Makemake and its moon (annotated): This Hubble Space Telescope image reveals the first moon ever discovered around the dwarf planet Makemake. The tiny moon, located just above Makemake in this image, is barely visible because it is almost lost in the glare of the very bright dwarf planet. The moon, nicknamed MK 2, is roughly 160 kilometres wide and orbits about 21,000 kilometres from Makemake. Makemake is 1,300 times brighter than its moon and is also much larger, at 2,200 kilometres across. The Makemake system is more than 50 times farther than the Earth is from the Sun. The pair resides on the outskirts of our Solar System in the Kuiper Belt, a vast region of frozen debris from the construction of our Solar System 4.5 billion years ago. Previous searches for a moon around Makemake turned up empty. The moon may be in an edge-on orbit, so part of the time it gets lost in the bright glare of Makemake. Hubble's sharp-eyed Wide Field Camera 3 made the observation in April 2015.

Type: Unspecified : Interplanetary Body : Dwarf planet
Category: Miscellaneous
Release date: 27 April 2016, 11:42
Credit: NASA, ESA, and A. Parker and M. Buie (Southwest Research Institute)

Makemake and Its Moon (Artist's Concept): This artist's concept shows the distant dwarf planet Makemake and its newly discovered moon. Makemake and its moon, nicknamed MK 2, are more than 50 times farther away than Earth is from the Sun. The pair resides in the Kuiper Belt, a vast reservoir of frozen material from the construction of our Solar System 4.5 billion years ago. Makemake is covered in bright frozen methane that is tinted red by the presence of complex organic material. Its moon is too small to retain ices as volatile as methane, even given the feeble heating by the very distant Sun, and likely has a much darker surface. MK 2 is orbiting 21,000 kilometres from the dwarf planet, and its estimated diameter is roughly 160 kilometres across. Makemake itself is 2200 kilometres across. NASA Press releaseMakemake and its moon (annotated)Makemake and Its Moon

Name: Makemake
Type: Unspecified : Interplanetary Body : Dwarf planet
Category: IllustrationsSolar System
Release date: 27 April 2016, 11:43
Credit: NASA, ESA, and A. Parker and M. Buie (Southwest Research Institute)

Hot Jupiter with Hidden Water - Artist's Impression: Hot Jupiters, exoplanets around the same size as Jupiter that orbit very closely to their stars, often have cloud or haze layers in their atmospheres. This may prevent space telescopes from detecting atmospheric water that lies beneath the clouds, according to a study in the Astrophysical Journal. As much as half of the water in the atmospheres of these exoplanets may be blocked by these clouds or hazes, the research suggests. The study, led by researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, examined hot Jupiters that had been observed with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. NASA Press release

Type: Milky Way : Planet : Feature : Atmosphere : Cloud
Category: Exoplanets
Release date: 10 June 2016, 14:30
Credit: ESA / NASA and JPL-Caltech

Dwarf galaxies in Pisces: The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured the glow of new stars in these small, ancient galaxies. Pisces A is on the left and Pisces B is on the right. Astronomers estimate that less than 100 million years ago both galaxies doubled their star-formation rate. An analysis of the stars' colours reveals that the galaxies contain about 20 to 30 bright blue stars. The blue colour is a sign they are young, less than 100 million years old. Each galaxy contains about 10 million stars. In the image of Pisces A, at left, the bright object at the top of the image is a distant background galaxy. Other distant background galaxies are visible as bright dots. In the image of Pisces B, at right, the bright object with the diffraction spikes below left of centre is a foreground star in our Milky Way galaxy. Several distant background galaxies are also visible. Hubble observations suggest that Pisces A and Pisces B should have produced the bulk of their stars long ago. But the puny galaxies dwelled for billions of years in the Local Void, a region of the Universe sparsely populated with galaxies. Now the galaxies have moved into a region packed with galaxies and intergalactic gas. This dense environment is triggering star birth. Pisces A is roughly 19 million light-years away and Pisces B about 30 million light-years away. The image of Pisces A was taken on 30 October, 2014, by Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys. The image of Pisces B was taken on 8 November, 2014, by Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys. The science team consists of Erik J. Tollerud, Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), Baltimore, Maryland; Marla C. Geha, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut; Jana Grcevich, American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York; Mary E. Putman, Columbia University, New York, New York; Daniel R. Weisz, University of Washington, Seattle; and Andrew E. Dolphin, Raytheon Co., Tucson, Arizona.

Name: Pisces
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : IrregularLocal Universe : Galaxy : Size : Dwarf
Category: Galaxies
Release date: 12 August 2016, 12:49
Credit: NASA, ESA, and E. Tollerud (STScI)

Dwarf galaxy Pisces A: This image shows the galaxy Pisces A. The bright object at the top of the image is a distant background galaxy. Other distant background galaxies are visible as bright dots. Pisces A is roughly 19 million light-years away.

Name: Pisces A, [SCB2015] GALFA-Dw1
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : IrregularLocal Universe : Galaxy : Size : Dwarf
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Pisces
Distance: 2 million light years
Release date: 12 August 2016, 12:49
Credit: NASA, ESA, and E. Tollerud (STScI)

Dwarf galaxy Pisces B: This image shows the galaxy Pisces B. The bright object with the diffraction spikes below left of centre is a foreground star in our Milky Way galaxy. Several distant background galaxies are also visible. Pisces B is about 30 million light-years away.

Name: Pisces B, [SCB2015] GALFA-Dw2
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : IrregularLocal Universe : Galaxy : Size : Dwarf
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Pisces
Distance: 30 million light years
Release date: 12 August 2016, 12:49
Credit: NASA, ESA, and E. Tollerud (STScI)