Desktop Wallpaper: Deep space nebula
Image 1 of 19
The Eagle Nebula
The Eagle Nebula
ntThe mysterious nebula is arguably the most awe-inspiring cosmological phenomena known. The images published by our friends at NASA reveal the vastness of the universe and make for some mesmerizing desktop wallpaper.
n
ntOne of the most striking images produced by the Hubble Telescope was this view of the Eagle Nebula showing columns of cool interstellar hydrogen gas and dust.
n
ntNote: All of the images and descriptions are courtesy of NASA and many more are available on the NASA Web site. For best results, click the View full size link under each image. This gallery was originally published in November 2011.
n
ntCredit: NASA
An Unexplored Nebula
An Unexplored Nebula
ntThe combined light of the stars of the Milky Way are reflected by this cosmic dust cloud that soars some 300 light-years above the plane of our Galaxy. Dubbed the Angel Nebula by astronomer Steve Mandel’s 13 year old son, the dusty apparition is part of an expansive complex of dim and relatively unexplored diffuse nebulae, traced over large regions seen toward the North and South Galactic poles.
n
ntCredit & Copyright: Steve Mandel, Galaxy Images
Dust and the Helix Nebula
Dust and the Helix Nebula
ntDust makes this cosmic eye look red. The eerie Spitzer Space Telescope image shows infrared radiation from the well-studied Helix Nebula (NGC 7293) a mere 700 light-years away in the constellation Aquarius.
n
ntNASA, JPL-Caltech, Kate Su (Steward Obs., U. Arizona), et al.
In the Center of the Trifid Nebula
In the Center of the Trifid Nebula
ntClouds of glowing gas mingle with dust lanes in the Trifid Nebula, a star forming region toward the constellation of Sagittarius.
n
ntCredit & Copyright: Daniel Lopez (Observatorio del Teide)
The Cat's Paw Nebula
The Cat's Paw Nebula
ntAt 5,500 light years distant, Cat’s Paw is an emission nebula with a red color that originates from an abundance of ionized hydrogen atoms.
n
ntCredit & Copyright: T. A. Rector (U. Alaska), T. Abbott, NOAO, AURA, NSF
The Ring Nebula
The Ring Nebula
ntExcept for the rings of Saturn, the Ring Nebula (M57) is probably the most famous celestial band. This planetary nebula’s simple, graceful appearance is thought to be due to perspective — our view from planet Earth looking straight into what is actually a barrel-shaped cloud of gas shrugged off by a dying central star.
n
ntCredit: H. Bond et al., Hubble Heritage Team (STScI /AURA), NASA
The Great Carina Nebula
The Great Carina Nebula
ntA jewel of the southern sky, the Great Carina Nebula, aka NGC 3372, spans over 300 light-years, one of our galaxy’s largest star forming regions.
n
ntCredit & Copyright: Robert Gendler and Stephane Guisard
In the Heart of the Tarantula Nebula
In the Heart of the Tarantula Nebula
ntIn the heart of monstrous Tarantula Nebula lies huge bubbles of energetic gas, long filaments of dark dust, and unusually massive stars. In the center of this heart, is a knot of stars so dense that it was once thought to be a single star.
n
A Beautiful Boomerang Nebula
A Beautiful Boomerang Nebula
ntThis symmetric cloud dubbed the Boomerang Nebula was created by a high-speed wind of gas and dust blowing from an aging central star at speeds of nearly 600,000 kilometers per hour.
n
ntCredit: Hubble Heritage Team, J. Biretta (STScI) et al., (STScI/AURA), ESA, NASA
The Bubble Nebula
The Bubble Nebula
ntThe Bubble Nebula, is being pushed out by the stellar wind of massive central star BD+602522. Next door, though, lives a giant molecular cloud, visible above to the lower right.
n
ntCredit & Copyright: Russell Croman
Flame Nebula Close-Up
Flame Nebula Close-Up
ntThe Flame Nebula’s suggestive reddish color is due to the glow of hydrogen atoms at the edge of the giant Orion molecular cloud complex some 1,500 light-years away.
n
ntCredit & Copyright: Robert Gendler, Jan-Erik Ovaldsen
In the Center of the Rosette Nebula
In the Center of the Rosette Nebula
ntIn the heart of the Rosette Nebula lies a bright open cluster of stars that lights up the nebula.
n
ntCredit & Copyright: MegaPrime Camera, Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope
The Dumbbell Nebula
The Dumbbell Nebula
ntThe Dumbbell Nebula is a planetary nebula, the type of nebula our Sun will produce when nuclear fusion stops in its core.
n
ntCredit & Copyright: Michael Pierce (Indiana U.) et al., WIYN, AURA, NOAO, NSF
Reflection nebulae in Orion
Reflection nebulae in Orion
ntFound along Orion’s sword just north of the bright Orion Nebula complex, these reflection nebulae are also associated with Orion’s giant molecular cloud about 1,500 light-years away, but are dominated by the characteristic blue color of interstellar dust reflecting light from hot young stars.
n
ntCredit & Copyright: Martin Pugh
The Horsehead Nebula in Orion
The Horsehead Nebula in Orion
ntOne of the most identifiable nebulae in the sky, the Horsehead Nebula in Orion, is part of a large, dark, molecular cloud. Also known as Barnard 33, the unusual shape was first discovered on a photographic plate in the late 1800s.
n
ntCredit & Copyright: Adam Block, Mt. Lemmon SkyCenter, U. Arizona
LL Ori and the Orion Nebula
LL Ori and the Orion Nebula
ntThis is an esthetic close-up of cosmic clouds and stellar winds features LL Orionis, interacting with the Orion Nebula flow.
n
ntCredit: NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team
The Witch's Broom Nebula
The Witch's Broom Nebula
ntTen thousand years ago, before the dawn of recorded human history, a new light must suddenly have appeared in the night sky and faded after a few weeks. Today we know this light was an exploding star and record the colorful expanding cloud as the Veil Nebula. Pictured above is the west end of the Veil Nebula known technically as NGC 6960 but less formally as the Witch‘s Broom Nebula.
n
ntCredit & Copyright: T. A. Rector (U. Alaska), WIYN, NOAO, AURA, NSF
The Crescent Nebula
The Crescent Nebula
ntthe Crescent Nebula, is a cosmic bubble about 25 light-years across, blown by winds from its central, bright, massive star. This beautiful portrait of the nebula is from the Isaac Newton Telescope at Roque de los Muchachos Observatory in the Canary Islands.
n
ntCredit & Copyright: Daniel Lu00f3pez, IAC
Dust Pillar of the Carina Nebula
Dust Pillar of the Carina Nebula
ntThe monster, on the right, is actually an inanimate pillar of gas and dust that measures over a light year in length. The star, not itself visible through the opaque dust, is bursting out partly by ejecting energetic beams of particles.
n
ntCredit: NASA, ESA, and M. Livio and the Hubble 20th Anniversary Team (STScI)
