescope images taken with the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2, on Aug. 1, 1997 and Jan. 10, 1998. The approximately natural color is assembled from images taken in blue, green and red light. Details as small as seven light-years across can be resolved. The blue color is due to the light from extremely hot, newborn stars. The reddish-yellow color is due in part to hot gas, in part to older stars in the elliptical galaxy and in part to scattering of blue light by dust -- the same effect that produces brilliant orange sunsets on Earth. Wide view of NGC 1512  The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 snapped this wide view of the nearby barred spiral galaxy NGC 1512. NGC 1512 is in the southern constellation of Horologium at a distance of 9.2 million parsec or 30 million light years). The galaxy is 70 000 light years across and the circumnuclear starburst ring (at the very center) is 2400 light years wide.
The cluster RDCS1252.9-2927  Looking back in time to when the Universe was in its formative youth, the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) aboard the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope captured this revealing image of the galaxy cluster RDCS1252.9-2927.<BR><BR>The image shows the entire cluster (1/15 of a degree, corresponding to about 7 million light-years, across). The cluster probably contains many thousands of galaxies. Most of the other galaxies in the image, including most of the blue galaxies, are foreground or background galaxies. The image, which is made with an additional infrared exposure taken with the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope, shows mature galaxies in a massive cluster that existed when the cosmos was 5 billion years old. The cluster, called RDCS1252.9-2927, is as massive as 200 trillion suns and is the most massive known cluster for its epoch. Dominating the core are a pair of large, reddish elliptical galaxies [near center of image]. Their red color indicates an older population of stars. Most of the stars are at least 1 billion years old. The two galaxies appear to be interacting and may eventually merge to form a larger galaxy that is comparable to the brightest galaxies seen in present-day clusters.<BR><BR>The red galaxies surrounding the central pair are also cluster members. Celestial Fireworks  Resembling sparks from a fireworks display, this image taken by a JPL camera onboard NASA's Hubble Space Telescope shows delicate filaments that are sheets of debris from a stellar explosion in the nearby Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy. M100 Full Field  
A Sky Full Of Glittering Jewels  The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has given us a keyhole view towards the heart of our Milky Way Galaxy, where a dazzling array of stars reside. Most of the view of our galaxy is obscured by dust. Hubble peered into the Sagittarius Star Cloud, a narrow, dust-free region, providing this spectacular glimpse of a treasure chest full of stars. Some of these gems are among the oldest inhabitants of our galaxy. By studying the older stars that pack our Milky Way's hub, scientists can learn more about the evolution of our galaxy. Hubble's Deepest-Ever View of the Universe Unveils Myriad Galaxies Back to the Beginning of Time  Hubble's Deepest-Ever View of the Universe Unveils Myriad Galaxies Several hundred never before seen galaxies are visible in this"deepest-ever" view of the universe, called the Hubble Deep Field(HDF), made with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Besides the classicalspiral and elliptical shaped galaxies, there is a bewildering varietyof other galaxy shapes and colors that are important clues tounderstanding the evolution of the universe. Some of the galaxies mayhave formed less that one billion years after the Big Bang.<BR>Representing a narrow "keyhole" view all the way to the visiblehorizon of the universe, the HDF image covers a speck of sky 1/30th thediameter of the full Moon (about 25% of the entire HDF is shown here).This is so narrow, just a few foreground stars in our Milky Way galaxyare visible and are vastly outnumbered by the menagerie of far moredistant galaxies, some nearly as faint as 30th magnitude, or nearlyfour billion times fainter than the limits of human vision. (Therelatively bright object with diffraction spikes just left of centermay be a 20th magnitude star.) Though the field is a very small sampleof sky area it is considered representative of the typical distributionof galaxies in space because the universe, statistically, looks thesame in all directions.Back to the Beginning of Time. Audience viewing award-winning Hubble IMAX film  The IMAX short film "Hubble: Galaxies Across Space and Time" transforms images and data from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope into a voyage that sweeps viewers across the universe and back into cosmic history.<BR><BR>This sample frame from the film shows a vibrant and diverse collection of galaxies within the 650-megapixel-mosaic image created by the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey. Only a large format film can simultaneously show both the grand scale of thousands of galaxies and the fine details of individual galaxy structure. These galaxies are strewn across billions of light-years, showing representative galaxies at many different distances from Earth. The light from galaxies farther away has taken longer to reach us, and we see them as they were further back in time. Hence, the image also shows representative galaxies at many different times in the universe's history.
The dynamic duo, Messier 81 and 82  This wide-angle image taken by astrophotographer Robert Gendler shows the amazing duo of Messier 81 (right) and Messier 82 (left). These two mighty galaxies in the Plough (Ursa Major) belong to some of the most famous and beloved galaxies known to amateur astronomers. This may be one of the reasons that Supernova 1993J was discovered by the Spanish amateur astronomer Francisco Garcia Diaz and not a professional astronomer. Behind a Dusty Veil Lies a Cradle of Star Birth  NGC 253 is a large, almost edge-on spiral galaxy, and is one of the nearest galaxies beyond our local neighborhood of galaxies. This dramatic galaxy shows complex structures such as clumpy gas clouds, darkened dust lanes, and young, luminous central star clusters. These elements are typical of spiral galaxies. Caroline Herschel discovered NGC 253 in 1783 while looking for comets. The galaxy's closeness to Earth makes it an ideal target for amateur astronomers who can see the southern sky and for astronomers interested in learning more about the makeup of these stunning cities of stars. Hubble Deep Field South Unveils Myriad Galaxies  A NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope view down a 12 billion light-year long corridor of space loaded with a dazzling assortment of thousands of never-before seen galaxies.
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