Recently in Astronomy Pictures Category

A tip of the cap to the majesty of this image of the nearby galaxy Centaurus A.

Centaurus looks pretty but is actually deadly - astronomers believe it has gobbled up another galaxy.

The stars and dust of spiral galaxy NGC 891 seen by Hubble edge-on. So, so cool... Click to embiggen.

The infrared vision of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has revealed that the Sombrero galaxy - named after its appearance in visible light to a wide-brimmed hat - is in fact two galaxies in one.

It is a large elliptical galaxy (blue-green) with a thin disk galaxy (partly seen in red) embedded within.

Click to embiggen.

Totay marks the 22nd anniversary of Hubble's launch into space. To celebrate it, NASA and ESA released this panoramic view of the mighty star-forming region 30 Doradus.

Very, very cool. Click to embiggen.

Tycho's Supernova remnant was a supernova in the constellation Cassiopeia, one of about eight supernovae visible to the naked eye in historical records.

It burst forth in early November 1572 and was independently discovered by many, including Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe.

Click on the image to embiggen.

Researchers using NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) have captured an infrared image of the last exhalations of a dying sun-like star.

The object observed by SOFIA, planetary nebula Minkowski 2-9, or M2-9 for short, is seen in this three-color composite image.

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope took this view of the so-called UFO Galaxy.

Pictures of NGC 2683 show a beautiful spiral galaxy from head on view, which is located in the constellation Lynx.

Click on the image to embiggen.

Clouds give a fuzzy view of ice-topped dunes on Mars.

Click on the image to embiggen.

This is NASA's most detailed infrared view of our night sky, assembled from 2.7 million photos and 15 trillion bytes of data.

Click on the image to embiggen.

Taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, this image of the galaxy NGC 1316 actually reveals that the strange-looking beast is actually the result of colliding galaxies.

The dark knots and lanes of dust indicate that one or more of the devoured galaxies were spiral galaxies.

NGC 1316 spans about 60,000 light years and lies about 75 million light years away toward the constellation of the Furnace.