Irregular Galaxy NGC 55 Irregular galaxy NGC 55 is thought to be similar to the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). But while the LMC is about 180,000 light-years away and is a well known satellite of our own Milky Way Galaxy, NGC 55 is more like 6 million light-years distant and is a member of the Sculptor Galaxy Group. Classified as an irregular galaxy, in deep exposures the LMC itself resembles a barred disk galaxy. However, spanning about 50,000 light-years, NGC 55 is seen nearly edge-on, presenting a flattened, narrow profile in contrast with our face-on view of the LMC. Just as large star forming regions create emission nebulae in the LMC, NGC 55 is also seen to be producing new stars. This galaxy portrait highlights a bright core crossed with dust clouds, telltale pinkish star forming regions, and young blue star clusters in NGC 55 (text adapted from APOD). Mouse over the image to display all resolutions available. Click "share" button on top to get direct links to download the images up to XXXL size. Click "buy" button to purchase high quality prints of this imge Apo TEC140 (140/f7.2) - FLI Proline 16803 - L (350m) R (120m) G (110m) B (120m) - Warrumbungle Observatory, Coonabarabran, NSW, Australia - glittering lights

light from far far away..

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M46 & M47: Star Clusters Young and Old

Many stars form in clusters. Galactic or open star clusters are relatively young swarms of bright stars born together near the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy. Separated by about a degree on the sky, two nice examples are M46 (lower left) 5,400 light-years in the distance and M47 (upper right) only 1,600 light-years away toward the nautical constellation Puppis. Around 300 million years young M46 contains a few hundred stars in a region about 30 light-years across. Aged 80 million years, M47 is a smaller but looser cluster of about 50 stars spanning 10 light-years. But this portrait of stellar youth also contains an ancient interloper. The small, colorful patch of glowing gas in M46 is actually the planetary nebula NGC 2438 - the final phase in the life of a sun-like star billions of years old. NGC 2438 is estimated to be only 3,000 light-years distant and likely represents a foreground object, only by chance appearing along our line of sight to youthful M46 (text adapted from APOD).
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Sharpless 63

This is the high latitude molecular cloud MBM 159, which is located at a distance of about 220 pc and may form part of the Aquila rift.Mouse over the image to display all resolutions available. Click "share" button on top to get direct links to download the images up to XXXL size. Click "buy" button to purchase high quality prints of this imge

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NGC 1365: Majestic Spiral with Supernova

Barred spiral galaxy NGC 1365 is truly a majestic island universe some 200,000 light-years across. Located a mere 60 million light-years away toward the chemical constellation Fornax, NGC 1365 is a dominant member of the well-studied Fornax galaxy cluster. This enlargement of the Fornax cluster image shows the galaxy before and few days after the explosion of the bright Ia supernova SN2012fr, discovered on October 27. The supernova is the bright blue star close to the galaxy core (text adapted from APOD).Mouse over the image to display all resolutions available. Click "share" button on top to get direct links to download the images up to XXXL size. Click "buy" button to purchase high quality prints of this imge

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Fornax Galaxy Cluster

At a distance of approximately 62 million of light years, the Fornax Cluster is the second richest cluster of galaxies within 100 million light-years, although it is much smaller than the Virgo Cluster. It lies primarily in the constellation Fornax, and may be associated with the nearby Eridanus Group. Although small as clusters of galaxies go, the Fornax Cluster is a valuable source of information about the evolution of such clusters, showing the effects of a merger of a subgroup with the main group, which in turn lends clues about the associated galactic superstructure. At the centre of the cluster lies NGC 1399. Other noteworthy cluster members include NGC 1350, 1427A and NGC 1404. NGC 1365 (bottom right in the image) is the most famous galaxy in the Fornax cluster. It is a barred spiral galaxy with a beautiful shape. (text adapted from Wikipedia).Mouse over the image to display all resolutions available. Click "share" button on top to get direct links to download the images up to XXXL size. Click "buy" button to purchase high quality prints of this imge

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Barnard's Galaxy in the mist

Nearby galaxy NGC 6822 is irregular in several ways. First, the galaxy's star distribution merits a formal classification of dwarf irregular, and from our vantage-point the small galaxy appears nearly rectangular. What strikes astronomers as more peculiar, however, is NGC 6822's unusually high abundance of HII regions, locales of ionized hydrogen that surround young stars. Large HII regions, also known as emission nebulas, are visible surrounding the small galaxy, particularly toward the upper right. Toward the lower left are bright stars that are loosely grouped into an arm. Pictured above, NGC 6822, also known as Barnard's Galaxy, is located only about 1.5 million light years away and so is a member of our Local Group of Galaxies. The galaxy, home to famous nebulas including Hubble V, is visible with a small telescope toward the constellation of Sagittarius (text adapted from APOD).Mouse over the image to display all resolutions available. Click "share" button on top to get direct links to download the images up to XXXL size. Click "buy" button to purchase high quality prints of this imge

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The needle's eye Galaxy (NGC 247)

NGC 247 (aka Caldwell 62) is a dwarf spiral galaxy in Cetus, and it is a member of the Sculptor Group, the nearest group of galaxies to our Local Group which includes the Milky Way.

