A Gallery of 'Tadpole Galaxies': These postage-stamp-size images reveal 36 young galaxies caught in the act of merging with other galaxies. These galaxies appear as they existed many billions of years ago. Astronomers have dubbed them "tadpole galaxies" because of their distinct knot-and-tail shapes, which suggest that they are engaging in galactic mergers.

Name: Hubble Ultra Deep Field, Tadpole Galaxy
Type: Early Universe : GalaxyEarly Universe : Cosmology : Morphology : Deep Field
Category: CosmologyGalaxies
Release date: 10 January 2006, 16:30
Credit: NASA, A. Straughn, S. Cohen, and R. Windhorst (Arizona State University), and the HUDF team ( Space Telescope Science Institute )

Hubble snaps images of a pinwheel-shaped galaxy: This dramatic spiral galaxy is one of the latest viewed by NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Stunning details of the face-on spiral galaxy, cataloged as NGC 1309, are captured in this colour image. NGC 1309 was home to supernova SN 2002fk, whose light reached Earth in September 2002. NGC 1309 resides 100 million light-years (30 Megaparsecs) from Earth. It is one of about 200 galaxies that make up the Eridanus group of galaxies.

Name: NGC 1309
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Spiral
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Eridanus
Distance: 100 million light years
Release date: 7 February 2006, 15:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, The Hubble Heritage Team, (STScI/AURA) and A. Riess (STScI)

Full ACS field of NGC 1309: This image of NGC 1309 extends out to the physical edge of the ACS field. The image was taken in 2005. NGC 1309 is 100 million light-years (30 Megaparsecs) distant.

Name: NGC 1309
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Spiral
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Eridanus
Distance: 100 million light years
Release date: 7 February 2006, 15:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, The Hubble Heritage Team, (STScI/AURA) and A. Riess (STScI )

Nearby dust clouds in the Milky Way: The yearly ritual of spring cleaning clears a house of dust as well as dust "bunnies", those pesky dust balls that frolic under beds and behind furniture. NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has photographed similar dense knots of dust and gas in our Milky Way Galaxy. This cosmic dust, however, is not a nuisance. It is a concentration of elements that are responsible for the formation of stars in our galaxy and throughout the universe. These opaque, dark knots of gas and dust are called Bok globules, and they are absorbing light in the center of the nearby emission nebula and star-forming region, NGC 281. The globules are named after astronomer Bart Bok, who proposed their existence in the 1940's.

Name: bok globules, NGC 281
Type: Milky Way : Nebula : Appearance : Dark : Bok Globule
Category: Nebulae
Constellation: Cassiopeia
Distance: 9000 light years
Release date: 4 April 2006, 15:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)Acknowledgment: P. McCullough (STScI)

Ground-Based Image of the Star-Forming Region NGC 281: This wide-field view of the star-forming region NGC 281 in the constellation Cassiopeia was taken with the WIYN 0.9-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory near Tucson, AZ.

Name: bok globules, NGC 281
Type: Milky Way : Nebula : Appearance : Dark : Bok Globule
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Cassiopeia
Distance: 9000 light years
Release date: 4 April 2006, 15:00
Credit: T.A. Rector/University of Alaska Anchorage and WIYN/AURA/NSF

Pluto System: March 2, 2006 (Blue Filter): This image (with filter applied) taken from the original black and white photo, and represents the range of brightness recorded by the ACS/HRC camera.

Name: Charon, Hydra, Nix, Pluto
Type: Solar System : Planet : SatelliteSolar System : Interplanetary Body : Dwarf planet
Category: Solar System
Release date: 10 March 2006, 15:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, H. Weaver (Johns Hopkins University/Applied Physics Lab), A. Stern (Southwest Research Institute), and the HST Pluto Companion Search Team