On the hunt for newborn stars: This image, taken with the  NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope's  Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3), shows a patch of space filled with galaxies of all shapes, colours, and sizes. WFC3 is able to view many such galaxies at an unprecedented resolution — high enough to locate and study regions of star formation in a bid to understand how new stars spring to life throughout the cosmos. Stars are born within giant clouds of gas. These massive clouds, or  stellar nurseries, grow unstable and begin to  collapse under gravity, becoming the seeds that will grow into new stars. By analysing the luminosity, size, and formation rate of different stellar nurseries, scientists hope to learn more about the processes that can lead to the formation of a newborn star. Studying nurseries within different galaxies will provide information about star formation at different points in time and space throughout the Universe. Just below centre in this image is a formation of galaxies akin to a smiling face! Two yellow-hued blobs hang atop a sweeping arc of light, forming a celestial object known as SDSSJ0952+3434. The lower, arc-shaped galaxy has the characteristic shape of a galaxy that has been  gravitationally lensed — its light has passed near to a massive object en route to us, causing it to become distorted and stretched out of shape.

Name: SDSSJ0952+3434
Type: Early Universe : Galaxy : Grouping : ClusterEarly Universe : Cosmology : Phenomenon : Lensing
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Leo Minor
Release date: 15 October 2018, 06:00
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt (geckzilla)

A galaxy with a bright heart: This Picture of the Week shows the unbarred spiral galaxy NGC 5033, located about 40 million light-years away in the constellation of Canes Venatici (The Hunting Dogs). The galaxy is similar in size to our own galaxy, the Milky Way, at just over 100 000 light-years across. Like in the Milky Way NGC 5033’s spiral arms are dotted with blue regions, indicating ongoing star formation. The blue patches house hot, young stars in the process of forming, while the older, cooler stars populating the galaxy’s centre cause it to appear redder in colour. In contrast to the Milky Way NGC 5033 is missing a central bar. Instead it has a bright and energetic core called an active galactic nucleus, which is powered by a supermassive black hole. This active nucleus gives it the classification of a Seyfert galaxy. Due to the ongoing activity the core of NGC 5033 shines bright across the entire electromagnetic spectrum. This released energy shows that the central black hole is currently devouring stars, dust and gas getting to close to it. As this matters falls onto the supermassive black hole, it radiates in many different wavelengths. While its relative proximity to Earth makes it an ideal target for professional astronomer to study its active nucleus in more detail, its big apparent size on the night sky and its brightness also makes it a beautiful target for amateur astronomers.

Name: NGC 5033
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : SpiralLocal Universe : Galaxy : Activity : AGN : Seyfert
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Canes Venatici
Distance: 40 million light years
Release date: 22 October 2018, 06:00
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASAAcknowledgement: Judy Schmidt

Helping Hubble: The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope doesn’t usually get much assistance from its celestial subjects — but to take this image, the telescope opted for teamwork and made good use of a fascinating cosmic phenomenon known as gravitational lensing. This effect works when the gravitational influence of a massive object, such as the galaxy cluster in the centre of this image, is so colossal that it warps the surrounding space, causing nearby light to travel along distorted paths. The massive object is effectively turned into a giant magnifying glass, bending and amplifying the light travelling from more distant galaxies lying behind it. In this particular case, astronomers used the foreground galaxy cluster (named SDSS J0915+3826) to study star formation in galaxies lying so far away that their light has taken up to 11.5 billion years to reach our eyes. These galaxies formed at a very early stage in the lifetime of the Universe, giving astronomers a rare glimpse into the beginning of the cosmos. Despite their distance, the lensing effects of SDSS J0915+3826 allowed astronomers to work out the sizes, luminosities, star formation rates, and stellar populations of individual star-forming clumps within these galaxies — quite an achievement!

Name: SDSS J0915+3826
Type: Early Universe : Galaxy : Grouping : ClusterEarly Universe : Cosmology : Phenomenon : Lensing
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Lynx
Release date: 29 October 2018, 06:00
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASAAcknowledgement: Judy Schmidt (geckzilla.com)

Feeling blue: This captivating image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope’s Wide Field Camera 3 shows a lonely dwarf galaxy, a staggering 100 million light-years away from Earth. This image depicts the blue compact dwarf galaxy ESO 338-4, which can be found in the constellation of Corona Australis (the Southern Crown). Blue compact dwarf galaxies take their name from the intensely blue star-forming regions that are often found within their cores. One such region can be seen embedded in ESO 338-4, which is populated with bright young stars voraciously consuming hydrogen. These massive stars are doomed to a short existence, as despite their vast supplies of hydrogen fuel. The nuclear reactions in the cores of these stars will burn through these supplies in only millions of years — a mere blink of an eye in astronomical terms. The young blue stars nestled within a cloud of dust and gas in the centre of this image are the result of a recent galaxy merger between a wandering galaxy and ESO 388-4. This galactic interaction disrupted the clouds of gas and dust surrounding ESO 338-4 and led to the rapid formation of a new population of stars.

Name: ESO 338-4
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Size : Dwarf
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Sagittarius
Distance: 100 million light years
Release date: 5 November 2018, 06:00
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA

Of bent time and jellyfish: At first glance, a bright blue crescent immediately jumps out of this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image: is it a bird? A plane? Evidence of extraterrestrial life? No — it’s a galaxy. The shape of this galaxy admittedly appears to be somewhat bizarre, so confusion would be forgiven. This is due to a cosmic phenomenon called gravitational lensing. In this image, the gravitational influence of a massive galaxy cluster (called SDSS J1110+6459) is causing its surroundings spacetime to bend and warp, affecting the passage of any nearby light. This cluster to the lower left of the blue streak; a few more signs of lensing (streaks, blobs, curved lines, distorted shapes) can be seen dotted around this area. This image also features a rare and interesting type of galaxy called a jellyfish galaxy, visible just right next to the cluster and apparently dripping bright blue material. These are galaxies that lose gas via a process called galactic ram pressure stripping, where the drag caused by the galaxy moving through space causes gas to be stripped away.

Name: SDSS J1110+6459
Type: Early Universe : Galaxy : Grouping : ClusterEarly Universe : Cosmology : Phenomenon : Lensing
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Ursa Major
Release date: 12 November 2018, 06:00
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASAAcknowledgement: Judy Schmidt