Also known as NGC 2024, the Flame Nebula is a large star-forming region in the constellation of Orion, located about 1,400 light-years from Earth. It is part of the Orion molecular cloud complex, which includes such famous nebulae as the Horsehead Nebula and the Orion Nebula. This image focuses on the dark, dusty heart of the nebula, which contains a star cluster that is mostly invisible. Nearby (but not visible in this image) is the bright star Alnitak, the easternmost star in Orion's belt. Alnitak's radiation ionizes the Flame Nebula's hydrogen gas. As the gas cools from its higher-energy state to a lower-energy state, it emits energy in the form of light, causing the visible glow behind the churning dust wisps.
NASA, ESA, and N. Da Rio (University of Virginia); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)
This is a composite view of X-rays and warm ionized gas near the galactic center. Added a graphic of a translucent vertical white fan to show the suspected axis of a minijet from the supermassive black hole at the heart of the galaxy. The orange features are made of glowing hydrogen gas. Such a feature at the tip of the jet is interpreted as a hydrogen cloud hit by the outflowing jet. The jet scatters the cloud in tendrils that flow north. X-ray observations of superheated gas can be seen in green and blue colors further down near the black hole. This data indicates that the black hole occasionally accretes stars or clouds of gas and ejects some of the superheated material along its spin axis. NASA, ESA, and Gerald Cecil (UNC-Chapel Hill); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)
Spiral arms of galaxy NGC 3318 lazily stretch across this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Located in the constellation of Vela, this spiral galaxy is about 115 light-years from Earth.
Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, European Southern Observatory (ESO), R.J. Foley; Acknowledgment: R. Colombari
Galaxy NGC 5907's beautiful spiral arms are not visible in this Hubble image because we're looking at them edge-on, like the rim of a plate. For this reason, NGC 5907 is also known as the "Knife Edge" galaxy.
Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. de Jong; Acknowledgment: Judy Schmidt (Geckzilla)
This astronomical portrait from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows majestic spiral galaxy UGC 11537 viewed from the side. Hubble's wide-angle camera 3 has captured the tightly coiled spiral arms winding around the heart of UGC 11537 at infrared and visible wavelengths, revealing both the bright bands of stars and dark dust clouds rippling through the galaxy. UGC 11537 is located 230 million light-years away in the constellation of Aquila, near the plane of the Milky Way. The close proximity to the Milky Way's star band means that foreground stars from our own galaxy have wormed their way into the image - the two prominent stars in front of UGC 11537 are invaders from the Milky Way's interior. Surrounding these bright foreground stars are diffraction peaks, imaging artifacts caused by the interaction of starlight with Hubble's internal structure. This image is from a series of observations designed to help astronomers pinpoint supermassive black holes in distant galaxies. The combination of Hubble's sharp observations and data from ground-based telescopes has allowed astronomers to create detailed models of the mass of the stars in these galaxies, which in turn is helping to constrain the mass of supermassive black holes. ESA/Hubble & NASA, A. Seth
