ARP 274 from Hubble

To celebrate my 18th birthday, I decided to process one of my favorite Hubble images! This was taken back in 2009 to celebrate the International Year of Astronomy by WFPC2. Given that it was taken by such a low-sensitivity sensor, this image actually had a whole lot of noise to deal with. I spent a while carefully removing hot pixels and cosmic rays to make the image look better. In case you’re wondering what exactly you’re looking at, here’s a little explanation about the galaxies: Arp 274 […]

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Dim spiral galaxy IC 5332 from HST and JWST

IC 5332, also known as PGC 71775 is an intermediate spiral galaxy about 30 million light-years away in the constellation Sculptor. IC 5332 is a delicate spiral galaxy that is unusually faint and beautifully symmetrical. As viewed from earth it is nearly face on. It has a very small central bulge and open spiral arms accounting for its classification (SABc). The galaxy lies in the direction of the celestial south pole. I wanted to highlight the JWST dust lanes more clearly, so I decided to stick to […]

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Interesting Astronomy news from the week of 8/21/2022

Read about the coolest discoveries, research updates, and images of this week’s astronomy: A JWST discovery of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of an exoplanet, an extrasolar world covered in water, and a new planetary nebula. JWST discovery of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of an exoplanet For the first time, astronomers have found solid evidence of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of an exoplanet! Carbon dioxide is an important component of the atmospheres of planets in our solar system, found on rocky planets like Mars and […]

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Perfect spiral M74 from JWST and Hubble

Processing galactic images with both JWST and HST data is just incredible. Normally, every spiral galaxy (and some elliptical ones too) have dark dust lanes obscuring the light from the stars behind. These dark spirals add depth to the image, but unfortunately don’t contain much information. But with the added infrared imagery, the glowing strands and flocks of dust, which would normally be dark in visible light imagery, are instead bright and glowing with infrared light from JWST. Below is a comparison of the Hubble visible-light image […]

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Hubble’s stunning 3-color mosaic of the Tarantula nebula

Below is a zoomable version of the tarantula nebula. You can also view this version here: http://www.gigapan.com/gigapans/230324. If you have a minute or ten, I really hope you spend some time just looking at the various little complications in this image – I assure you that it will be well worth your time! The full jpg version is available for free use on my flickr, which you can access by clicking the link below: If you would like to use a higher-quality version, feel free to email […]

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Hershel’s image of the upper orion molecular complex

Stunning new view from ESAs Herschel space observatory of the iconic Horsehead Nebula in the context of its surroundings. The image is a composite of the wavelengths of 70 microns (blue), 160 microns (green) and 250 microns (red), and covers 4.5×1.5 degrees. The image is oriented with northeast towards the left of the image and southwest towards the right. The Horsehead Nebula resides in the constellation Orion, about 1300 light-years away, and is part of the vast Orion Molecular Cloud complex. The Horsehead appears to rise above […]

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Interesting Astronomy news from the week of 8/14/2022

Read about the coolest discoveries, research updates, and images of this week’s astronomy: New insights into turbulence raging inside distant stars, a discovery of one of the largest black hole jets, and a beautiful image of a comsic dance! New insights into turbulence raging inside distant stars Stunning new images created by Keele researchers highlight the turbulent flow of energy inside distant stars. They were created using the 3D simulation software “PROMPI”, which scientists have been using to investigate stellar interiors with the aim of understanding the […]

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NGC 4490 from Hubble

Compared to the other fundamental forces in the Universe, gravity is fairly weak. Despite this, gravity has an influence over huge distances and is the driving force behind the motions of the most massive objects in the cosmos. The scattered and warped appearance of the galaxy in this image, NGC 4490, is a prime example of the results of gravity’s unrelenting tug.

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Hubble’s infrared view of the Horsehead Nebula

Looking like an apparition rising from whitecaps of interstellar foam, the iconic Horsehead Nebula has graced astronomy books ever since its discovery over a century ago. The nebula is a favorite target for amateur and professional astronomers. In this new Hubble Space Telescope view, the nebula appears in a new light, as seen in infrared wavelengths. The nebula, shadowy in optical light, appears transparent and ethereal when seen in the infrared, represented here with visible shades. The rich tapestry of the Horsehead Nebula pops out against the […]

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Interesting Astronomy news from the week of 8/7/2022

Read about the coolest discoveries, research updates, and images of this week’s astronomy: A new JWST brown dwarf, the first ever detection of gas in a planetary disk, and a new image of colliding galaxies from Gemni North Observatory

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