Globular cluster Fornax 2: This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows the globular cluster Fornax 2 in the dwarf galaxy Fornax. New observations of this cluster and three others in the galaxy show that they are very similar to those found in our galaxy, the Milky Way. The finding is at odds with leading theories on how these clusters form — in these theories, globular clusters should be nestled among large quantities of old stars — and so the mystery of how these objects came to exist deepens. This cluster’s position within the galaxy is shown in image G.

Name: Fornax 2, Fornax Dwarf Spheroidal (Galaxy)
Type: Local Universe : Star : Grouping : Cluster : GlobularLocal Universe : Galaxy : Size : Dwarf
Category: GalaxiesStar Clusters
Constellation: Fornax
Release date: 20 November 2014, 16:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, S. Larsen (Radboud University, the Netherlands)

Globular cluster Fornax 3: This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows the globular cluster Fornax 3 in the dwarf galaxy Fornax. New observations of this cluster and three others in the galaxy show that they are very similar to those found in our galaxy, the Milky Way. The finding is at odds with leading theories on how these clusters form — in these theories, globular clusters should be nestled among large quantities of old stars — and so the mystery of how these objects came to exist deepens. This cluster’s position within the galaxy is shown in image G.

Name: Fornax 3, Fornax Dwarf Spheroidal (Galaxy)
Type: Local Universe : Star : Grouping : Cluster : GlobularLocal Universe : Galaxy : Size : Dwarf
Category: GalaxiesStar Clusters
Constellation: Fornax
Release date: 20 November 2014, 16:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, S. Larsen (Radboud University, the Netherlands)

Globular cluster Fornax 5: This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows the globular cluster Fornax 5 in the dwarf galaxy Fornax. New observations of this cluster and three others in the galaxy show that they are very similar to those found in our galaxy, the Milky Way. The finding is at odds with leading theories on how these clusters form — in these theories, globular clusters should be nestled among large quantities of old stars — and so the mystery of how these objects came to exist deepens. This cluster’s position within the galaxy is shown in image G.

Name: Fornax 5, Fornax Dwarf Spheroidal (Galaxy)
Type: Local Universe : Star : Grouping : Cluster : GlobularLocal Universe : Galaxy : Size : Dwarf
Category: GalaxiesStar Clusters
Constellation: Fornax
Release date: 20 November 2014, 16:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, S. Larsen (Radboud University, the Netherlands)

Fornax galaxy with four globular clusters marked: This is a Digitized Sky Survey 2 image of the dwarf galaxy Fornax. Highlighted here are four globular clusters found in the galaxy called Fornax 1, 2, 3 and 5. New observations of the four clusters — large balls of stars that orbit the centres of galaxies — show they are very similar to those found in our galaxy, the Milky Way. The finding is at odds with leading theories on how these clusters form — in these theories, globular clusters should be nestled among large quantities of old stars — and so the mystery of how these objects came to exist deepens.

Name: Fornax 1, Fornax 2, Fornax 3, Fornax 5, Fornax Dwarf Spheroidal (Galaxy)
Type: Local Universe : Star : Grouping : Cluster : GlobularLocal Universe : Galaxy : Size : Dwarf
Category: GalaxiesStar Clusters
Release date: 20 November 2014, 16:00
Credit: ESO/Digitized Sky Survey 2

Fornax dwarf galaxy: The Fornax dwarf galaxy is one of the Milky Way’s neighbouring dwarf galaxies. New observations of four globular clusters — large balls of stars that orbit the centres of galaxies — found in Fornax show they are very similar to those found in our galaxy, the Milky Way. The finding is at odds with leading theories on how these clusters form — in these theories, globular clusters should be nestled among large quantities of old stars — and so the mystery of how these objects came to exist deepens. This image was composed from data from the Digitized Sky Survey 2. An annotated version showing the location of the four galaxies can be found here.

Name: Fornax Dwarf Spheroidal (Galaxy)
Type: Local Universe : Star : Grouping : Cluster : GlobularLocal Universe : Galaxy : Size : Dwarf
Category: GalaxiesStar Clusters
Constellation: Fornax
Release date: 20 November 2014, 16:00
Credit: ESO/Digitized Sky Survey 2

New view of the Pillars of Creation — visible: The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has revisited one of its most iconic and popular images: the Eagle Nebula’s Pillars of Creation. This image shows the pillars as seen in visible light, capturing the multi-coloured glow of gas clouds, wispy tendrils of dark cosmic dust, and the rust-coloured elephants’ trunks of the nebula’s famous pillars. The dust and gas in the pillars is seared by the intense radiation from young stars and eroded by strong winds from massive nearby stars. With these new images comes better contrast and a clearer view for astronomers to study how the structure of the pillars is changing over time.

Name: Eagle Nebula, M 16, Messier 16
Type: Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Star Formation
Category: Nebulae
Constellation: Serpens Cauda
Distance: 7000 light years
Release date: 5 January 2015, 23:15
Credit: NASA, ESA/Hubble  and the Hubble Heritage Team

New view of the Pillars of Creation — infrared: The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has revisited one of its most iconic and popular images: the Eagle Nebula’s Pillars of Creation. This image shows the pillars as seen in infrared light, allowing it to pierce through obscuring dust and gas and unveil a more unfamiliar — but just as amazing — view of the pillars. In this ethereal view the entire frame is peppered with bright stars and baby stars are revealed being formed within the pillars themselves. The ghostly outlines of the pillars seem much more delicate, and are silhouetted against an eerie blue haze. Hubble also captured the pillars in visible light.

Name: Eagle Nebula, M 16, Messier 16
Type: Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Star Formation
Category: Nebulae
Constellation: Serpens Cauda
Distance: 7000 light years
Release date: 5 January 2015, 23:15
Credit: NASA, ESA/Hubble and the Hubble Heritage Team

The Pillars of Creation — visible and infrared comparison: This image compares two new views of the Eagle Nebula’s Pillars of Creation captured by Hubble. On the left the pillars are seen in visible light, capturing the multi-coloured glow of gas clouds, wispy tendrils of dark cosmic dust, and the rust-coloured elephants’ trunks of the nebula’s famous pillars. The right image is taken in infrared light, which penetrates much of the obscuring dust and gas and unveils a more unfamiliar view of the pillars.

Name: Eagle Nebula, M 16, Messier 16
Type: Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Star Formation
Category: Nebulae
Distance: 7000 light years
Release date: 5 January 2015, 23:15
Credit: NASA, ESA/Hubble and the Hubble Heritage Team

The Pillars of Creation — 1995 and 2015 comparison: This image compares two views of the Eagle Nebula’s Pillars of Creation taken with Hubble 20 years apart. The new image, on the left, captures almost exactly the same region as in the 1995, on the right. However, the newer image uses Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3, installed in 2009, to capture light from glowing oxygen, hydrogen, and sulphur with greater clarity. Having both images allows astronomers to study how the structure of the pillars is changing over time.

Name: Eagle Nebula, M 16, Messier 16
Type: Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Star Formation
Category: Nebulae
Distance: 7000 light years
Release date: 5 January 2015, 23:15
Credit: WFC3: NASA, ESA/Hubble and the Hubble Heritage Team WFPC2:  NASA, ESA/Hubble, STScI, J. Hester and P. Scowen (Arizona State University)