Elliptical galaxy NGC 4365 with numerous young star clusters: This colour image shows the elliptical galaxy NGC 4365. The image is a combination of two exposures taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and one taken with ESO's Very Large Telescope. By combining these images a group of European and American astronomers have made a major discovery. They have identified a huge number of 'young' stellar clusters, in an old elliptical galaxy. For the first time, it has been possible to identify several distinct periods of star formation in a galaxy as old as this one. Elliptical galaxies have always been considered to have undergone one initial star-forming period and thereafter to be devoid of star formation. Most of the more than one hundred dots in the image are globular star clusters of which the 'young' population (only a few thousand million years old) make up about one half. The light from NGC 4365 is yellow-reddish - a clear indication of its main population of old stars (about 12 thousand million years old). In the background more distant galaxies are seen through the outskirts of NGC 4365. Many of these have redder colours due to their large distance and their larger red shift (due to the expansion of the Universe the further away a galaxy is, the faster it recedes from us and the redder its light therefore becomes). NGC 4365 is located in the constellation of Virgo at an approximate distance of 55 million light-years. This picture is composed of two images obtained with Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 on 31 May 1996, and one obtained with the multi-mode ISAAC instrument on the 8.2-m VLT ANTU telescope at the ESO Paranal Observatory (Chile). The images were taken through a green filter (V-band, 2200 seconds, coloured blue), a red filter (I-Band, 2300 seconds, coloured green), and an infrared filter (K-band, 9500 seconds, 0.6 arcseconds seeing, coloured red).

Name: NGC 4365
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Elliptical
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Virgo
Distance: 70 million light years
Release date: 26 June 2002, 15:00
Credit: ESA, ESO, Markus Kissler-Patig (ESO) & Thomas H. Puzia (University of Munich)

A glimpse into the heart of a dying star: This image, taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, shows the young planetary nebula Henize 3-401. Hubble's extraordinary vision reveals that it is one of the most elongated planetary nebulae found so far. The image shows two very long cylindrical outflows with intricate thread-like structures and tattered ends. We are seeing the central star responsible for the beautiful display for the first time in this image. Henize 3-401 is located in the constellation of Carina (the Keel) at an approximate distance of 10 000 light-years. This picture is composed of three exposures obtained with Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 on 12 June 1997. The three exposures were taken through a wide orange filter (1200 seconds) shown in blue, a hydrogen-alpha filter (400 seconds) shown in red, and a singly ionised sulphur filter (1200 seconds) shown in green.

Name: Hen 3-401
Type: Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Planetary
Category: Nebulae
Constellation: Carina
Distance: 10000 light years
Release date: 18 July 2002, 15:00
Credit: European Space Agency and Pedro Garcma-Lario (ESA ISO Data Centre)

A rose blooming in space: Resembling a delicate rose floating in space, the nebula N11A is seen in a new light in a true-colour image taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Fierce radiation from massive stars embedded at the centre of N11A illuminates the surrounding gas with a soft fluorescent glow. N11A lies within a spectacular star-forming region in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small nearby companion galaxy to our own Milky Way Galaxy, visible from the Southern Hemisphere. This nebula is particularly interesting for astronomers since it is the smallest and most compact nebula in that region and represents the most recent massive star formation event there. The excellent imaging power of Hubble has enabled astronomers to see this nebula in more detail and to study the structure of the hot gas envelope as well as the stars embedded in its centre. Shocks and strong stellar winds from the recently born, massive stars in the bright core of N11A have scooped out a cavity in the gas and dust. The fierce radiation causes the surrounding gas to fluoresce in a way similar to a neon light. Hubble's image provides a much clearer picture of the nebula, making it possible for the first time to identify the stars that actually make it glow. Such information is essential for a better understanding of the formation of massive stars, that is, stars more than 10 times as heavy as our Sun. 'We need to study the properties of star-forming regions in our neighbouring galaxies to understand how stars are formed in the distant, young Universe, ' explains Mohammad Heydari-Malayeri who led the team studying these Hubble observations.

Name: LHA 120-N 11A, N 11A
Type: Local Universe : Nebula : Appearance : Emission : H II Region
Category: Nebulae
Constellation: Dorado
Distance: 170000 light years
Release date: 12 September 2002, 15:00
Credit: European Space Agency & Mohammad Heydari-Malayeri (Observatoire de Paris, France)

Missing link found between supernovae and black holes (artist's impression): Artist's impression shows a black hole and its yellow companion star being sent out on a long journey through the Milky Way galaxy by the explosive kick of a supernova - one of the Universe's most titanic events. Observations made by the ESA/NASA Hubble Space Telescope have allowed astronomers to measure the motion of this black-hole system across the sky using images taken in 1996 and 2001. The results are surprising: the black hole streaks across the plane of our Milky Way at a velocity 4 times that of stars around it! This is the first direct link between black holes and the supernovae that create them. This artist's impression shows a black hole and its yellow companion star being sent out on a out on a long journey through the Milky Way galaxy by the explosive kick of a supernova - one of the Universe's most titanic events. New observations made by the ESA/NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have allowed astronomers to measure the motion of this black hole system across the sky using images taken in 1995 and 2001. The results are surprising: the black hole streaks across the plane of our Milky Way at a velocity 4 times that of stars around it! This is the first direct link between black holes and the supernovae that create them.

Name: Black Hole
Type: Milky Way : Star : Evolutionary Stage : Black HoleMilky Way : Star : Grouping : Binary
Category: Stars
Release date: 18 November 2002, 15:00
Credit: European Space Agency, NASA and Felix Mirabel (the French Atomic Energy Commission & the Institute for Astronomy and Space Physics/Conicet of Argentina)

Black hole hurtling across the plane of the Milky Way: Artist's impression shows an oblique view of our Milky Way galaxy. The black-hole system GRO J1655-40 is streaking through space at a rate of 400 000 kilometres per hour - 4 times faster than the average velocity of the stars in the galactic neighbourhood. The yellow star is our Sun. Artist's impression shows an oblique view of our Milky Way galaxy. The black-hole system GRO J1655-40 is streaking through space at a rate of 400 000 kilometres per hour - 4 times faster than the average velocity of the stars in the galactic neighbourhood. The yellow star is our Sun.

Name: GRO J1655-40
Type: Milky Way : Star : Evolutionary Stage : Black HoleMilky Way : Star : Grouping : Binary
Category: Galaxies
Distance: 5500 light years
Release date: 18 November 2002, 15:00
Credit: European Space Agency, NASA and Felix Mirabel (the French Atomic Energy Commission & the Institute for Astronomy and Space Physics/Conicet of Argentina)