Hubble Images Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy: This new image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows a small galaxy called the Sagittarius dwarf irregular galaxy, or "SagDIG" for short. SagDIG is relatively nearby, and Hubble's sharp vision is able to reveal many thousands of individual stars within the galaxy.

Name: SagDIG
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : IrregularLocal Universe : Galaxy : Size : Dwarf
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Sagittarius
Distance: 4 million light years
Release date: 11 November 2004, 15:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team STScI/AURA )

Helix Nebula: HST/CTIO Image: Looks can be deceiving, especially when it comes to celestial objects like galaxies and nebulas. These objects are so far away that astronomers cannot see their three-dimensional structure. The Helix Nebula, for example, resembles a doughnut in colorful images. Earlier images of this complex object, the gaseous envelope ejected by a dying, sun-like star did not allow astronomers to precisely interpret its structure. One possible interpretation was that the Helix's form resembled a snake-like coil. Observations from several observatories, including NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, established that the Helix's structure is even more perplexing. Their evidence suggests that the Helix consists of two gaseous disks nearly perpendicular to each other.

Name: Helix Nebula, IRAS 22267-2102, NGC 7293
Type: Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Planetary
Category: Nebulae
Constellation: Aquarius
Distance: 700 light years
Release date: 16 December 2004, 16:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, C.R. O'Dell (Vanderbilt University), and M. Meixner, P. McCullough, and G. Bacon ( Space Telescope Science Institute )

Helix Nebula model (artist's impression): Looks can be deceiving, especially when it comes to celestial objects like galaxies and nebulas. These objects are so far away that astronomers cannot see their three-dimensional structure.

Name: Helix Nebula, IRAS 22267-2102, NGC 7293
Type: Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Planetary
Category: Nebulae
Distance: 700 light years
Release date: 16 December 2004, 16:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, C.R. O'Dell (Vanderbilt University), and M. Meixner, P. McCullough, and G. Bacon ( Space Telescope Science Institute)

A new view of the Helix Nebula: This composite image is a view of the colorful Helix Nebula taken with the Advanced Camera for Surveys aboard NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and the Mosaic II Camera on the 4-meter telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. The object is so large that both telescopes were needed to capture a complete view. The Helix is a planetary nebula, the glowing gaseous envelope expelled by a dying, sun-like star. The Helix resembles a simple doughnut as seen from Earth. But looks can be deceiving. New evidence suggests that the Helix consists of two gaseous disks nearly perpendicular to each other.

Name: Helix Nebula, NGC 7293
Type: Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Planetary
Category: Nebulae
Constellation: Aquarius
Distance: 700 light years
Release date: 16 December 2004, 16:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, C.R. O'Dell (Vanderbilt University), and M. Meixner, P. McCullough, and G. Bacon ( Space Telescope Science Institute)

Helix Nebula with annotated features: Looks can be deceiving, especially when it comes to celestial objects like galaxies and nebulas. These objects are so far away that astronomers cannot see their three-dimensional structure. The Helix Nebula, for example, resembles a doughnut in colorful images.

Name: Helix Nebula, IRAS 22267-2102, NGC 7293
Type: Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Planetary
Category: Nebulae
Distance: 700 light years
Release date: 16 December 2004, 16:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, C.R. O'Dell (Vanderbilt University), and M. Meixner, P. McCullough, and G. Bacon ( Space Telescope Science Institute)

I Zwicky 18: A Baby Galaxy in a Grown-Up Universe: NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope snapped a view of what may be the youngest galaxy ever seen. This "late bloomer" may not have begun active star formation until about 13 billion years after the Big Bang. Called I Zwicky 18 [below, left], the galaxy may be as young as 500 million years old. This youngster has gone though several sudden bursts of star formation - the first only some 500 million years ago and the latest only 4 million years ago. This galaxy is typical of the kinds of galaxies that inhabited the early universe. The galaxy is classified as a dwarf irregular galaxy and is much smaller than our Milky Way.

Name: I Zw 18
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : IrregularLocal Universe : Galaxy : Size : Dwarf
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Ursa Major
Distance: 60 million light years
Release date: 1 December 2004, 06:01
Credit: NASA, ESA, Y. Izotov (Main Astronomical Observatory, Kyiv, UA) and T. Thuan (University of Virginia)

A poster-size image of the beautiful barred spiral galaxy NGC 1300: One of the largest Hubble Space Telescope images ever made of a complete galaxy is being unveiled today at the American Astronomical Society meeting in San Diego, Calif. The Hubble telescope captured a display of starlight, glowing gas, and silhouetted dark clouds of interstellar dust in this 4-foot-by-8-foot image of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1300. NGC 1300 is considered to be prototypical of barred spiral galaxies. Barred spirals differ from normal spiral galaxies in that the arms of the galaxy do not spiral all the way into the center, but are connected to the two ends of a straight bar of stars containing the nucleus at its center.

Name: NGC 1300
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : SpiralLocal Universe : Galaxy : Type : Barred
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Eridanus
Distance: 60 million light years
Release date: 11 January 2005, 01:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

Artist's Concept of the Arches Cluster: This artist's impression shows how the Arches star cluster appears from deep inside the hub of our Milky Way Galaxy. Although hidden from our direct view, the massive cluster lies 25,000 light-years away and is the densest known gathering of young stars in our galaxy. The illustration is based on infrared observations with Hubble and with ground-based telescopes, which pierced our galaxy's dusty core and snapped images of the luminous cluster of about 2,000 stars.

Name: Arches Star Cluster
Type: Milky Way : Star : Grouping : Cluster : Globular
Category: Star Clusters
Distance: 25000 light years
Release date: 9 March 2005, 20:00
Credit: NASA, ESA and A. Schaller (for STScI )

Arches Cluster: Keck I 10m (1996): This picture was taken in 1996 using the 10 metre Keck telescope at Hawaii. It  presents the Arches Cluster, the densest  known star cluster in the Milky Way. The cluster is located about 25 000  light years from Earth in the constellation of Sagattrius. The radius  of the cluster is only about one light year, but it contains about 150  stars, all of which are larger and more massive than the Sun.

Name: Arches Star Cluster
Type: Milky Way : Star : Grouping : Cluster
Category: Star Clusters
Constellation: Sagittarius
Distance: 25000 light years
Release date: 9 March 2005, 20:00
Credit: G. Serabyn (JPL), D. Shupe (Caltech) and D. Figer (STScI)

Arches Cluster: Hubble/NICMOS (1997): This ESO/NASA Hubble Space Telescope picture presents the Arches Cluster, the densest known star cluster in the Milky Way. It is located about 25 000 light years from Earth in the constellation of Sagittarius. The radius of the cluster is only about one light year, but it contains about 150 stars, all of which are larger and more massive than the Sun.

Name: Arches Star Cluster
Type: Milky Way : Star : Grouping : Cluster
Category: Star Clusters
Constellation: Sagittarius
Distance: 25000 light years
Release date: 9 March 2005, 20:00
Credit: NASA, ESA and D. Figer (STScI)