Hubble extrasolar planet search field in Sagittarius [full ACS view]: This is an image of one-half of the Hubble Space Telescope field of view in the Sagittarius Window Eclipsing Extrasolar Planet Search (SWEEPS). The field contains approximately 150,000 stars, down to 30th magnitude. The stars in the Galactic disk and bulge have a mixture of colours and masses. The field is so crowded with stars because Hubble was looking across 26,000 light-years of space in the direction of the centre of our Galaxy. Half of these stars are bright enough for Hubble to monitor for any small, brief and periodic dips in brightness caused by the passage of an extrasolar planet passing in front of the star, an event called a transit. Hubble took approximately 520 pictures of this field, at red and blue wavelengths, 22 to 29 February, 2004. Hubble identified 16 candidate stars that are orbited by planets with periods of a few days. Planets so close to their stars with such short orbital periods are called "hot Jupiters." These are considered "candidate" extrasolar planets because most of them are too faint to allow for spectroscopic observations that would allow for a precise measure of the planet's mass.

Name: Sagittarius, SWEEPS
Type: Milky Way : Star : Grouping : MultipleMilky Way : Star : Circumstellar Material : Planetary System
Category: Exoplanets
Constellation: Sagittarius
Distance: 25000 light years
Release date: 4 October 2006, 19:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, K. Sahu (STScI) and the SWEEPS science team

Hubble extrasolar planet search field in Sagittarius [excerpt]: This is an excerpt of the Hubble Space Telescope field of view in the Sagittarius Window Eclipsing Extrasolar Planet Search (SWEEPS).

Name: Sagittarius, SWEEPS
Type: Milky Way : Star : Grouping : MultipleMilky Way : Star : Circumstellar Material : Planetary System
Category: Exoplanets
Constellation: Sagittarius
Distance: 25000 light years
Release date: 4 October 2006, 19:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, K. Sahu (STScI) and the SWEEPS science team

Flies in a spider's web: Galaxy caught in the making: This image is a composite of many separate exposures made by the ACS instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope using several different filters. It shows the Spiderweb Galaxy sitting at the centre of an emergent galaxy cluster, surrounded by hundreds of other galaxies from the cluster. The image provides a dramatic glimpse of a large massive galaxy under assembly as smaller galaxies merge. This has commonly been thought to be the way galaxies grew in the young Universe, but now the Hubble observations of the radio galaxy MRC 1138-262, nicknamed the "Spiderweb Galaxy", have shown dozens of star-forming satellite galaxies in the actual process of merging.

Name: LEDA 2826829, MRC 1138-262, Spiderweb Galaxy
Type: Early Universe : Galaxy : Type : Interacting
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Hydra
Distance: z=2.156 (redshift)
Release date: 12 October 2006, 12:00
Credit: Image credit: NASA, ESA, G. Miley and R. Overzier (Leiden Observatory), and the ACS Science Team Acknowledgement: Davide De Martin (ESA/Hubble).

The Spiderweb Galaxy and its surroundings [full ACS view]: This image shows the full ACS overview of the region around the Spiderweb Galaxy (just to the right of the center). The  galaxy is sitting at the centre of an emergent galaxy cluster, surrounded by hundreds of other galaxies from the cluster.

Name: LEDA 2826829, MRC 1138-262, Spiderweb Galaxy
Type: Early Universe : Galaxy : Type : Interacting
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Hydra
Distance: z=2.156 (redshift)
Release date: 12 October 2006, 12:00
Credit: Image credit: NASA, ESA, G. Miley and R. Overzier (Leiden Observatory), and the ACS Science Team Acknowledgement: Davide De Martin (ESA/Hubble).

Wide-field image of the Spiderweb Galaxy (ground-based image): This image is a colour composite made from exposures from the Digitized Sky Survey 2 (DSS2). The field of view is 2.8 x 2.9 degrees.

Name: LEDA 2826829, MRC 1138-262, Spiderweb Galaxy
Type: Early Universe : Galaxy : Type : Interacting
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Hydra
Distance: z=2.156 (redshift)
Release date: 12 October 2006, 12:00
Credit: Digitized Sky Survey 2 and ESA/Hubble. ESA/Hubble and Digitized Sky Survey 2. Acknowledgement: Davide De Martin (ESA/Hubble ).

Colliding galaxies make love, not war: This Hubble image of the Antennae galaxies is the sharpest yet of this merging pair of galaxies. As the two galaxies smash together, billions of stars are born, mostly in groups and clusters of stars. The brightest and most compact of these are called super star clusters.

Name: Antennae Galaxies, NGC4038, NGC4039
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Interacting
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Corvus
Distance: 75 million light years
Release date: 17 October 2006, 15:00
Credit: Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration. Acknowledgement: B. Whitmore ( Space Telescope Science Institute) and James Long (ESA/Hubble).

Constellation Corvus (ground-based image): This ground-based photo shows a wide angle view of the constellation Corvus and part of contellation Hydra. The Antennae galaxies is located in the  southern constellation of Corvus.

Name: Corvus Constellation , Hydra
Type: Milky Way : Sky Phenomenon : Night Sky : Constellation
Category: Stars
Release date: 17 October 2006, 15:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, Z. Levay (STScI) and A. Fujii

Wide view of the Antennae galaxies (ground-based image): This image is a colour composite made from exposures from the Digitized Sky Survey 2 (DSS2). The field of view is 2.8 x 2.8 degrees.

Name: Antennae Galaxies, NGC4038, NGC4039
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Interacting
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Corvus
Release date: 17 October 2006, 15:00
Credit: ESA/Hubble and Digitized Sky Survey 2. Acknowledgements: Davide De Martin (ESA/Hubble)

Constellation Corvus [annotated] (ground-based image): This ground-based photo shows a wide angle view of the constellation Corvus and part of contellation Hydra. The Antennae galaxies is located in the  southern constellation of Corvus.

Name: Corvus Constellation , Hydra
Type: Milky Way : Sky Phenomenon : Night Sky : Constellation
Category: GalaxiesMiscellaneous
Release date: 17 October 2006, 15:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, Z. Levay (STScI) and A. Fujii