Hubble’s view on lensed supernova: The supernova iPTF16geu exploded at a distance corresponding to a time 4.3 billion years ago. It could only be detected because a foreground galaxy lensed the light of the explosion, making it 52 times brighter for observers on Earth. It also caused the supernova to appear in four distinct places on the sky, surrounding the lensing galaxy in the foreground.

Name: iPTF16geu
Type: Early Universe : Star : Evolutionary Stage : Supernova
Category: CosmologyStars
Constellation: Aquarius
Distance: 4 billion light years
Release date: 20 April 2017, 20:00
Credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA

Palomar’s view on iPTF16geu: The Palomar Observatory, located on Palomar Mountain, California, created this wide-field view of the night sky. In the lower central part of the image scientists discovered a supernova explosion, being lensed by a foreground galaxy.

Name: iPTF16geu
Type: Early Universe : Star : Evolutionary Stage : Supernova
Category: CosmologyStars
Constellation: Aquarius
Distance: 4 billion light years
Release date: 20 April 2017, 20:00
Credit: ESA/Hubble, Palomar Observatory/California Institute of Technology

The SDSS view on iPTF16geu: Astronomers used the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), carried out by a 2.5-metre wide-angle optical telescope at Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico, USA, to look for supernovae. The explosion named iPTF16geu can be seen left of the centre of the image as a tiny red dot.

Name: iPTF16geu
Type: Early Universe : Star : Evolutionary Stage : Supernova
Category: CosmologyStars
Constellation: Aquarius
Distance: 4 billion light years
Release date: 20 April 2017, 20:00
Credit: ESA/Hubble, Sloan Digital Sky Survey

Keck’s view on lensed supernova: The adaptive-optics instruments on the W.M. Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, were able to resolve the supernova explosion iPTF16geu in detail.

Name: iPTF16geu
Type: Early Universe : Star : Evolutionary Stage : Supernova
Category: CosmologyStars
Constellation: Aquarius
Distance: 4 billion light years
Release date: 20 April 2017, 20:00
Credit: ESA/Hubble, W. M. Keck Observatory

The last of the Frontier Fields — Abell 370: With the final observation of the distant galaxy cluster Abell 370 — some five billion light-years away — the Frontier Fields program came to an end. Abell 370 is one of the very first galaxy clusters in which astronomers observed the phenomenon of gravitational lensing, the warping of spacetime by the cluster’s gravitational field that distorts the light from galaxies lying far behind it. This manifests as arcs and streaks in the picture, which are the stretched images of background galaxies.

Name: Abell 370
Type: Early Universe : Galaxy : Grouping : Cluster
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Cetus
Distance: 6 billion light years
Release date: 4 May 2017, 16:00
Credit: NASA, ESA/Hubble, HST Frontier Fields

Abell 370 parallel field: While one eye of Hubble was observing its main target, the massive galaxy cluster Abell 370, the second eye — another instrument — was looking at a part of the sky right next to the cluster. Although not as spectacular as the light-bending clusters, these parallel fields are as deep as the main images and can even compete with the famous Hubble Deep Field as regards depth. They are therefore a valuable tool for studying the evolution of galaxies from the early epochs of the Universe until today.

Name: Abell 370
Type: Early Universe : Galaxy : Grouping : Cluster
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Cetus
Distance: 6 billion light years
Release date: 4 May 2017, 16:00
Credit: NASA, ESA/Hubble, HST Frontier Fields

Abell 370 (seen in 2009): This image of Abell 370 was released in 2009. Compared to the new image, which contains more observation time, less structures are visible and faint objects have disappeared — the new image has increased the depth of the image dramatically, clearly showing the benefit of additional observation time. A direct comparison between both images can be seen here.

Name: Abell 370
Type: Early Universe : Galaxy : Grouping : Cluster
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Cetus
Distance: 6 billion light years
Release date: 4 May 2017, 16:00
Credit: ESA/Hubble

NGC 1512 and NGC 1510: This composite image, created out of two different pointings from Hubble, shows the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1512 (left) and the dwarf galaxy NGC 1510 (right). Both galaxies are about 30 million light-years away from Earth and currently in the process of merging. At the end of this process NGC 1512 will have cannibalised its smaller companion.

Name: ngc 1510, NGC 1512
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : InteractingLocal Universe : Galaxy : Size : DwarfLocal Universe : Galaxy : Type : Barred
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Horologium
Distance: 30 million light years
Release date: 27 July 2017, 14:00
Credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA

Wide-field view of NGC 1510 and NGC 1512 (ground-based view): This image shows the sky around the two interacting galaxies NGC 1512 and NGC 1510. NGC 1512 is clearly visible in the very centre of the image.

Name: NGC 1512
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : BarredLocal Universe : Galaxy : Type : Interacting
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Horologium
Release date: 27 July 2017, 14:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, Digitized Sky Survey 2 Acknowledgement: Davide De Martin

The Pitch-Black Exoplanet WASP-12b: This artist’s impression shows the exoplanet WASP-12b — an alien world as black as fresh asphalt, orbiting a star like our Sun. Scientists were able to measure its albedo: the amount of light the planet reflects. The results showed that the planet is extremely dark at optical wavelengths.

Name: WASP-12b
Type: Milky Way : Planet
Category: Exoplanets
Release date: 14 September 2017, 16:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon (STScI)

The binary asteroid 288P (artist’s impression): This artist’s impression shows the binary asteroid 288P, located in the main asteroid belt between the planets Mars and Jupiter. The object is unique as it is a binary asteroid which also behaves like a comet. The comet-like properties are the result of water sublimation, caused by the heat of the Sun. The orbit of the asteroids is marked by a blue ellipse.

Name: 288P
Type: Solar System : Interplanetary Body : Asteroid
Category: Solar System
Release date: 20 September 2017, 19:00
Credit: ESA/Hubble, L. Calçada.

Image of binary asteroid system 288P: This set of images from the ESA/NASA Hubble Space Telescope reveals two asteroids with comet-like features orbiting each other. These include a bright halo of material, called a coma, and a long tail of dust. The asteroid pair, called 288P, was observed in September 2016 just before the asteroid made its closest approach to the Sun. These images reveal ongoing activity in the binary system. The apparent movement of the tail is a projection effect due to the relative alignment between the Sun, Earth, and 288P changing between observations. The tail orientation is also affected by a change in the particle size. Initially, the tail was pointing towards the direction where comparatively large dust particles (about 1 millimetre in size) were emitted in late July. However, from 20 September 2016 onwards, the tail began to point in the opposite direction from the Sun where small particles (about 10 microns in size) are blown away from the nucleus by radiation pressure.

Name: 288P
Type: Solar System : Interplanetary Body : Asteroid
Category: Solar System
Release date: 20 September 2017, 19:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, and J. Agarwal (Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research)