NGC 247 has a slightly irregular shape on one end where the spiral arm has a hollowed out appearance on long-exposure photographs, resembling the shape of a neddle's eye. It is about the same size as NGC 253, but two magnitudes fainter. Recent measurements placed this galaxy about 11 million light-years away, about 1 million light-years closer than the estimated distance of NGC 253.

In the above wide field image is also revealed the rich background of this area which features a multitude of other galaxies, located a lot farther from our planet than NGC 247. Mouse over the image to display all resolutions available. Click "share" button on top to get direct links to download the images up to XXXL size. Click "buy" button to purchase high quality prints of this imge

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The Topsy-Turvy Galaxy NGC 1313

Why is this galaxy so discombobulated? Usually, galaxies this topsy-turvy result from a recent collision with a neighboring galaxy. Spiral galaxy NGC 1313, however, appears to be alone. Brightly lit with new and blue massive stars, star formation appears so rampant in NGC 1313 that it has been labeled a starburst galaxy. Strange features of NGC 1313 include that its spiral arms are lopsided and its rotational axis is not at the center of the nuclear bar. Pictured above, NGC 1313 spans about 50,000 light years and lies only about 15 million light years away toward the constellation of the Reticle (Reticulum). Continued numerical modeling of galaxies like NGC 1313 might shed some light on its unusual nature (text adapted from APOD).Mouse over the image to display all resolutions available. Click "share" button on top to get direct links to download the images up to XXXL size. Click "buy" button to purchase high quality prints of this imge

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M16 and the Eagle Nebula

Young star cluster M16 is surrounded by natal clouds of cosmic dust and glowing gas also known as The Eagle Nebula. This image of the region includes fantastic shapes made famous in well-known Hubble Space Telescope close-ups of the starforming complex. Described as elephant trunks or Pillars of Creation, dense, dusty columns rising near the center are light-years in length but are gravitationally contracting to form stars. Energetic radiation from the cluster stars erodes material near the tips, eventually exposing the embedded new stars. Extending from the upper left edge of the nebula is another dusty starforming column known as the Fairy of Eagle Nebula. M16 and the Eagle Nebula lie about 7,000 light-years away, an easy target for binoculars or small telescopes in a nebula rich part of the sky toward the split constellation Serpens Cauda (the tail of the snake) (text adapted from APOD).Mouse over the image to display all resolutions available. Click "share" button on top to get direct links to download the images up to XXXL size. Click "buy" button to purchase high quality prints of this imge

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Stars and Dust Across Corona Australis

Cosmic dust clouds sprawl across a rich field of stars in this sweeping telescopic vista near the northern boundary of Corona Australis, the Southern Crown. Probably less than 500 light-years away and effectively blocking light from more distant, background stars in the Milky Way, the densest part of the dust cloud is about 8 light-years long. At its tip (upper right) is a group of lovely reflection nebulae cataloged as NGC 6726, 6727, 6729, and IC 4812. A characteristic blue color is produced as light from hot stars is reflected by the cosmic dust. The smaller yellowish nebula (NGC 6729) surrounds young variable star R Coronae Australis. Magnificent globular star cluster NGC 6723 is toward the upper right corner of the view. While NGC 6723 appears to be part of the group, it actually lies nearly 30,000 light-years away, far beyond the Corona Australis dust clouds (text adapted from APOD).Mouse over the image to display all resolutions available. Click "share" button on top to get direct links to download the images up to XXXL size. Click "buy" button to purchase high quality prints of this imge

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IC 4628: The Prawn Nebula

South of Antares, in the tail of the nebula-rich constellation Scorpius, lies emission nebula IC 4628. Nearby hot, massive stars, millions of years young, radiate the nebula with invisible ultraviolet light, stripping electrons from atoms. The electrons eventually recombine with the atoms to produce the visible nebular glow. At an estimated distance of 6,000 light-years, the region shown is about 250 light-years across. The nebula is also cataloged as Gum 56 for Australian astronomer Colin Stanley Gum, but seafood-loving astronomers might know this cosmic cloud as The Prawn Nebula (text adapted from APOD).
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Lobster Nebula NGC 6357

For reasons unknown, NGC 6357 is forming some of the most massive stars ever discovered. Near the more obvious Cat's Paw nebula, NGC 6357 houses the open star cluster Pismis 24, home to these tremendously bright and blue stars. The overall red glow near the inner star forming region results from the emission of ionized hydrogen gas. The surrounding nebula, shown above, holds a complex tapestry of gas, dark dust, stars still forming, and newly born stars. The intricate patterns are caused by complex interactions between interstellar winds, radiation pressures, magnetic fields, and gravity. NGC 6357 spans about 400 light years and lies about 8,000 light years away toward the constellation of the Scorpion (text adapted from APOD).
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The Cat's Paw Nebula NGC 6334

