Cool Andromeda

Cool Andromeda
In this new view of the Andromeda, also known as M31, galaxy from the Herschel space observatory, cool lanes of forming stars are revealed in the finest detail yet. (source: NASA/JPL)

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Martian Impact Crater

Martian Impact Crater
A dramatic, fresh impact crater dominates this image taken by the HiRISE camera onboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on Nov. 19, 2013. The crater is surrounded by a large, rayed blast zone. (source: NASA)

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Jupiter's Great Red Spot Viewed by Voyager I

Jupiter's Great Red Spot Viewed by Voyager I

At about 89,000 miles in diameter, Jupiter could swallow 1,000 Earths. It is the largest planet in the solar system and perhaps the most majestic. Vibrant bands of clouds carried by winds that can exceed 400 mph continuously circle the planet's atmosphere. Such winds sustain spinning anticyclones like the Great Red Spot -- a raging storm three and a half times the size of Earth located in Jupiter’s southern hemisphere. In January and February 1979, NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft zoomed toward Jupiter, capturing hundreds of images during its approach, including this close-up of swirling clouds around Jupiter's Great Red Spot. This image was assembled from three black and white negatives. The observations revealed many unique features of the planet that are still being explored to this day. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
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Hubble Frontier Field Abell 2744

Hubble Frontier Field Abell 2744

This long-exposure Hubble Space Telescope image of massive galaxy cluster Abell 2744 (foreground) is the deepest ever made of any cluster of galaxies. It shows some of the faintest and youngest galaxies ever detected in space.

The immense gravity in Abell 2744 is being used as a lens to warp space and brighten and magnify images of more distant background galaxies. The more distant galaxies appear as they did longer than 12 billion years ago, not long after the big bang.

The Hubble exposure reveals almost 3,000 of these background galaxies interleaved with images of hundreds of foreground galaxies in the cluster. Their images not only appear brighter, but also smeared, stretched and duplicated across the field. Because of the gravitational lensing phenomenon, the background galaxies are magnified to appear as much as 10 to 20 times larger than they would normally appear. Furthermore, the faintest of these highly magnified objects is 10 to 20 times fainter than any galaxy observed previously. Without the boost from gravitational lensing, the many background galaxies would be invisible.

The Hubble exposure will be combined with images from Spitzer and NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory to provide new insight into the origin and evolution of galaxies and their accompanying black holes.

Image Credit: NASA/ESA

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