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Distant Galaxies Hubble Space Telescope has looked across 12 billion light-years of space to see some of the oldest galaxies in the cosmos — as they looked when they were young! |
Galaxy NGC 426 Hubble Space Telescope images an active galaxy with a black hole at its heart. This was among the first of the space telescope's black hole discoveries. Many galaxies have supermassive black holes at their hearts. |
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Exploring Stephan's Quintet Gemini Observatory peers into the heart of Stephan's Quintet. 
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Gas at the Milky Way's Heart The Chandra X-Ray Satellite Image of Gas at the Milky Way's Heart.
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The Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) Isaac Newton Telescope (La Palma) imaged the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51). This galaxy has spiral arms fairly bristling with bursts of star formation! Its companion is tied to M51 by a bridge of hydrogen gas. |
Galaxies in Collision Colliding galaxies affect each other for millions of years as they dance around each other in cosmic rhythms. As they approach, strong gravitational tides rip clouds of stars and gas and dust out from one of the galaxies. |
The Cartwheel Galaxy It shows us what happens when two galaxies collide! Not only are they torn to bits, but hordes of bright new stars form in the aftermath! |
Hickson Compact Group 79 — Seyfert's Sextet This distant grouping of four colliding galaxies, a distant background galaxy, and a tidal tail of stars pulled out from one of the members, is a snapshot of galactic merger on a grand scale. |