Hubble snaps NGC 5189: The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope celebrates the holiday season with a striking image of the planetary nebula NGC 5189. The intricate structure of the stellar eruption looks like a giant and brightly coloured ribbon in space.

Name: NGC 5189
Type: Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Planetary
Category: Nebulae
Constellation: Musca
Release date: 18 December 2012, 15:00
Credit: NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

The globular cluster NGC 6388, observed by Hubble: This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows NGC 6388, a dynamically middle-aged globular cluster in the Milky Way. While the cluster formed in the distant past (like all globular clusters, it is over ten billion years old), a study of the distribution of bright blue stars within the cluster shows that it has aged at a moderate speed, and its heaviest stars are in the process of migrating to the centre. A new study using Hubble data has discovered that globular clusters of the same age can have dramatically different distributions of blue straggler stars within them, suggesting that clusters can age at substantially different rates.

Name: NGC 6388
Type: Milky Way : Star : Grouping : Cluster : Globular
Category: Star Clusters
Constellation: Scorpius
Distance: 35000 light years
Release date: 19 December 2012, 19:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, F. Ferraro (University of Bologna)

The globular cluster NGC 6388 observed by the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope: This image from the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at the ESO La Silla Observatory shows NGC 6388, a dynamically middle-aged globular cluster in the Milky Way. While the cluster formed in the distant past (like all globular clusters, it is over ten billion years old), a study of the distribution of bright blue stars within the cluster shows that it has aged at a moderate speed, and its heaviest stars are in the process of migrating to the centre. A new study using ESO data has discovered that globular clusters of the same age can have dramatically different distributions of blue straggler stars within them, suggesting that clusters can age at substantially different rates.

Name: NGC 6388
Type: Milky Way : Star : Grouping : Cluster : Globular
Category: Star Clusters
Constellation: Scorpius
Distance: 35000 light years
Release date: 19 December 2012, 19:00
Credit: ESO, F. Ferraro (University of Bologna)

NGC 6388 seen by Hubble and ESO: This image shows Hubble and ESO observations of globular cluster NGC 6388. Hubble provides a more detailed image which allows scientists to resolve stars right to the centre of the cluster, while the image from the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope gives a wider view which encompasses the cluster’s outer regions.

Name: NGC 6388
Type: Milky Way : Star : Grouping : Cluster : Globular
Category: Star Clusters
Distance: 35000 light years
Release date: 19 December 2012, 19:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, ESO, F. Ferraro (University of Bologna)

Globular clusters seen by Hubble and ESO: This collage shows a range of globular clusters, which were studied using Hubble and the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope. The data show that, despite all forming at roughly the same time, the clusters have aged at dramatically different rates, with heavier stars sinking to the centres of the clusters in a process similar to sedimentation. Top row: M 4 (ESO), Omega Cen (ESO), M 80 (Hubble)Middle row: M 53 (Hubble), NGC 6752 (Hubble), M 13 (Hubble)Bottom row: M 4 (Hubble), NGC 288 (Hubble), 47 Tuc (Hubble)

Type: Milky Way : Star : Grouping : Cluster : Globular
Category: Star Clusters
Release date: 19 December 2012, 19:00
Credit: M 4: ESO. Omega Cen: ESO/INAF-VST/OmegaCAM.  M 80: The Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI/NASA/ESA). M 53: ESA/Hubble & NASA. NGC 6752: ESA/Hubble & NASA. M 13: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA). M 4: ESA/Hubble & NASA. NGC 288: ESA/Hubble & NASA. 47 Tuc: NASA, ESA, and G. Meylan (École Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne).

LHA 120-N11 in the Large Magellanic Cloud: Nearly 200 000 light-years from Earth, the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, floats in space, in a long and slow dance around our galaxy. As the Milky Way’s gravity gently tugs on its neighbour’s gas clouds, they collapse to form new stars. In turn, these light up the gas clouds in a kaleidoscope of colours, visible in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.

Name: LHA 120-N 11, NGC 1769
Type: Local Universe : Nebula : Type : Star Formation
Category: Nebulae
Constellation: Dorado
Distance: 160000 light years
Release date: 17 January 2013, 12:00
Credit: NASA, ESA. Acknowledgement: Josh Lake

Hubble view of Messier 106: This image combines Hubble observations of Messier 106 with additional information captured by amateur astronomers Robert Gendler and Jay GaBany. Gendler combined Hubble data with his own observations to produce this stunning colour image. Messier 106 is a relatively nearby spiral galaxy, a little over 20 million light-years away.

Name: M 106, Messier 106, NGC 4258
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Spiral
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Canes Venatici
Distance: 20 million light years
Release date: 5 February 2013, 16:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), and R. Gendler (for the Hubble Heritage Team). Acknowledgment: J. GaBany

Hubble image of LRLL 54361 and its surroundings: This infrared image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows an image of protostellar object LRLL 54361 and its rich cosmic neighbourhood, a region called IC 348. The protostar, which is the bright object with fan-like beams of light coming from it, located towards the right of the image, is letting off flashes of light every 25.3 days.

Name: IC 348, LRLL 54361
Type: Milky Way : Star : Evolutionary Stage : Protostar
Category: Stars
Constellation: Perseus
Distance: 950 light years
Release date: 7 February 2013, 19:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, and J. Muzerolle (STScI)

Light echo around LRLL 54361: This sequence of images from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows a pulse of light emanating from the protostellar object LRLL 54361. Most if not all of this light results from scattering off circumstellar dust in the protostellar envelope. An apparent edge-on disk visible at the centre of the object, and three separate structures are interpreted as outflow cavities. The extent and shape of the scattered light changes substantially over a 25.3-day period. This is caused by the propagation of the light pulse through the nebula. Astronomers propose that the flashes are due to material in a circumstellar disk suddenly being dumped onto a binary pair of forming stars. This unleashes a blast of radiation each time the stars get close to each other in their orbit. These near-infrared light images are from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3.

Name: IC 348, LRLL 54361
Type: Milky Way : Star : Evolutionary Stage : Protostar
Category: Stars
Distance: 950 light years
Release date: 7 February 2013, 19:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, and J. Muzerolle (STScI)