Star-forming region Gum 29: This image shows the star-forming region Gum 29 which surrounds star cluster Westerlund 2. This is a section of the new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image of Westerlund 2 and its surroundings, released to celebrate Hubble’s 25th anniversary. Some of the heftiest stars in Westerlund 2 are carving deep cavities in material surrounding them by unleashing torrents of ultraviolet light and high speed streams of charged particles, known as stellar winds. These are etching away the enveloping hydrogen gas cloud in which the stars were born and are responsible for the weird and wonderful shapes of the clouds of gas and dust in this image. The brightest stars in this image are Milky Way foreground stars not associated with Westerlund 2.

Name: Gum 29, Westerlund 2
Type: Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Star FormationMilky Way : Nebula : Appearance : Emission : H II RegionEarly Universe : Star : Grouping : ClusterMilky Way : Star : Grouping : Binary
Category: NebulaeStar Clusters
Constellation: Carina
Distance: 20000 light years
Release date: 23 April 2015, 15:15
Credit: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), A. Nota (ESA/STScI), and the Westerlund 2 Science Team

Pillars around Westerlund 2: This image shows an example of the pillars that surround the star cluster Westerlund 2. These pillars are composed of dense gas and dust are a few light-years tall and point to the central cluster. They are thought to be incubators for new stars. Besides sculpting the gaseous terrain, intense radiation from the most brilliant of the cluster stars is creating a successive generation of baby stars. This is a section of the new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image of Westerlund 2 and its surroundings, released to celebrate Hubble’s 25th anniversary.

Name: Westerlund 2
Type: Milky Way : Star : Grouping : ClusterMilky Way : Nebula : Appearance : Emission : H II RegionMilky Way : Star : Grouping : BinaryMilky Way : Nebula : Type : Star Formation
Category: NebulaeStar Clusters
Constellation: Carina
Distance: 20000 light years
Release date: 23 April 2015, 15:15
Credit: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), A. Nota (ESA/STScI), and the Westerlund 2 Science Team

New stars around Westerlund 2: The red dots scattered throughout the cosmic landscape captured in this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image are a rich population of forming stars that are still wrapped in their gas and dust cocoons. These stellar foetuses have not yet ignited the hydrogen in their cores to light-up as stars. However, Hubble’s near-infrared vision allows astronomers to identify these fledglings. The brilliant blue stars seen throughout the image are mostly in the foreground. This is a section of the new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image of Westerlund 2 and its surroundings, released to celebrate Hubble’s 25th anniversary.

Name: Westerlund 2
Type: Milky Way : Star : Grouping : ClusterMilky Way : Nebula : Appearance : Emission : H II RegionMilky Way : Star : Grouping : BinaryMilky Way : Nebula : Type : Star Formation
Category: NebulaeStar Clusters
Constellation: Carina
Distance: 20000 light years
Release date: 23 April 2015, 15:15
Credit: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), A. Nota (ESA/STScI), and the Westerlund 2 Science Team

Globular cluster 47 Tucanae: This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows a globular cluster known as NGC 104 — or, more commonly, 47 Tucanae, since it is part of the constellation of Tucana (The Toucan) in the southern sky. After Omega Centauri it is the brightest globular cluster in the night sky, hosting tens of thousands of stars. Scientists using Hubble observed the white dwarfs in the cluster. These dying stars migrate from the crowded centre of the cluster to its outskirts. Whilst astronomers knew about this process they had never seen it in action, until the detailed study of 47 Tucanae.

Type: Milky Way : Star : Grouping : Cluster : Globular
Category: Star Clusters
Constellation: Tucana
Distance: 15000 light years
Release date: 14 May 2015, 19:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration  Acknowledgment: J. Mack (STScI) and G. Piotto (University of Padova, Italy)

Central regions of 47 Tucanae: This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows the central region of a globular cluster known as NGC 104 — or, more commonly, 47 Tucanae, since it is part of the constellation of Tucana (The Toucan) in the southern sky.

Name: 47 Tucanae, NGC 104
Type: Milky Way : Star : Grouping : Cluster : Globular
Category: Star Clusters
Constellation: Tucana
Distance: 15000 light years
Release date: 14 May 2015, 19:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration  Acknowledgment: J. Mack (STScI) and G. Piotto (University of Padova, Italy)