Events

This false-color image of Saturn, taken in ultraviolet light, reveals details in the hazes and clouds of the planet's atmosphere that are not easy or possible to see in visible light.

Einstein rings like this form when two galaxies are almost perfectly aligned, one behind the other, and the gravitational field of the closer galaxy bends the light from the more-distant galaxy into bright arcs around itself.

The giant elliptical galaxy in the center of this image is the most massive and brightest member of galaxy cluster Abell 2261. More than a million light-years wide, the galaxy is about 10 times bigger than our Milky Way galaxy.

This stunning portrait of Mars was taken just before the planet made one of its closest approaches to Earth (passing about 60 million miles from us). This view was taken on the last day of spring in the planet's northern hemisphere.

An aging red giant star is shedding its outer layers to produce the Southern Crab Nebula. The "legs" are likely to be the places where the outflowing material slams into surrounding gas and dust.

Einstein rings like this form when two galaxies are almost perfectly aligned, one behind the other, and the gravitational field of the closer galaxy bends the light from the more-distant galaxy into bright arcs around itself.

There are several hundred star clusters in the starburst galaxy NGC 3310. They appear in this image as the bright, blue clumps that trace the galaxy's spiral arms.

Arp 297 is a pair of interacting galaxies that consists of NGC 5754, the large spiral at the top, and NGC 5752, the smaller companion at the bottom left. NGC 5754's internal structure has hardly been disturbed, but it does have some kinked arms just beyond its inner ring.

Arp 81 is a pair of interacting galaxies consisting of NGC 6621 (center) and NGC 6622 (left). The encounter has pulled a long tail out of NGC 6621 that has now wrapped behind the pair.

Supernova Didius, named after a Roman emperor, is the white dot in the center of this image. The bright blob at upper left is the core of the supernova's host galaxy. The supernova is so far away, we see it as it appeared 7 billion years ago.

This image reveals details of one of the most unusual nebulas known in our Milky Way. Cataloged as HD 44179, this nebula is more commonly called the "Red Rectangle" because of its unique shape and color.

The Pinwheel galaxy has a pancake-like shape that we view face-on. This perspective shows off the spiral structure that gives the galaxy its nickname.