This image gives the first clear view of the faint boundary of the Crab Nebula's X-ray-emitting pulsar wind nebula. The nebula is powered by a rapidly rotating, highly magnetized neutron star, or pulsar (white dot near the center). picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

A new image of the Helix planetary nebula shows a rich background of distant galaxies. The Helix Nebula (NGC 7293) lies about 700 light-years away in the constellation of Aquarius, or the Water Bearer. It is one of the closest and most spectacular examples of a planetary nebula. picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

IT'S red. It's square. And although it's not far away, astronomers have just revealed the first picture of the Red Square Nebula. picked by AutumnLotus 3 years ago

Probing a glowing bubble of gas and dust encircling a dying star, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope reveals a wealth of previously unseen structures. The object, called NGC 2371, is a planetary nebula, the glowing remains of a Sun-like star. The remnant star visible at the center of NGC 2371 is the super-hot core of the former red giant, now stripped of its outer layers. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

ESO has just released a stunning new image of a field of stars towards the constellation of Carina (the Keel). This striking view is ablaze with a flurry of stars of all colours and brightnesses, some of which are seen against a backdrop of clouds of dust and gas. picked by AutumnLotus 8 months ago

Huge image of Rosetta Nebula, as detailed in AutumnLotus' informative post here. So now you get a combination of the woo and the why. Teamwork. picked by pocksucket 2 years ago

Chondritic meteorites have a similar chemical composition to the sun and are therefore reliable witnesses as to what the solar nebula, from which the planets formed, was composed of. This can be used to deduce what the Earth consists of chemically. However, ETH Zurich researchers have now discovered that strictly speaking this fundamental geological assumption is not true. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

We all love pictures of galaxies, nebula and the like. Here are 10 of the best ones from the last 16 years. picked by 2manyusernames 3 years ago

The Hubble Space Telescope has taken a snapshot of a picturesque planetary nebula tucked away in a distant cluster of stars within the Milky Way Galaxy. picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

Astronomers using the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) in Hawaii, the IRAM Millimetre-wave Telescope in Spain, and the Spitzer Space Telescope in orbit above the Earth, have completed the most wide-ranging census ever produced of dynamical star formation in and around the well-known Great Nebula of Orion. picked by AutumnLotus 11 months ago

Spectacular space discovery was revealed by ESA's XMM-Newton X-ray observatory - a huge cloud of high-temperature gas in Orion nebula, shaped almost like Santa Claus. picked by Lilo 2 years ago

This movie shows dynamic rings, wisps and jets of matter and antimatter around the pulsar in the Crab Nebula as observed in X-ray light by Chandra (left, blue) and optical light by Hubble (right, red). picked by Neiako 3 years ago

A team of astronomers has recalculated the explosion date of the famous Crab Nebula supernova and found excellent agreement between their measurements and the classic date of the 1054 A.D. appearance of a bright "guest star" seen in the constellation of Taurus the Bull. picked by AutumnLotus 3 years ago

The three iconic columns of gas and dust pictured in space by the Hubble Telescope in 1995 may have met their end, the US space agency says. picked by tundramonkey 3 years ago

Two of our Galaxy's most massive stars have been scrutinised in an impressive view by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. They have, until recently, been shrouded in mystery, but the new image shows them in greater detail than ever before. picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

Astronomers at the University of Rochester, home to one of the world’s largest groups of planetary nebulae specialists, have announced that low-mass stars and possibly even super-Jupiter-sized planets may be responsible for creating some of the most breathtaking objects in the sky. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

A new image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows a turbulent star-forming region, where rivers of gas and stellar winds are eroding thickets of dusty material. picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

The egg-shaped remains of a dying star has a hollow shell that is "unusually" rich in the complex organic molecules. The nebula formed from the death throes of a red giant star that was slightly hotter than the Sun and is located about 1370 light years distant. Although hidden by dust, the star inside the centre of the nebula is still active, shooting fast jets of material from its poles... read full post picked by AutumnLotus 10 months ago

The Gemini South Multi-Object Spectograph (GMOS) recently captured a dramatic image of a vast cloud complex named DEM L316 located in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The peanut-shaped nebula appears to be a single object, but the latest research indicates that it is really comprised of two distinct gas and dust clouds formed by different types of supernova explosions. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

Astronomers believe they may have discovered the brightest star in the Milky Way amid a swirling cloud of colourful stellar dust.

Nicknamed the 'Peony nebula star', the celestial body blazes with the light of 3.2million suns in the centre of our galaxy. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago