Best Astronomy Photography of the Year 2020

Images of the Milky Way, California nebula and Andromeda galaxy are among the winners of the Insight Investment astronomy photographer of the year award. 

Hubble at 30: A cosmic legacy

30 years ago the Hubble Space Telescope blasted off the launch pad aboard the space shuttle Discovery, ushering in a new era for astronomy that has transformed our understanding of the Universe around us.

Cat’s Paw Nebula in all its infrared glory

Two instruments aboard NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope – the Infrared Array Camera and the Multiband Imaging Photometer – have captured a spectacular image of the Cat’s Paw Nebula.

Ultra-close stars discovered inside a planetary nebula

Astronomers have discovered two stars in a binary pair that complete an orbit around each other in a little over three hours, residing in the planetary nebula M3-1. Remarkably, the stars could drive a nova explosion.

Discovery of a structurally 'inside-out' planetary nebula

International team of scientists have discovered the unusual evolution of the central star of a planetary nebula in our Milky Way. This extraordinary discovery sheds light on the ultimate fate of the sun.

Hubble's 28th birthday picture: The Lagoon Nebula

A photo released on April 19, 2018 by the European Space Agency shows this colorful image of the Lagoon Nebula to celebrate the 28th anniversary space of the the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.

12 Incredible New Images of Galaxies and Nebulae from the Hubble Telescope

The Hubble Telescope has taken some breathtaking images along the way. That includes the Eagle Nebula, also called the Pillars of Creation or M16. Now, Hubble’s added another twelve new images.

Observatories combine to crack open the Crab Nebula

Astronomers have produced a highly detailed image of the Crab Nebula, by combining data from telescopes spanning nearly the entire breadth of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Lagoon Nebula by Ivan Eder

New stars are formed in the undulating clouds of M8, also commonly referred to as the Lagoon Nebula, situated some 5,000 light years from our planet.

New Hubble Picture Gives First Peek Inside Crab Nebula

Astronomers at last have a clear glimpse of the eye of a massive celestial storm.

The secret life of the Orion Nebula

Amelia Stutz and Andrew Gould from the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg are bringing gravity and magnetic fields into play. To test their idea, they undertook a detailed investigation of the Orion Nebula, 1300 light-years away.

Microscopic 'timers' reveal likely source of galactic space radiation

Most of the cosmic rays that we detect at Earth originated relatively recently in nearby clusters of massive stars, according to new results from NASA's Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) spacecraft.

Astronomers Snap Stunning Nebula Photo

An infant star lights up the nebula IC 2631 in this remarkable new image from the MPG/ESO 2.2-m telescope at ESO's La Silla Observatory, Chile.

The icy blue wings of a bipolar planetary nebula

In this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope cosmic snapshot, the spectacularly symmetrical wings of Hen 2-437 show up in a magnificent icy blue hue. Hen 2-437 is a planetary nebula, one of around 3000 such objects known to reside within the Milky Way.

The Horsehead Nebula

The Horsehead Nebula is one of the most famous nebulae on the sky. It is visible as the dark indentation to the red emission nebula in the center of the above photograph.