Nebula

Nebula

Observation of the Crab Nebula, as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2024. Credit: NASA, ESA, STScI, W. Blair (JHU). Image Processing: J. DePasquale (STScI)

This cosmic crab is all that's left of an explosion seen by ancient stargazers. Hubble is giving today's astronomers a view like never before

A new view of the most famous supernova remnant in the night sky

The Egg Nebula, the early stages of a planetary nebula, as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope. Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, B. Balick (University of Washington)

Hubble's view of the Egg Nebula

Hubble gives astronomers a fleeting glimpse of a key moment in a star's life

An image of the Christmas Tree Cluster processed to make it look more like a Christmas Tree. Blue and white 'lights' are young stars that give off X-rays detected by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory. Green gas from the nebula is captured in optical light by the National Science Foundation’s WIYN 0.9-meter telescope on Kitt Peak. Infrared data from the Two Micron All Sky Survey shows foreground and background stars in white. Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: T.A. Rector (NRAO/AUI/NSF and NOIRLab/NSF/AURA) and B.A. Wolpa (NOIRLab/NSF/AURA); Infrared: NASA/NSF/IPAC/CalTech/Univ. of Massachusetts; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare & J.Major

Cosmic Christmas Tree Cluster glows festive green in real deep-space image

The Christmas Tree Cluster appears green and even more Christmassy in a new image.

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Image of the Butterfly Nebula captured by the Gemini South telescope. Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA. Image Processing: J. Miller & M. Rodriguez (International Gemini Observatory/NSF NOIRLab), T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF NOIRLab), M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab)

This strange butterfly-shaped cloud in space is what our Sun may look like in 5 billion years

James Webb Space Telescope image of NGC 6537, the Red Spider Nebula. Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, J. H. Kastner (Rochester Institute of Technology)

This dying star is forming a strange spider structure, and Webb is giving scientists a brand new view

Image of the Butterfly Nebula using data from the James Webb Space Telescope and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, M. Matsuura, ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO), N. Hirano, M. Zamani (ESA/Webb)

New Webb image! Space telescope shows what's really going on at the heart of a butterfly-shaped dying star

Butterfly Nebula

11 nebulae that look like animals

A collection of cosmic clouds that resemble various members of the animal kingdom.

The Boomerang Nebula: a planetary nebula considered to be the coldest known place in the entire Universe. Credit: European Space Agency, NASA

Brrrrr! This is the coldest place in the Universe we know of. It's a dying star called the Boomerang Nebula

The Boomerang Nebula is the only known place colder than the glow left over from the Big Bang.

3D construction of the Crab Nebula using data captured by the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. Credit: Thomas Martin, Danny Milisavljevic and Laurent Drissen

Winding the Crab Nebula back in time reveals the secrets of the exploding star at its heart

Image showing the location of white dwarf WD 2226-210 (centre) in the Helix Nebula. Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/Univ Mexico/S. Estrada-Dorado et al.; Ultraviolet: NASA/JPL; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI (M. Meixner)/NRAO (T.A. Rector); Infrared: ESO/VISTA/J. Emerson; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/K. Arcand; Illustration: NASA/CXC/SAO/M. Weiss

Helix Nebula white dwarf may have destroyed a planet

Image of the Guitar Nebula - 'guitar' shape outlined - and pulsar PSR B2224+65 captured by the Chandra X-ray Observatory, Hubble Space Telescope and Palomar Observatory. Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Stanford Univ./M. de Vries et al.; Optical: (Hubble) NASA/ESA/STScI and (Palomar) Hale Telescope/Palomar/CalTech; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare

Guitar Nebula

$The Pleiades Harshwardhan Pathak, captured remotely via Telescope Live, Heaven’s Mirror Observatory, Australia and IC Astronomy Observatory, Spain, 10 September–18 November 2023 Equipment: QHY600M Pro camera, Takahashi FSQ-106EDX4 refractor, Software Bisque Paramount MX+ mount$

Merope Nebula

View of the Dark Wolf Nebula captured by ESO's VLT Survey Telescope. Credit: ESO/VPHAS+ team

Dark Wolf Nebula

Image of the Rosette Nebula and star cluster NGC 2244 captured by the Dark Energy Camera on the U.S. National Science Foundation Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab. Credit: CTIO/NOIRLab/DOE/NSF/AURA. Image Processing: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF NOIRLab), D. de Martin & M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab)

Rosette Nebula is stunning in Dark Energy Camera image

NGC 6210, as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope. Credit: Credit: Robert Rubin and Christopher Ortiz (NASA/ESA Ames Research Center), Patrick Harrington and Nancy Jo Lame (University of Maryland), Reginald Dufour (Rice University), and NASA/ESA

6 planetary nebulae to spot in the summer

Planetary nebulae are the swan songs of dying stars. Here are 6 wonderful examples perfect for summer nights' observing.

Hubble has helped to define the shape of the Ring Nebula, revealing it to be doughnut shaped, with lower density material at its core. Credit: Credits: NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration

Gallery | Ring Nebula

Facts and images about the Ring Nebula, M57, a planetary nebula found 2,000 lightyears away in Lyra.

Red Rectangle Nebula. Credit: NASA; ESA; Hans Van Winckel (Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium); and Martin Cohen (University of California, Berkeley)

Red Rectangle Nebula

How to observe the Pillars of Creation through your own telescope. Credit: ESA/NASA/Hubble

How to see the famous Pillars of Creation nebula from your own back garden

You’ll need to be eagle-eyed to see M16, the star of the iconic Pillars of Creation.

The Orion Nebula (left) is an emission nebula, whereas M78 (right) is a reflection nebula. Credit: David Wills / Alvaro Ibañez Perez

Emission nebula vs reflection nebula

Confused about emission and reflection nebulae? This is our primer explaining the difference between the two.

James Webb Space Telescope NIRCam image of the Serpens Nebula. Red streaks in the top left are shockwaves caused by jets from young stars colliding with cosmic gas and dust. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, K. Pontoppidan (NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory), J. Green (Space Telescope Science Institute)

Webb sees jets from newborn stars produce shockwaves as they smash into cosmic gas and dust

James Webb Space Telescope image of the Serpens Nebula, showing shockwaves caused by jets from new stars colliding with cosmic gas and dust.

Crab Nebula, M1 Mayall telescope, 15 March 2023

Gallery | The Crab Nebula

Images of Messier 1, the Crab Nebula, facts about this glowing cosmic cloud and the history of its observation by Chinese and European astronomers.

Portion of the Horsehead Nebula 'mane' captured by the James Webb Space Telescope's NIRCam instrument. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Karl Misselt (University of Arizona), Alain Abergel (AIM Paris-Saclay)

Webb Telescope zooms in on the top of the dark cosmic cloud known as the Horsehead Nebula

A new view of the top of the famous dark nebula.

A view of the Spin Nebula captured by the Shared Remote Astrophotography team. Credit ShaRA Team

How amateur astrophotographers captured a little-known dying star called the Spin Nebula

Astrophotographers tracked down and photographed a planetary nebula known as the Spin Nebula in the Gum 14/15 nebula complex.

The Orion Nebula

Astronomy explained | What is a nebula?

Majestic and mysterious, nebulae are some of the most beautiful deep-sky objects to be found in the night’s sky. But what are these space clouds? And how are they created?

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