The Tarantula Nebula: a composite image produced by Rob Gendler from data provided by the European Southern Observatory and the Hubble Space Telescope. It is a star-forming nebula -- a region of gas and dust, lit up by the light of newly-born stars inside.

Amazing star-forming region, the Tarantula #Nebula, 160,000 lightyears away & 600 lightyears wide. Another great composite image produced by noted amateur astronomer #RobGendler. Massive, luminous baby stars help it to glow.
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This colorful region of glowing gas, often called the Veil Nebula, is part of the large, old supernova remnant called the Cygnus Loop. A massive star exploded some 10-20 thousand years ago and the remnant is still glowing in places. Astronomers have determined that oxygen, sulfur, and hydrogen atoms are contributing to the glow.

We see the Veil Nebula, a small part of a vast ancient remnant of an exploded star, still glowing with colorful emissions from hydrogen, oxygen, and sulfur atoms.
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WR8, a Wolf-Rayet Star. These are massive stars losing their outer layers forcefully toward the end of their lives. The blue is the ejected material, the reddish glow comes from glowing gas and dust lying behind or front of the star, but not connected with it.

Beautiful image by Robert Fesen & collaborators showing a Wolf-Rayet star (WR8) -- a massive star violently letting go its outer layer (blue) against a background of glowing gas.
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The Ring Nebula, a "planetary" nebula (misnomer), probably better called a death-shroud nebula. This material, shown in a photo that combines visible-light and infrared images, is emitted in several steps from a dying star, in the process of becoming a dense white dwarf. The hot star excites that material that "lifted off" and makes it glow.

Complex, beautiful image, assembled by Rob Gendler, from several visible-light & Infrared telescopes, shows the Ring Nebula, with its many shells of material emitted by a dying star.
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Planetary nebula NGC 2899 glows from the energy of the hot white dwarf star in the center. The cavity in the expelled gas resembles the shape of a moth. The shape may be the result of the fact that the dying star that gave rise to the nebula orbits around a companion star in the center. The whole nebula is more than 2 lightyears across.

Beautiful new #HubbleTelescope image of the "death-shroud nebula" with catalog designation #NGC2899. The central star is giving off its outer layers in dying. What does the cavity in the gas look like to you?
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This color image shows the Horsehead Nebula, a pillar of dark dust that resembles a horse's head, in the context of the neighborhood it is found in -- a region full of cosmic "raw material" -- gas and dust.

In this remarkable image, Rob Gendler combines #Hubble telescope and ESO infrared data to show the dark Horsehead Nebula in Orion and a bright region of glowing gas that reminds me of a bulldog face.
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This image shows some of the hot, blue, young stars in the Trumpler 14 star cluster, as seen with the Hubble Space Telescope

This #Hubble telescope image shows the Trumpler 14 star cluster some 8000 lightyears away. The stars are extremely young, only half a million years old. Many will end their lives in a few million years in great explosions.
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As seen from the Moon by the Blue Ghost lander, the Earth eclipsed the Sun. Here the Sun emerges from eclipse and we get a "diamond ring" effect with the first bright flash of the emerging Sun.

The Blue Ghost Lander on the #Moon photographed last night's #lunareclipse from its unique vantage point. From the Moon, the Earth covered the Sun; here the Sun emerges from eclipse.
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Saturn from the Hubble Space Telescope, with subtle atmospheric bands and its rich system of rings.

Astronomers have found 128 new moons orbiting the planet #Saturn, bringing its total number of moons to 274, the largest of any known planet. These are small worlds, but they orbit like other moons.
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The Rosette Nebula, a region of recent star formation, resembles a flower opening, with the glowing gas configured like the petals, and the newly formed stars at the bud.

The magnificent Rosette #nebula, a region of recent star formation, with a cluster of adolescent stars at center. It's about 5000 LY away and about 130 LY across. (Photo by Rob Gendler)
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This huge cloud of cosmic "raw material" -- bright gas and dark dust -- is sometimes called the "boogeyman nebula" because it looks like there is a threatening dark figure in it.

Another favorite #astronomyimage -- the cloud of cosmic raw material (glowing gas and dark dust) that is sometimes nicknamed the Boogeyman nebula because of the threatening dark figure you can see within.
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Facies change--in a cliff face! Alluvial fan to lake deposits at Hole in the Wall, Death Valley. To download unedited versions, type "Facies Change" into the search on my site geologypics.com. All photos searchable and freely downloadable. please share.
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