X-ray Image of Galaxy Cluster MS 0735: This image of galaxy cluster MS 0735.6+7421 was taken by the Chandra X-ray Observatory in November 2003. Diffuse, hot gas with a temperature of nearly 50 million degrees permeates the space between the galaxies in the cluster. The gas emits X-rays, which are seen as blue in this image. Enormous holes or cavities in the gas, each roughly 640,000 light-years in diameter - nearly seven times the diameter of the Milky Way are seen in the image. The cavities were created by jets of charged particles ejected at nearly light speed from a supermassive black hole weighing nearly a billion times the mass of our Sun, which lurks in the nucleus of the bright central galaxy.

Name: MS 0735.6+742
Type: Early Universe : Galaxy : Grouping : Cluster
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Camelopardalis
Distance: z=0.216 (redshift)
Release date: 2 November 2006, 19:00
Credit: NASA/CXC, B. McNamara (University of Waterloo and Ohio University)

Visible-Light Image of Galaxy Cluster MS 0735: This image of galaxy cluster MS 0735.6+7421 was taken with NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope in February 2006. The Advanced Camera for Surveys image shows dozens of galaxies bound together by gravity. Diffuse, hot gas with a temperature of nearly 50 million degrees permeates the space between the galaxies. A supermassive black hole weighing nearly a billion times the mass of our Sun lurks in the nucleus of the bright central galaxy.

Name: MS 0735.6+742
Type: Early Universe : Galaxy : Grouping : Cluster
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Camelopardalis
Distance: z=0.216 (redshift)
Release date: 2 November 2006, 19:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, and B. McNamara (University of Waterloo and Ohio University)

Radio Image of Galaxy Cluster MS 0735: This radio image of galaxy cluster MS 0735.6+7421 was taken by NRAO's Very Large Array (VLA) in October 2004. The radio image shows jets of high energy particles ejected from a supermassive black hole, which is buried in the middle of the large central galaxy. The jets created the enormous cavities visible in the Chandra image taken in November 2003.

Name: MS 0735.6+742
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Grouping : Cluster
Category: Galaxies
Distance: z=0.216 (redshift)
Release date: 2 November 2006, 19:00
Credit: NRAO/VLA, and L. Birzan and team (Ohio University)

Host galaxies of distant Supernovae: These snapshots, taken by NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, reveal five supernovae, or exploding stars, and their host galaxies. The arrows in the top row of images point to the supernovae. The bottom row shows the host galaxies before or after the stars exploded. The supernovae exploded between 3.5 and 10 billion years ago. Astronomers used the supernovae to measure the expansion rate of the universe and determine how the expansion rate is affected by the repulsive push of dark energy, a mysterious energy force that pervades space. Supernovae provide reliable measurements because their intrinsic brightness is well understood. They are therefore reliable distance markers, allowing astronomers to determine how far away they are from Earth. Pinpointing supernovae in the faraway universe is similar to watching fireflies in your back yard. All fireflies glow with about the same brightness. So, you can judge how the fireflies are distributed in your back yard by noting their comparative faintness or brightness, depending on their distance from you. Only Hubble can measure these supernovae because they are too distant, and therefore too faint, to be studied by the largest ground-based telescopes. These Hubble observations show for the first time that dark energy has been a present force for most of the universe's history. A spectral analysis also shows that the supernovae used to measure the universe's expansion rate today look remarkably similar to those that exploded nine billion years ago and are just now seen by Hubble. These latest results are based on an analysis of the 24 most distant known supernovae, most of them discovered within the last three years by the Higher-z SN Search Team. The images were taken between 2003 and 2005 with Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys.

Name: Supernovae
Type: Early Universe : Star : Evolutionary Stage : Supernova
Category: GalaxiesMiscellaneous
Release date: 16 November 2006, 19:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, and A. Riess (STScI)

39 distant Supernovae: 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: Supernovae
Type: Early Universe : Star : Evolutionary Stage : Supernova
Category: GalaxiesMiscellaneous
Release date: 16 November 2006, 19:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, and A. Riess (STScI)

Massive Star VY Canis Majoris - Visible Light: Using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and the W.M. Keck Observatory, Kameula, Hawaii, astronomers have learned that the gaseous outflow from one of the brightest super-sized stars in the sky is more complex than originally thought. The outbursts are from VY Canis Majoris, a red supergiant star that is also classified as a hypergiant because of its very high luminosity. The eruptions have formed loops, arcs, and knots of material moving at various speeds and in many different directions. The star has had many outbursts over the past 1,000 years as it nears the end of its life.

Name: HD 58061, HIP 35793, VY Canis Majoris
Type: Milky Way : Star : Evolutionary Stage : Red Supergiant
Category: Stars
Constellation: Canis Major
Distance: 3500 light years
Release date: 8 January 2007, 18:20
Credit: NASA/ESA and R. Humphreys (University of Minnesota)

Massive star VY Canis Majoris - polarized light: VY Canis Majoris is one of the largest known stars in the Universe in respect of size. The diameter of this red hypergiant is about 1400 times larger than the Sun. Because of its size it is devouring itselve,   consuming its fuel at fantastic rates. This star releases as   much energy in the amount of seconds as our Sun does in an entire year. Because red hypergiants are so active, their lifetimes are measured only in   millions of years which is a blink of an eye compared to the lifetime of the Sun, which is measured in billions of years. At the end of their lifes they explode in hypernovas; these outbursts contain more energy than 100 supernovae.

Name: VY Canis Majoris
Type: Local Universe : Star : Evolutionary Stage : Red Supergiant
Category: Stars
Constellation: Canis Major
Distance: 3500 light years
Release date: 8 January 2007, 18:20
Credit: NASA/ESA and R. Humphreys (University of Minnesota)