Galactic Pyrotechnics From 23 Million Light Years Away

NGC 4258, a galaxy about 23 million light years away, is the site of impressive, ongoing fireworks.

Exploring the Night Sky with Hubble’s Caldwell Catalog

This loose collections of stars, known as an open star cluster, is image 100 of the Caldwell catalog.

Astronaut Christina Koch Poised to Make History Again

NASA astronaut Christina Koch makes observations from the International space Station's cupola.

Morocco's Anti-Atlas Mountains

The Anti-Atlas Mountains of Morocco formed as a result of the collision of the African and Eurasian tectonic plates about 80 million years ago.

Stellar Snowflake Cluster

The newly revealed infant stars appear as pink and red specks toward the center and appear to have formed in regularly spaced intervals along linear structures.

Hubble’s Close-Up of Spiral’s Disk, Bulge

​This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows IC 2051, a galaxy in the southern constellation of Mensa (the Table Mountain) lying about 85 million light-years away. It is a spiral galaxy, as evidenced by its characteristic whirling, pinwheeling arms, and it has a bar of stars slicing through its center.

This Week in NASA History: 3rd Hubble Servicing Mission – Dec. 19, 1999

This week in 1999, space shuttle Discovery, mission STS-103, launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on the third Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission.

Galaxy Gathering Brings Warmth

As the holiday season approaches, people in the northern hemisphere will gather indoors to stay warm. In keeping with the season, astronomers have studied two groups of galaxies that are rushing together and producing their own warmth.

Hubble Views Galaxy’s Dazzling Display

​NGC 3175 is located around 50 million light-years away in the constellation of Antlia (the Air Pump). The galaxy can be seen slicing across the frame in this Hubble image, with its mix of bright patches of glowing gas, dark lanes of dust, bright core, and whirling, pinwheeling arms coming together to paint a beautiful celestial scene.

A Treat for the International Space Station's First Crew

In this image from December 2000, the Expedition One crew--the first to permanently inhabit the International Space Station--are about to eat a treat of fresh oranges.

Brilliance at Night: The Americas in Darkness

This image of North and South America at night is a composite assembled from data acquired by the Suomi NPP satellite in April and October 2012.

Earth's Changing Ice

Meltwater lakes form on the surface of Greenland’s Petermann Glacier.

Progress 73 Cargo Craft Departs the Station

To make room for the latest cargo craft on Nov. 29, Progress 73 departed the station after undocking from the Pirs docking compartment.

Hubble Spots Galaxy’s Dramatic Details

Some of the most dramatic events in the universe occur when certain stars die — and explode catastrophically in the process. When these star deaths, or supernovae, occur, their brightness can rival the light of a whole galaxy. The galaxy NGC 5468, shown in this Hubble image, has hosted a number of these supernovae the past 20 years.

Luca Parmitano Works to Upgrade a Cosmic Particle Detector

European Space Agency astronaut and current International Space Station Commander Luca Parmitano and ​crewmate Andrew Morgan (out of frame) performed the third spacewalk to repair the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer.

Carina Nebula's 'Mystic Mountain'

Within the tempestuous Carina Nebula lies “Mystic Mountain.”

‘Robot Hotel’ Launching to the International Space Station

Robots need a place to stay in space, too. NASA is attaching a “robot hotel” to the outside of the International Space Station with the upcoming launch of the Robotic Tool Stowage (RiTS).