Mammoth Stars Seen By Hubble - WR 25 And Tr16-244, Located Within The Open Cluster Trumpler 16

A Black Hole Choir : The blue dots in this field of galaxies, known as the COSMOS field, show galaxies that contain supermassive black holes emitting high-energy X-rays.

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NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day 2016 August 31 

Annular Solar Eclipse over New Mexico 

What is this person doing? In 2012 an annular eclipse of the Sun was visible over a narrow path that crossed the northern Pacific Ocean and several western US states. In an annular solar eclipse, the Moon is too far from the Earth to block out the entire Sun, leaving the Sun peeking out over the Moon’s disk in a ring of fire. To capture this unusual solar event, an industrious photographer drove from Arizona to New Mexico to find just the right vista. After setting up and just as the eclipsed Sun was setting over a ridge about 0.5 kilometers away, a person unknowingly walked right into the shot. Although grateful for the unexpected human element, the photographer never learned the identity of the silhouetted interloper. It appears likely, though, that the person is holding a circular device that would enable them to get their own view of the eclipse. The shot was taken at sunset on 2012 May 20 at 7:36 pm local time from a park near Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. Tomorrow another annular solar eclipse will become visible, this time along a path crossing Africa and Madagascar.

NGC 3576, an emission nebula in the constellation of Carina 6,000 light years away. -image via paulhaese.net

150,000 Stars - The Messier 2 Star Cluster

This massive Star Cluster (The Messier 2 Star Cluster) is 13 billion years old - making it one of the oldest star clusters in the Milky Way Galaxy. Not only is this Star Cluster ancient, it is one of the largest known star clusters. On a clear night away from light pollution, you can see M2 with the naked eye as a faint blur in the constellation Aquarius.

Credit: NASA/Hubble/SIMBAD Astronomy db

Amazing photo of the south pole of Mars.

47 Tucanae

Vdb 158 and PLN 110-12.1

Credit: Jimmy Walker

These three bright nebulae are often featured in telescopic tours of the constellation Sagittariusand the crowded starfields of the central Milky Way.

In fact, 18th century cosmic touristCharles Messier cataloged two of them; M8, the large nebula left of center, and colorful M20 near the bottom of the frame. The third, NGC 6559, is right of M8, separated from the larger nebula by dark dust lanes. All three are stellar nurseries about five thousand light-years or so distant. The expansive M8, over a hundred light-years across, is also known as the Lagoon Nebula. M20’s popular moniker is the Trifid.

In the composite image, narrowband data records ionized hydrogen, oxygen, and sulfur atoms radiating at visible wavelengths. The mapping of colors and range of brightness used to compose this cosmic still life were inspired by Van Gogh’s famous Sunflowers.

Just right of the Trifid one of Messier’s open star clusters,M21, is also included on the telescopic canvas.

Object Names: M8, M20, M2, NGC 6559

Image Type: Astronomical

Credit: NASA, AndrewCampbell

Time And Space

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