Nebulae are perhaps as famous for being identified with familiar shapes as cats are for getting into trouble. Still, no known cat could have created the vast Cat's Paw Nebula visible in Scorpius. At 5,500 light years distant, Cat's Paw is an emission nebula with a red color that originates from an abundance of ionized hydrogen atoms. Alternatively known as the Bear Claw Nebula or NGC 6334, stars nearly ten times the mass of our Sun have been born there in only the past few million years (text adapted from APOD).
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Circinus Star Forming Complex
Like black ink spilt on a galactic beach, the twisting filamentary tendrils of the dark nebula Sandqvist 169 snake across a glittering field of bright Milky Way stars in the constellation of Circinus. It forms the western part of the giant Circinus Cloud complex, which measures a whopping 2x5 degrees in total! The series of filaments that seemingly emanate outwards from the dense central part of Sandqvist 169 (also known as Circinus-W) are indicative of past violent activity. The filamentary appearance of the cloud is likely to be the result of multiple outflows from young stars, whose formation might have been triggered by a supernova that exploded in close proximity to the cloud. If star formation has ensued for a few hundred thousand years, then the cloud has produced many dozens of young stars, whose outflows have torn the cloud apart. The filaments and cavities provide a fossil record of past star formation as they trace the boundaries of the outflows. Optically visible signs of star formation in Sandqvist 169 include the tiny cometary reflection nebulae vdBH65a and vdBH65b. vdBH65a is a small nebulous patch that is near a bright yellow star that is situated towards the north of the central portion of the cloud. Its illuminating star drives a bipolar molecular outflow that includes the optical bowshock HH 139 (which cannot be seen at a widefield scale). vdBH65b is a small fan shaped cometary reflection nebula that can be seen embedded in the filaments to the right of the cloud core (which are catalogued as Sandqvist 171). It is also the source of numerous Herbig Haro outflows and objects, which are not visible at this scale. Despite its size and apparent interesting past history, the Circinus Cloud has been the subject of very few detailed studies but future investigation and observations will help unravel more of its mysteries. Since it has only received one major study since its discovery, its distance is extremely uncertain and is estimated to be 2275 light years. However, a study in 2011 with observations from the Widefield Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) telescope uncovered an embedded infrared cluster of YSO's. The Sandqvist catalogue is a collection of 95 southern dark clouds that was published in 1977 by the Swedish astronomer Aage Sandqvist. Confusingly the numbering of the catalogue starts from the number 101 to avoid mix-up with the SL catalogue, which was published by Aage Sandqvist and K.P. Lindroos in the previous year (description provided by Sakib Rasool)

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NGC 6744

NGC 6744 (also known as Caldwell 101) is an impressive spiral galaxy that lies about 30 million light-years away in the southern constellation of Pavo (the Peacock). But this view could almost be a picture postcard of our own Milky Way, taken and sent by an extragalactic friend, as this galaxy closely resembles our own.

We see NGC 6744 almost face-on, meaning we get a dramatic bird’s eye view of the galaxy’s structure. If we had the technology to escape the Milky Way and could look down on it from intergalactic space, this view is close to the one we would see — striking spiral arms wrapping around a dense, elongated nucleus and a dusty disk. There is even a distorted companion galaxy — NGC 6744A, seen here as a smudge to the upper left of NGC 6744, which is reminiscent of one of the Milky Way’s neighboring Magellanic Clouds.

One difference between NGC 6744 and the Milky Way is their size. While our galaxy is roughly 100,000 light-years across, the galaxy pictured here extends to almost twice this diameter. Nevertheless, NGC 6744 gives us a tantalizing sense of how a distant observer might see our own galactic home.

This dramatic object is one of the largest and nearest spiral galaxies. Although it has a brightness of about 60 billion Suns, its light spreads across a large area in the sky — about two-thirds the width of the Full Moon, making the galaxy appear as a hazy glow with a bright center through a small telescope. Still, it is one of the most beautiful objects in the southern sky, and it can be identified by amateur astronomers as an oval shape contrasting with a rich background of stars (text adapted from astronomy.com).
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Irregular Galaxy NGC 55

Irregular galaxy NGC 55 is thought to be similar to the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). But while the LMC is about 180,000 light-years away and is a well known satellite of our own Milky Way Galaxy, NGC 55 is more like 6 million light-years distant and is a member of the Sculptor Galaxy Group. Classified as an irregular galaxy, in deep exposures the LMC itself resembles a barred disk galaxy. However, spanning about 50,000 light-years, NGC 55 is seen nearly edge-on, presenting a flattened, narrow profile in contrast with our face-on view of the LMC. Just as large star forming regions create emission nebulae in the LMC, NGC 55 is also seen to be producing new stars. This galaxy portrait highlights a bright core crossed with dust clouds, telltale pinkish star forming regions, and young blue star clusters in NGC 55 (text adapted from APOD).

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