Edge-on galaxy hosts supernova explosion: The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has imaged an elongated stream of stars, gas and dust called IC 755, which is actually a spiral galaxy that we are seeing edge-on. In 1999 a star within IC 755 was seen to explode as a supernova and named SN 1999an. The supernova was discovered by the Beijing Astronomical Observatory Supernova Survey and three years later Hubble was used to study the environment in which the explosion took place. The inclination of the galaxy made the supernova a challenging target as many other intervening objects obscured the view. Valuable data were obtained and suggest that before detonation the star may have been around 20 times more massive than our Sun, and that it was likely to have been in the region of 14 million years old. Supernovae like SN 1999an are classified as Type IIs and they are dramatic events that mark the end of the lives of massive stars. They have an important role to play in galaxy evolution as many elements are formed during the explosion and are ejected with such force that they are distributed far and wide. Shockwaves also help to mix material within the host galaxy and may spark new rounds of star formation. Billions of stars make up galaxies like IC 755 and many will become supernovae, using their final moments to breathe new life into the rest of the Universe. This picture was created from multiple images taken with the Wide Field Camera of Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys. Exposures through a blue filter (F435W) are coloured blue, exposures through a yellow-green filter (F555W) are coloured green and images through a near-infrared filter (F814W) are shown as red. The total exposure times per filter are 430 s and the field of view is 3.3 x 1.5 arcminutes.

Name: IC 755, SN 1999an
Type: Local Universe : Star : Evolutionary Stage : SupernovaLocal Universe : Galaxy : Type : Spiral
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Coma Berenices
Distance: 70 million light years
Release date: 18 July 2011, 10:00
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA

Sunset glow in Orion: The magnificent reflection nebula NGC 2023 lies nearly 1500 light-years from Earth. It is located within the constellation of Orion (The Hunter), in a prestigious area of the sky close to the well-known Flame and Horsehead Nebulae. The entire structure of NGC 2023 is vast, at four light-years across. This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope picture just takes in the southern part, with the subtle shades of colour closely resembling those of a sunset on Earth. NGC 2023 surrounds a massive young B-type star. These stars are large, bright and blue-white in colour, and have a high surface temperature, being several times hotter than the Sun. The energy emitted from NGC2023’s B-type star illuminates the nebula, resulting in its high surface brightness: good news for astronomers who wish to study it. The star itself lies outside the field of view, at the upper left, and its brilliant light is scattered by Hubble’s optical system, creating the bright flare across the left side of the picture, which is not a real feature of the nebula. Stars are forming from the material comprising NGC 2023. This Hubble image captures the billowing waves of gas, 5000 times denser than the interstellar medium. The unusual greenish clumps are thought to be Herbig–Haro objects. These peculiar features of star-forming regions are created when gas ejected at hundreds of kilometres per second from newly formed stars impacts the surrounding material. These shockwaves cause the gas to glow and result in the strange shapes seen here. Herbig–Haro objects typically only last for a few thousand years, which is the blink of eye in astronomical terms. This picture was created from multiple images taken with the Wide Field Camera of Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys. Exposures through a blue filter (F475W) are coloured blue, exposures through a yellow filter (F625W) are coloured green and images through a near-infrared filter (F850LP) are shown as red. The total exposure times per filter are 800 s, 800 s and 1200 s, respectively, and the field of view spans 3.2 arcminutes.

Name: NGC 2023
Type: Milky Way : Nebula : Appearance : Reflection
Category: Nebulae
Constellation: Orion
Distance: 1500 light years
Release date: 25 July 2011, 10:00
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA

Enigmatic cluster targeted by Hubble: The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has used its powerful optics to separate the globular cluster NGC 6401 into its constituent stars. What was once only visible as a ghostly mist in the eyepieces of astronomical instruments has been transformed into a stunning stellar landscape. NGC 6401 can be found within the constellation of Ophiuchus (The Serpent Bearer). The globular cluster itself is relatively faint, so a telescope and some observational experience are required to see it. Globular clusters are very rich, and generally spherical, collections of stars, hence the name. They orbit the cores of galaxies, with the force of gravity also keeping the stars bound as a group. There are around 160 globular clusters associated with our Milky Way, of which NGC 6401 is one. These objects are very old, containing some of the most ancient stars known. However, there are many mysteries surrounding them, with the origin of globular clusters and their role within galaxy evolution not being completely understood. The famous astronomer William Herschel discovered this cluster in 1784 with his 47 cm telescope, but mistakenly believed it to be a bright nebula. Later his son, John Herschel, was to make the same error — evidently the technology of the day was insufficient to allow the individual stars to be resolved visually. NGC 6401 has confused more modern astronomers as well. In 1977 it was thought that a low-mass star in the cluster had been discovered venting its outer layers (known as a planetary nebula). However, a further study in 1990 concluded that the object is in fact a symbiotic star: a binary composed of a red giant and a small hot star such as a white dwarf, with surrounding nebulosity. It could be that the study in 1977 was simply a few thousand years ahead of its time, as symbiotic stars are thought to become a type of planetary nebula. This picture was created from images taken with the Wide Field Channel of Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys. Images through a yellow-orange filter (F606W, coloured blue) were combined with images taken in the near-infrared (F814W, coloured red). The total exposure times were 680 s and 580 s, respectively and the field of view is 3.3 x 1.5 arcminutes.

Name: NGC 6401
Type: Milky Way : Star : Grouping : Cluster : Globular
Category: Star Clusters
Constellation: Ophiuchus
Distance: 35000 light years
Release date: 1 August 2011, 10:00
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA