Radio/X-ray/Optical Image of M87: This image is a composite of visible (or optical), radio, and X-ray  data of the giant elliptical galaxy, M87. M87 lies at a distance of 54 million light-years and is the largest galaxy in the Virgo cluster of galaxies. Bright jets moving at close to the speed of light are seen at all wavelengths coming from the massive black hole at the centre of the galaxy.  It has also been identified with the strong radio source, Virgo A, and is a powerful source of X-rays as it  resides near the center of a hot, X-ray emitting cloud that extends  over much of the Virgo cluster.  The extended radio emission consists of plumes of relativistic (extremely hot) gas from the jets rising into the X-ray emitting cluster medium. The optical data of M87 were obtained with Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys in visible and infrared filters (data courtesy of P. Cote (Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics) and E. Baltz (Stanford University)). Wide-field optical data of the center of the Virgo  Cluster were also provided by R. Gendler (Copyright Robert  Gendler 2006). The X-ray data  were acquired from the Chandra X-ray Observatory's AXAF CCD Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS), and were provided by J. Forman (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics) et al. The radio data were obtained by W. Cotton and also archive processing using the National Radio Astronomy Observatory's Very Large Array (NRAO/VLA) near Socorro, New Mexico.

Name: Messier 87, NGC 4486
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : EllipticalLocal Universe : Galaxy : Size : Giant
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Virgo
Distance: 55 million light years
Release date: 5 August 2008, 15:00
Credit: Photo Credit: NASA, ESA, and Z. Levay (STScI)Science Credit: Radio: NRAO/AUI/NSF/W. Cotton; X-ray: NASA/CXC/CfA/W. Forman et al.; Optical:  NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA),  and R. Gendler

NGC 2074 imaged by Hubble on 100 000th orbit milestone: In commemoration of the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope completing its 100 000th orbit around the Earth in its 18th year of exploration and discovery, scientists have aimed Hubble to take a snapshot of a dazzling region of celestial birth and renewal. Hubble peered into a small portion of the nebula near the star cluster NGC 2074 (upper, left). The region is a firestorm of raw stellar creation, perhaps triggered by a nearby supernova explosion. It lies about 170 000 light-years away near the Tarantula nebula, one of the most active star-forming regions in our Local Group of galaxies. This representative colour image was taken on 10 August, 2008, with Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2. Red shows emission from sulphur atoms, green from glowing hydrogen, and blue from glowing oxygen.

Name: NGC 2074
Type: Local Universe : Nebula
Category: Nebulae
Constellation: Dorado
Distance: 170000 light years
Release date: 11 August 2008, 07:00
Credit: NASA, ESA and M. Livio (STScI)

Ground-based image of NGC 2074: This ground-based image shows the region surrounding NGC 2074 in the Large Magellanic Cloud. These visible-light emission-line image was taken on the UM/CTIO Curtis Schmidt telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) as part of the Magellanic Cloud Emission Line Survey (MCELS). The composite image shows emission from oxygen (blue), hydrogen (green), and sulphur (red).

Name: NGC 2074
Type: Local Universe : Nebula
Category: Nebulae
Distance: 170000 light years
Release date: 11 August 2008, 07:00
Credit: UM/CTIO MCELS Project/NOAO/AURA/NSF

Magnetic monster NGC 1275: This stunning image of NGC 1275 was taken using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys in July and August 2006. It provides amazing detail and resolution of the fragile filamentary structures, which show up as a reddish lacy structure surrounding the central bright galaxy NGC 1275. These filaments are cool despite being surrounded by gas that is around 55 million degrees Celsius hot. They are suspended in a magnetic field which maintains their structure and demonstrates how energy from the central black hole is transferred to the surrounding gas. By observing the filamentary structure, astronomers were, for the first time, able to estimate the magnetic field's strength. Using this information they demonstrated how the extragalactic magnetic fields have maintained the structure of the filaments against collapse caused by either gravitational forces or the violence of the surrounding cluster during their 100-million-year lifetime. This is the first time astronomers have been able to differentiate the individual threads making up such filaments to this degree. Astonishingly, they distinguished threads a mere 200 light-years across. By contrast, the filaments seen here can be a gaping 200 000 light-years long. The entire image is approximately 260 000 light-years across. Also seen in the image are impressive lanes of dust from a separate spiral galaxy. It  lies partly in front of the giant elliptical central cluster galaxy and has been completed disrupted by the tidal gravitational forces within the galaxy cluster. Several striking filaments of blue newborn stars are seen crossing the image.

Name: NGC 1275
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Activity : AGN : Seyfert
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Perseus
Distance: 250 million light years
Release date: 20 August 2008, 19:00
Credit: NASA, ESA and Andy Fabian (University of Cambridge, UK)

NGC 1275 multi-wavelength composite: The behemoth galaxy NGC 1275, also known as Perseus A, lies at the centre of Perseus Galaxy Cluster. By combining multi-wavelength images into this single composite, the dynamics of the galaxy become visible. Detail and structure from optical, radio and X-ray wavelengths have been combined for an aesthetically pleasing image which shows the violent events in the galaxy's heart. NGC 1275 is an active galaxy well-known for its radio source (Perseus A) and is a strong emitter of X-rays due to the presence of the supermassive black hole in its centre. Hubble data from the Advanced Camera for Surveys covers visible-light wavelengths and is shown in the red, green and blue. Radio data from NRAO's Very Large Array at 0.91 m was also used. In this composite image, dust lanes, star-forming regions, hydrogen filaments, foreground stars, and background galaxies are contributions from the Hubble optical data. The X-ray data contributes to the soft but violet shells around the outside of the centre. The pinkish lobes toward the centre of the galaxy are from radio emission. The radio jets from the black hole fill the X-ray cavities. Chandra data from the ACIS covers X-ray wavelengths from 0.1771 to 4.133 nm (0.3-7 KeV).

Name: NGC 1275
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Activity : AGN : Seyfert
Category: Quasars and Black Holes
Constellation: Perseus
Distance: 250 million light years
Release date: 20 August 2008, 19:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, NRAO and L. Frattare (STScI). Science Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/IoA/A.Fabian et al.; Radio: NRAO/VLA/G. Taylor; Optical: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration, and A. Fabian (Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, UK)

The Perseus Cluster (DSS2 excerpt, ground-based image): Located around 235 million light-years away from Earth, The Perseus Galaxy Cluster is one of the closest to us but is difficult to see in visible-light wavelengths. The cluster contains 190 galaxies including NGC 1275 which sits near the centre of this image, and is part of the Pisces-Perseus supercluster, which contains over 1000 galaxies. This image's field of view is 2.75 x 2.81 degrees.

Name: NGC 1275, Perseus Cluster
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Activity : AGN : SeyfertLocal Universe : Galaxy : Grouping : Cluster
Category: Quasars and Black Holes
Constellation: Perseus
Distance: 250 million light years
Release date: 20 August 2008, 19:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Digitized Sky Survey 2. Acknowledgment: Davide De Martin (ESA/Hubble)