Hubble Images Majestic Cousin of the Milky Way: Our Sun and solar system are embedded in a broad pancake of stars deep within the disk of the Milky Way galaxy. Even from a distance, it is impossible to see our galaxy's large-scale features other than the disk. The next best thing is to look farther out into the universe at galaxies that are similar in shape and structure to our home galaxy. Other spiral galaxies like NGC 3949, pictured in the Hubble image, fit the bill.

Name: IRAS F11510+4808, NGC 3949
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Spiral
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Ursa Major
Distance: 50 million light years
Release date: 5 August 2004, 15:00
Credit: NASA/ESA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

Most-Distant Galaxy Candidates in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field: Detailed analyses of mankind's deepest optical view of the universe, the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF), by several expert teams have at last identified what may turn out to be some of the earliest star-forming galaxies. The sensitivity of Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), combined with the penetrating power of the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS), finally revealed these long-sought faint galaxies. The HUDF shows that close to a billion years after the big bang the early universe was filled with dwarf galaxies, but no fully formed galaxies like our Milky Way. After careful analysis, they have been sorted out as between 54 and 108 dim, red smudges sprinkled across the HUDF image. This image shows the full sample of candidates circled in green. Three enlargements at right show several dwarf objects that are at the limits of Hubble's present instrument capabilities. The HUDF is a small region of sky in the direction of the southern constellation Fornax. The faintest objects are less than one four-billionth the brightness of stars that can be seen with the naked eye. Their light has taken nearly 13 billion years to reach Earth, and so these objects represent some of the earliest star-forming galaxies to form in the universe.

Name: Hubble Ultra Deep Field, HUDF
Type: Early Universe : Cosmology : Morphology : Deep Field
Category: Cosmology
Constellation: Fornax
Release date: 23 September 2004, 15:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, R. Windhorst (Arizona State University) and H. Yan (Spitzer Science Center, Caltech)

NASA's Great Observatories Provide a Detailed View of Kepler's Supernova Remnant: NASA's three Great Observatories - the Hubble Space Telescope, the Spitzer Space Telescope, and the Chandra X-ray Observatory - joined forces to probe the expanding remains of a supernova, called Kepler's supernova remnant, first seen 400 years ago by sky watchers, including famous astronomer Johannes Kepler. The combined image unveils a bubble-shaped shroud of gas and dust that is 14 light-years wide and is expanding at 4 million miles per hour (2,000 kilometers per second). Observations from each telescope highlight distinct features of the supernova remnant, a fast-moving shell of iron-rich material from the exploded star, surrounded by an expanding shock wave that is sweeping up interstellar gas and dust.

Name: Kepler's SN
Type: Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Supernova Remnant
Category: Nebulae
Constellation: Ophiuchus
Distance: 13000 light years
Release date: 6 October 2004, 18:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, R. Sankrit and W. Blair (Johns Hopkins University)

Chandra X-ray Observatory Data of Kepler's Supernova Remnant: This image shows the remains of Kepler's Supernova, the most recent exploding star to be seen in the Milky Way Galaxy. It was first observed 400 years ago when it was thought to be 'a new star'. In fact, it was the the gas and dust from an exploding star, rapidly expanding. These remnants have now reached a diameter of 14 light years wide and are still expanding at 4 million miles per hour. This image was taken by the Chandra X-ray Observatory and shows the regions of the remains with the hottest gas and highest energy particles.

Name: Kepler's supernova remnant
Type: Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Supernova Remnant
Category: Nebulae
Constellation: Ophiuchus
Distance: 13000 light years
Release date: 6 October 2004, 18:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, R. Sankrit and W. Blair (Johns Hopkins University)

Chandra X-ray Observatory Data of Kepler's Supernova Remnant: This image shows the remains of Kepler's Supernova, the most recent exploding star to be seen in the Milky Way Galaxy. It was first observed 400 years ago when it was thought to be 'a new star'. In fact, it was the the gas and dust from an exploding star, rapidly expanding. These remnants have now reached a diameter of 14 light years wide and are still expanding at 4 million miles per hour. This image was taken by the Chandra X-ray Observatory and shows the cooler X-ray gas which resides in a thick interior shell and marks the location of heated material expelled from the exploded star.

Name: Kepler's SN
Type: Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Supernova Remnant
Category: Nebulae
Constellation: Ophiuchus
Distance: 13000 light years
Release date: 6 October 2004, 18:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, R. Sankrit and W. Blair (Johns Hopkins University)

Hubble Space Telescope Visible-Light Data of Kepler's Supernova Remnant: Supernovae are extremely luminous and cause a burst of radiation that often briefly outshines an entire galaxy, before fading from view over several weeks or months. During this short interval a supernova can radiate as much energy as the Sun is expected to emit over its entire life span.

Name: Kepler's SN
Type: Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Supernova Remnant
Category: Nebulae
Constellation: Ophiuchus
Distance: 13000 light years
Release date: 6 October 2004, 18:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, R. Sankrit and W. Blair (Johns Hopkins University)

Spitzer Space Telescope Infrared Data of Kepler's Supernova Remnant: Kepler's Supernova remnant, as seen by the Infrared Spitzer Space Telescope.

Name: Kepler's SN
Type: Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Supernova Remnant
Category: Nebulae
Constellation: Ophiuchus
Distance: 13000 light years
Release date: 6 October 2004, 18:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, R. Sankrit and W. Blair (Johns Hopkins University)

Chandra X-ray Observatory: Kepler's Supernova Remnant (X-ray data): This image shows the remains of Kepler's Supernova, the most recent exploding star to be seen in the Milky Way Galaxy. It was first observed 400 years ago when it was thought to be 'a new star'. In fact, it was the the gas and dust from an exploding star, rapidly expanding. These remnants have now reached a diameter of 14 light years wide and are still expanding at 4 million miles per hour. This image was taken by the Chandra X-ray Observatory.

Name: Kepler's SN
Type: Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Supernova Remnant
Category: Nebulae
Constellation: Ophiuchus
Distance: 13000 light years
Release date: 6 October 2004, 18:00
Credit: NASA, CXC and S. Holt (F.W. Olin College of Engineering)

Hubble Space Telescope: Kepler's Supernova Remnant (visible-light data): As the shock ploughs into material lost from the progenitor star after the initial supernova explosion, instabilities left in its wake cause the swept-up gas to fragment into clumps. The Hubble data also show thin filaments of gas. These filaments reveal where the shock wave is encountering lower-density, more uniform interstellar material.

Name: Kepler's SN
Type: Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Supernova Remnant
Category: Nebulae
Constellation: Ophiuchus
Distance: 13000 light years
Release date: 6 October 2004, 18:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, R. Sankrit and W. Blair (Johns Hopkins University)