Colliding gas in the Helix Nebula: This colourful image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows the collision of two gases near a dying star. Astronomers have dubbed the tadpole-like objects in the upper right-hand corner 'cometary knots' because their glowing heads and gossamer tails resemble comets. This colorful image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows the collision of two gases near a dying star. Astronomers have dubbed the tadpole-like objects in the upper right-hand corner 'cometary knots' because their glowing heads and gossamer tails resemble comets.

Name: Helix Nebula, NGC 7293
Type: Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Planetary
Category: Nebulae
Constellation: Aquarius
Distance: 2500 light years
Release date: 15 April 1996, 06:00
Credit: Robert O'Dell, Kerry P. Handron (Rice University, Houston, Texas) and NASA/ESA

Edge-On View of Saturn's Rings: This is a Hubble Space Telescope snapshot of Saturn with its rings barely visible. Normally, astronomers see Saturn with its rings tilted. Earth was almost in the plane of Saturn's rings, thus the rings appear edge-on.

Name: Enceladus, Janus, Mimas, Pandora, Prometheus, Saturn, Tethys, Titan
Type: Solar System : PlanetSolar System : Planet : SatelliteSolar System : Planet : Ring
Category: Solar System
Release date: 24 April 1996, 06:00
Credit: Erich Karkoschka (University of Arizona Lunar & Planetary Lab)and NASA/ESA

Edge-On View of Saturn's Rings: This photograph shows Saturn with its rings slightly tilted. The moon called Dione, on the lower right, is casting a long, thin shadow across the whole ring system due to the setting Sun on the ring plane. The moon on the upper left of Saturn is Tethys.

Name: Dione, Saturn, Tethys
Type: Solar System : PlanetSolar System : Planet : SatelliteSolar System : Planet : Ring
Category: Solar System
Release date: 24 April 1996, 06:00
Credit: Erich Karkoschka (University of Arizona Lunar & Planetary Lab)and NASA/ESA

Moons around Saturn: This series of 10 Hubble Space Telescope images captures several small moons orbiting Saturn. Hubble snapped the five pairs of images while the Earth was just above the ring plane and the Sun below it. The telescope captured a pair of images every 97 minutes as it circled the Earth. Moving out from Saturn, the visible rings are: the broad C Ring, the Cassini Division, and the narrow F Ring. For detailed descriptions of each frame please click the Caption link below.

Name: Dione, Epimetheus, Mimas, Pandora, Prometheus, Rhea, Saturn
Type: Solar System : Planet : Type : Gas GiantSolar System : Planet : SatelliteSolar System : Planet : Ring
Category: Solar System
Release date: 26 April 1996, 06:00
Credit: Phil Nicholson (Cornell University) and NASA/ESA

Galaxy NGC 1365: This colour image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows a region in NGC 1365, a barred spiral galaxy located in a cluster of galaxies called Fornax.

Name: NGC 1365
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Spiral
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Fornax
Distance: 60 million light years
Release date: 9 May 1996, 19:00
Credit: W. Freedman (Carnegie Observatories), the Hubble Space Telescope Key Project team, and NASA/ESA

Galaxy NGC 1365: This black and white photograph from a ground-based telescope shows the entire galaxy, which is visible from the Southern Hemisphere.

Name: IRAS 03317-3618, NGC 1365
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Spiral
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Fornax
Release date: 9 May 1996, 19:00
Credit: W. Freedman (Carnegie Observatories), the Hubble Space Telescope Key Project team, and NASA/ESA

Distance Measurements to a Type-Ia Supernova-Bearing Galaxy: This Hubble Space Telescope image shows NGC 4639, a spiral galaxy located 78 million light-years away in the Virgo cluster of galaxies. The blue dots in the galaxy's outlying regions indicate the presence of young stars. Among them are young, bright stars called Cepheids, which are used as reliable milepost markers to obtain accurate distances to nearby galaxies.

Name: IRAS 12403+1331, NGC 4639, Virgo Cluster
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Spiral
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Virgo
Distance: 75 million light years
Release date: 9 May 1996, 19:00
Credit: Credit: A. Sandage (Carnegie Observatories), A. Saha (Space Telescope Science Institute), G.A. Tammann, and L. Labhardt (Astronomical Institute, University of Basel), F.D. Macchetto and N. Panagia (Space Telescope Science Institute and European Space Agency) and NASA

The Crab Nebula: This picture shows a Hubble Space Telescope image of the inner parts of the Crab. The pulsar itself is visible as the left of the pair of stars near the centre of the frame.

Name: Crab Nebula, Messier 1
Type: Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Supernova Remnant
Category: Nebulae
Constellation: Taurus
Distance: 6000 light years
Release date: 30 May 1996, 20:00
Credit: Jeff Hester and Paul Scowen (Arizona State University), and NASA/ESA

The Crab Nebula: This colorful photo shows a ground-based image of the entire Crab Nebula, the remnant of a supernova explosion witnessed over 900 years ago. The nebula, which is 10 light-years across, is located 7, 000 light-years away in the constellation Taurus. The green, yellow and red filaments concentrated toward the edges of the nebula are remnants of the star that were ejected into space by the explosion.

Name: Crab Nebula, IRAS 05314+2200, M 1, Messier 1, NGC 1952
Type: Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Supernova Remnant
Category: Nebulae
Constellation: Taurus
Distance: 6500 light years
Release date: 30 May 1996, 20:00
Credit: Jeff Hester and Paul Scowen (Arizona State University), and NASA/ESA

Changes in the Inner Crab Nebula: Scientists are learning more about how pulsars work by studying a series of Hubble Space Telescope images of the heart of the Crab Nebula. The images, taken over a period of several months, show that the Crab is a far more dynamic object than previously understood.

Name: Crab Nebula, Crab Pulsar, Messier 1
Type: Milky Way : Star : Evolutionary Stage : Neutron Star : PulsarMilky Way : Nebula : Type : Supernova Remnant
Category: Nebulae
Constellation: Taurus
Distance: 6000 light years
Release date: 30 May 1996, 20:00
Credit: Jeff Hester and Paul Scowen (Arizona State University), and NASA/ESA

Changes in the Inner Crab Pulsar: Scientists are learning more about how pulsars work by studying a series of Hubble Space Telescope images of the heart of the Crab Nebula. The images, taken over a period of several months, show that the Crab is a far more dynamic object than previously understood.

Name: Crab Nebula, Crab Pulsar, Messier 1
Type: Milky Way : Star : Evolutionary Stage : Neutron Star : PulsarMilky Way : Nebula : Type : Supernova Remnant
Category: Nebulae
Constellation: Taurus
Distance: 6000 light years
Release date: 30 May 1996, 20:00
Credit: Jeff Hester and Paul Scowen (Arizona State University), and NASA/ESA

Changes in the Inner Crab Pulsar: Scientists are learning more about how pulsars work by studying a series of Hubble Space Telescope images of the heart of the Crab Nebula. The images, taken over a period of several months, show that the Crab is a far more dynamic object than previously understood.

Name: Crab Nebula, Crab Pulsar, Messier 1
Type: Milky Way : Star : Evolutionary Stage : Neutron Star : PulsarMilky Way : Nebula : Type : Supernova Remnant
Category: Nebulae
Constellation: Taurus
Distance: 6000 light years
Release date: 30 May 1996, 20:00
Credit: Jeff Hester and Paul Scowen (Arizona State University), and NASA/ESA