Ground-based Image of Globular Cluster NGC 6397: Ground-based Image of Globular Cluster NGC 6397

Name: NGC 6397
Type: Milky Way : Star : Grouping : Cluster : Globular
Category: Star Clusters
Constellation: Ara
Distance: 9000 light years
Release date: 11 February 2021, 16:00
Credit: D. Verschatse (Antilhue Observatory, Chile)

Hubble Space Telescope Image of Globular Cluster NGC 6397: Hubble Space Telescope Image of Globular Cluster NGC 6397

Name: NGC 6397
Type: Milky Way : Star : Grouping : Cluster : Globular
Category: Star Clusters
Constellation: Ara
Distance: 9000 light years
Release date: 4 December 2007, 16:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, and H. Richer (University of British Columbia)

White Dwarfs in NGC 6397 (Hubble): White Dwarfs in NGC 6397 (Hubble)

Name: NGC 6397
Type: Milky Way : Star : Evolutionary Stage : White DwarfMilky Way : Star : Grouping : Cluster : Globular
Category: Star Clusters
Distance: 9000 light years
Release date: 4 December 2007, 16:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, and H. Richer (University of British Columbia)

Hubble Catches a Dusty Moth: These near-infrared images, taken with the Near-Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) aboard NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, show the wing- shaped dust disk surrounding the young, nearby star HD 61005. Astronomers have dubbed the star system "The Moth" because the dust disk resembles the wings of the flying insect.

Name: HD 61005
Type: Milky Way : Star : Circumstellar Material : Disk
Category: Stars
Distance: 110 light years
Release date: 10 January 2008, 17:30
Credit: NASA, D. Hines (Space Science Institute, New Mexico Office in Corrales, New Mexico), and G. Schneider (University of Arizona)

Too Fast, Too Furious: A Galaxy's Fatal Plunge: Circumstellar Disk HD 61005

Name: HD 61005
Type: Milky Way : Star : Circumstellar Material : Disk
Category: Stars
Distance: 110 light years
Release date: 10 January 2008, 17:30
Credit: NASA, D. Hines (Space Science Institute, New Mexico Office in Corrales, New Mexico), and G. Schneider (University of Arizona)

Planetary Nebula NGC 2371: Probing a glowing bubble of gas and dust encircling a dying star, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope reveals a wealth of previously unseen structures. The object, called NGC 2371, is a planetary nebula, the glowing remains of a Sun-like star. The remnant star visible at the centre of NGC 2371 is the super-hot core of the former red giant, now stripped of its outer layers. Its surface temperature is a scorching 240,000 degrees Fahrenheit. NGC 2371 lies about 4,300 light-years away in the constellation Gemini. The Hubble image reveals several remarkable features, most notably the prominent pink clouds lying on opposite sides of the central star. This colour indicates that they are relatively cool and dense, compared to the rest of the gas in the nebula. Also striking are the numerous, very small pink dots, marking relatively dense and small knots of gas, which also lie on diametrically opposite sides of the star. These features appear to represent the ejection of gas from the star along a specific direction. The jet's direction has changed with time over the past few thousand years. The reason for this behavior is not well understood, but might be related to the possible presence of a second star orbiting the visible central star. A planetary nebula is an expanding cloud of gas ejected from a star that is nearing the end of its life. The nebula glows because of ultraviolet radiation from the hot remnant star at its centre. In only a few thousand years the nebula will dissipate into space. The central star will then gradually cool down, eventually becoming a white dwarf, the final stage of evolution for nearly all stars. The Hubble picture of NGC 2371 is a false-color image, prepared from exposures taken through filters that detect light from sulfur and nitrogen (red), hydrogen (green), and oxygen (blue). These images were taken with Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 in November 2007, as part of the Hubble Heritage program.

Name: NGC 2371
Type: Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Planetary
Category: Nebulae
Constellation: Gemini
Distance: 4500 light years
Release date: 4 March 2008, 15:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

Hubble sees stars and a stripe in celestial fireworks: These columns that resemble stalagmites protruding from the floor of a cavern columns are in fact cool interstellar hydrogen gas and dust that act as incubators for new stars. Inside them and on their surface astronomers have found knots or globules of denser gas. These are called EGGs (acronym for "Evaporating Gaseous Globules"). Inside at least some of the EGGs stars being formed. A delicate ribbon of gas floats eerily in our galaxy. A contrail from an alien spaceship? A jet from a black hole? Actually this image, taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, is a very thin section of a supernova remnant caused by a stellar explosion that occurred more than 1,000 years ago. On or around 1 May 1006 A.D., observers from Africa to Europe to the Far East witnessed and recorded the arrival of light from what is now called SN 1006, a tremendous supernova explosion caused by the final death throes of a white dwarf star nearly 7,000 light-years away. The supernova was probably the brightest star ever seen by humans, and surpassed Venus as the brightest object in the night time sky, only to be surpassed by the Moon. It was visible even during the day for weeks, and remained visible to the naked eye for at least two and a half years before fading away. SN 1006 resides within our Milky Way Galaxy. Located more than 14 degrees off the plane of the galaxy's disk, there is relatively little confusion with other foreground and background objects in the field when trying to study this object. In the Hubble image, many background galaxies (orange extended objects) far off in the distant universe can be seen dotting the image. Most of the white dots are foreground or background stars in our Milky Way galaxy. This image is a composite of hydrogen-light observations taken with Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys in February 2006 and Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 observations in blue, yellow-green, and near-infrared light taken in April 2008. The supernova remnant, visible only in the hydrogen-light filter was assigned a red hue in the Heritage colour image.

Name: SN 1006
Type: Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Supernova Remnant
Category: Nebulae
Constellation: Centaurus
Distance: 5000 light years
Release date: 1 July 2008, 15:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)Acknowledgment: W. Blair (Johns Hopkins University)