Hubble captures a "five-star" rated gravitational lens: This full-size Hubble image shows galaxy cluster SDSS J1004+4112 with three rare phenomena marked. The blue circles show a unique five time gravitationally lensed quasar. This image is the first-ever picture of such an object. A gravitational lens will always produce an odd number of lensed images, but one image is usually very weak and embedded deep within the light of the lensing object itself. Hubble's sharp vision and the high magnification of this gravitational lens combine to place the fifth image far enough from the core of the central imaging galaxy to make it visible. The red circles mark three remarkably different images of the same background galaxy. The galaxy is 12 billion light years away (a redshift of 3.33, corresponding to only 1.8 billion years after the Big Bang). The yellow circle marks a supernova that was found by comparing this image to a picture of the cluster obtained with Hubble a year earlier. This supernova exploded seven billion years ago in one of the cluster galaxies. This image, together with other supernova observations, is being used to try to reconstruct how the Universe was enriched by heavy elements through these explosions.

Name: SDSS J100434.05+4112
Type: Early Universe : Galaxy : Type : Gravitationally LensedEarly Universe : Galaxy : Grouping : Cluster
Category: Galaxies
Distance: z=0.68 (redshift)
Release date: 23 May 2006, 12:00
Credit: European Space Agency, NASA, Keren Sharon (Tel-Aviv University) and Eran Ofek (CalTech)

Large and small stars in harmonious coexistence: The latest photo from the Hubble Space Telescope, presented at the 2006 General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union in Prague this week, shows a star forming region in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). This sharp image reveals a large number of low-mass infant stars coexisting with young massive stars.

Name: LH 95
Type: Local Universe : Nebula : Type : Star Formation
Category: Nebulae
Constellation: Dorado
Distance: 150000 light years
Release date: 14 August 2006, 09:00
Credit: NASA, ESA

Large and small stars in harmonious coexistence: The latest photo from the Hubble Space Telescope, presented at the 2006 General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union in Prague this week, shows a star forming region in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). This sharp image reveals a large number of low-mass infant stars coexisting with young massive stars.

Name: LH 95
Type: Local Universe : Nebula : Type : Star Formation
Category: Nebulae
Constellation: Dorado
Distance: 150000 light years
Release date: 14 August 2006, 09:00
Credit: NASA, ESA

Large and small stars in harmonious coexistence: These images reveal details of the LH 95 region. From top to bottom and left to right they show a dense part of the parental molecular cloud, a compact cluster of faint infant stars, the main part of LH 95, where massive and low-mass stars coexist close to a dusty lane, and one of the remarkable background galaxies.

Name: LH 95
Type: Local Universe : Nebula : Type : Star Formation
Category: Nebulae
Distance: 150000 light years
Release date: 14 August 2006, 09:00
Credit: NASA, ESA

Large and small stars in harmonious coexistence (ground-based image): Part of the LMC centered on LH 95. This image is a colour composite taken by the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS), the field of view is 3.0x2.7 degrees.

Name: LH 95
Type: Local Universe : Nebula : Type : Star Formation
Category: Nebulae
Constellation: Dorado
Distance: 170000 light years
Release date: 14 August 2006, 09:00
Credit: Davide De Martin (ESA/Hubble), the ESA/ESO/NASA Photoshop FITS Liberator & Digitized Sky Survey 2

Hubble Takes a Census of the Faintest Stars in an Ancient Star Cluster: Looking like glittering jewels, the stars in this Hubble Space Telescope image at left are part of the ancient globular star cluster NGC 6397. Scattered among these brilliant stars are extremely faint stars. Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys has taken a census of the cluster stars, uncovering the faintest stars ever seen in a globular cluster. Globular clusters are spherical concentrations of hundreds of thousands of old stars. The Advanced Camera found the faintest red dwarf stars (26th magnitude), which are cooler and much lower in mass than our Sun, and the dimmest white dwarfs (28th magnitude), the burned-out relics of normal stars. The light from the dimmest white dwarfs is equal to the light produced by a birthday candle on the Moon as seen from Earth. The image at lower right shows the faintest red dwarf star (the red dot within the red circle) spied by Hubble. The image at upper right pinpoints one of the dim white dwarfs (the blue dot within the blue circle) seen by Hubble. The white dwarf has been cooling for billions of years. It is so cool that instead of looking red, it has undergone a chemical change in its atmosphere that makes it appear blue. The images were taken with visual and red filters. NGC 6397, one of the closest globular clusters to Earth, is 8,500 light-years away in the southern constellation Ara. The data for these images were obtained in March and April 2005.

Name: NGC 6397
Type: Milky Way : Star : Grouping : Cluster : Globular
Category: Star Clusters
Distance: 9000 light years
Release date: 17 August 2006, 20:00
Credit: NASA, ESA and H. Richer (University of British Columbia)

Globular cluster NGC 6397: Image of globular cluster NGC 6397 in the constellation Ara (the Altar). The cluster is home to a highly unusual system consisting of a fast spinning pulsar and a bloated red companion star.

Name: NGC 6397
Type: Milky Way : Star : Grouping : Cluster : Globular
Category: Star Clusters
Constellation: Ara
Distance: 9000 light years
Release date: 17 August 2006, 20:00
Credit: NASA, ESA and H. Richer (University of British Columbia)

Cassiopeia A - The colourful aftermath of a violent stellar death: A new image taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope provides a detailed look at the tattered remains of a supernova explosion known as Cassiopeia A (Cas A). It is the youngest known remnant from a supernova explosion in the Milky Way. The new Hubble image shows the complex and intricate structure of the star's shattered fragments.

Name: Cassiopeia A, SN 1680
Type: Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Supernova Remnant
Category: Nebulae
Constellation: Cassiopeia
Distance: 11000 light years
Release date: 29 August 2006, 15:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration. Acknowledgement: Robert A. Fesen (Dartmouth College, USA) and James Long (ESA/Hubble)

The region around Cassiopeia A  (ground-based image): The two-colour image shows an overview of area of Cas A and was composed from two images from the Digitized Sky Survey 2. The field of view is slightly less than 3 degrees.

Name: Cassiopeia A, SN 1680
Type: Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Supernova Remnant
Category: Stars
Constellation: Cassiopeia
Distance: 11000 light years
Release date: 29 August 2006, 15:00
Credit: ESA/Hubble and Digitized Sky Survey 2. Acknowledgements: Davide De Martin

Cassiopeia A - Animation sequence [artist's impression]: Eight stills from the 3D supernova explosion animation (artist's impression).

Name: Cas A, Cassiopeia A, SN 1680, SNR 111.7-02.1, W 81
Type: Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Supernova Remnant
Category: Nebulae
Distance: 11000 light years
Release date: 29 August 2006, 15:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration. Acknowledgement: Robert A. Fesen (Dartmouth College, USA) and James Long (ESA/Hubble)