launch pad your first contact with the universe
Hubble captures a cornucopia of galaxies
©NASA/Aubrey Gemignani
© ESA/Hubble & NASA
A brief glance at this stunning image captured by the longserving Hubble Space Telescope and you’ll immediately realise that it’s dominated by the bright swirling spiral in the lower left. However, look closely and you’ll see a galaxy cluster behind it. It’s known as SDSS J0333+0651 and it helps astronomers get an understanding of the distant – and therefore early – universe. In particular, allowing researchers to look at star-formation regions up close. Clusters where galaxies swarm together are quite common, gathered up by gravity to form groups. In fact, our very own Milky Way is a member of the Local Group, which is part of the Virgo Cluster and, in turn, is part of the impressive 100,000-galaxy-strong Laniakea supercluster.
This visually arresting view of Saturn’s largest moon Titan is just one of many stunning images captured by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft before the mission ended in September 2017. The world, which is larger than the planet Mercury, measures 5,150 kilometres (3,200 miles) across – in this close-up, some of Titan’s intriguing features are plain to see. Cassini’s camera looks toward the dune-filled region known as Shangri-La, where the Huygens probe’s landing site sits. Look closely, and you’ll be able to see the detached haze that surrounds Titan. Behind the moon are Saturn's rings.
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©NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
Titan: a world of its own