It came from outer space: Named after its discoverer, the French-Armenian astronomer Agop Terzan, this is the globular cluster Terzan 7 — a densely packed ball of stars bound together by gravity. It lies just over 75 000 light-years away from us on the other side of our galaxy, the Milky Way. It is a peculiar cluster, quite unlike others we observe, making it an intriguing object of study for astronomers. Evidence shows that Terzan 7 used to belong to a small galaxy called the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy, a mini-galaxy discovered in 1994. This galaxy is currently colliding with, and being absorbed by, the Milky Way, which is a monster in size when compared to this tiny one. It seems that this cluster has already been kidnapped from its former home and now is part of our own galaxy. Astronomers recently discovered that all the stars in Terzan 7 were born at around the same time, and are about eight billion years old. This is unusually young for such a cluster. The shared birthday is another uncommon property; a large number of globular clusters, both in the Milky Way and in other galaxies, seem to have at least two clearly differentiated generations of stars that were born at different times. Some explanations suggest that there is something different about clusters that form within dwarf galaxies, giving them a different composition. Others suggest that clusters like Terzan 7 only have enough material to form one batch of stars, or that perhaps its youthfulness has prevented it from yet forming another generation. A version of this image was entered into the Hubble's Hidden Treasures image processing competition by contestant Gilles Chapdelaine.

Name: Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy, Terzan 7
Type: Milky Way : Star : Grouping : Cluster : Globular
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Sagittarius
Distance: 10000 light years
Release date: 10 February 2014, 10:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, and A. Sarajedini (University of Florida) Acknowledgement: Gilles Chapdelaine

Starbursts versus monsters: The dominating figure in the middle of this new Hubble image is a galaxy known as MCG-03-04-014. It belongs to a class of galaxies called luminous infrared galaxies — galaxies that are incredibly bright in the infrared part of the spectrum. This galaxy's status as a luminous infrared galaxy makes it part of an interesting astronomical question: starbursts versus monsters, a debate over how these galaxies are powered. Why are they so luminous in the infrared? Is it due to a recent burst of star formation, or a fiercely powerful "monster" black hole lurking at their core — or a mix of the two? The answer is still unclear. This new image of MCG-03-04-014 shows bright sparks of star formation dotted throughout the galaxy, with murky dust lanes obscuring a bright central bulge. The galaxy seems to show evidence of disruption; at the top of the galaxy you can see bright wisps streaking into space, but the bottom is smooth and rounded. This asymmetrical appearance implies that another object is tugging at the galaxy and distorting its symmetry. A version of this image was entered into the Hubble's Hidden Treasures image processing competition by contestant Judy Schmidt.

Name: MCG-03-04-014
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : InteractingLocal Universe : Galaxy : Activity : Starburst
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Cetus
Release date: 17 February 2014, 10:00
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt

Cloaked in red: This stunning new Hubble image shows a small part of the Large Magellanic Cloud, one of the closest galaxies to our own. This collection of small baby stars, most weighing less than the Sun, form a young stellar cluster known as LH63. This cluster is still half-embedded in the cloud from which it was born, in a bright star-forming region known as the emission nebula LHA 120-N 51, or N51. This is just one of the hundreds of star-forming regions filled with young stars spread throughout the Large Magellanic Cloud. The burning red intensity of the nebulae at the bottom of the picture illuminates wisps of gas and dark dust, each spanning many light-years. Moving up and across, bright stars become visible as sparse specks of light, giving the impression of pin-pricks in a cosmic cloak. This patch of sky was the subject of observation by Hubble's WFPC2 camera. Looking for and at low-mass stars can help us to understand how stars behave when they are in the early stages of formation, and can give us an idea of how the Sun might have looked billions of years ago. A version of this image was submitted to the Hubble's Hidden Treasures image processing competition by contestant Luca Limatola.

Name: Large Magellanic Cloud, LH63, LHA 120-N 51
Type: Local Universe : Star : Grouping : Cluster : OpenLocal Universe : Nebula : Type : Star FormationLocal Universe : Galaxy : Type : Irregular
Category: GalaxiesStars
Constellation: Dorado
Distance: 150000 light years
Release date: 24 February 2014, 10:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, and D. Gouliermis (University of Heidelberg) Acknowledgement: Luca Limatola

Hubble views new supernova in Messier 82: Spiral galaxy Messier 82 has long been known for its remarkable starburst activity, caused by interactions with its near neighbour Messier 81, and has been the subject of intense study for many years. On 21 January 2014, astronomers at the University of London Observatory in London, UK, pointed their telescope at the galaxy and spied something peculiar… an intensely bright spot seemed to have suddenly appeared within the galaxy [1]. This bright spot is actually a new supernova known as SN 2014J — the closest supernova to Earth in recent decades! Since its discovery, SN 2014J has been confirmed as a type Ia supernova, making it the closest of its type to Earth in over 40 years (since SN 1972E) [2]. This new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image is set against a previous mosaic of Messier 82 from 2006 (heic0604a), and shows the supernova as an intensely bright spot towards the bottom right of the frame. Type Ia supernovae are even more exciting for astronomers, as they have particular properties that we can use to probe the distant Universe. They are used as standard candles to measure distances and help us understand the scale of the cosmos. Catching such a supernova so soon after its explosion is very unusual; this early discovery will enable astronomers to explore its evolution in great detail, and to potentially infer the properties of its progenitor star. Messier 82 is several times more luminous than our Milky Way. Because it is only 12 million light-years away, it is one of the brighter galaxies in the northern sky. It can be found in the constellation of Ursa Major (The Great Bear). The supernova is currently visible through a modest amateur telescope, so why not see if you can spot it from your back garden? The image shown here was taken on 31 January 2014 with Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3. This image is inset into a photo mosaic of the entire galaxy taken in 2006 with Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys. [1] The supernova was discovered at 19:20 GMT by a team of students — Ben Cooke, Tom Wright, Matthew Wilde and Guy Pollack — assisted by Dr Steve Fossey. The supernova is visible in pre-discovery images of the galaxy. [2] Supernova SN 1987A, discovered in 1987, was closer to Earth than SN 2014J, but it was a type II supernova rather than a type Ia.

Name: Messier 82, SN 2014J
Type: Local Universe : Star : Evolutionary Stage : SupernovaLocal Universe : Galaxy : Activity : Starburst
Category: Galaxies
Distance: 12 million light years
Release date: 3 March 2014, 10:00
Credit: New supernova image: NASA, ESA, A. Goobar (Stockholm University), and Hubble Heritage Image of Messier 82: NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA).Acknowledgment: J. Gallagher (University of Wisconsin), M. Mountain (STScI) and P. Puxley (NSF).