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This visualization shows gamma rays detected by NASA's Fermi during a flare from galaxy 3C 279.
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This GIF shows a representation of a gamma-ray flare from an active galaxy. Throughout the animation, circles appear that then expand like raindrops on water in varying sizes and shades of magenta. The smaller circles with lighter colors represent lower energy gamma rays, and the larger circles with darker colors are higher energy gamma rays. The animation starts with just a few of these drops across the image, with the density increasing and more large drops appearing in the center of the image toward the end, until the image is nearly filled with the expanding circles.
Fermi Spots Record Flare from Blazar 3C 279
Explore this infographic to learn more about SuperTIGER, cosmic rays, and scientific ballooning.
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This infographic shows many factoids about the SuperTIGER balloon mission. The poster has the header: “SuperTIGER Catching heavy cosmic rays.” There is a cut-out line drawing of the SuperTIGER payload as if it was dangling from a balloon. Near this is the text, “SuperTIGER is a souped-up version of the Trans-Iron Galactice Element Recorder (TIGER) detector that flew in 1997, 2001, and 2003.” next to that are a series of representations of cosmic rays from an electron (1% of cosmic rays), hydrogen (90%), helium (8%), and heavier nuclei (1%). Next to that is a periodic table of the elements with the elements from neon (atomic #10) to barium (atomic #56) highlighted. This is accompanied by the text, “Cosmic rays are particles from far outside the solar system traveling at up to nearly the speed of light. SuperTIGER seeks heavy atomic nuclei ranging from neon to barium.” Just below the cosmic ray particles and periodic table is a silhouette of a van accompanying the text, “SuperTIGER and its supporting hardware weighs 6,000 pounds (2,700 kilograms), comparable to a full-size van.” A drawing of Antarctica with arrows encircling the continent in a counterclockwise direction is accompanied by the text, “SuperTIGER launches from McMurdo Station, Antarctica, and can float for weeks. Circular winds aloft confine it to the continent.” Just below these items there is a depiction of the balloon at launch, taking up about two-thirds the height of the poster. The line drawing of the balloon at launch includes the inflated portion of the balloon, which is just a small upside down tear-drop at the top, the recovery parachute, and the SuperTIGER payload. With this is the text, “Balloon at launch, 856 feet (261 meters) tall.” The balloon stands next to a line drawing of the Washington Monument, which stands 555 feet (169 meters) tall. Next to this is a depiction of the balloon in flight, with the balloon fully inflated from the top down to the recovery parachute. The text says: “Balloon at altitude, 460 feet (140 meters) across.” Next to the payload drawing is the text, “SuperTIGER reaches a maximum height of about 127,000 feet (39,000 meters).” Near this is a drawing of a commercial jet and the text, “That’s nearly four times the typical cruising altitude of commercial airliners and above 99.5 percent of the atmosphere.”
SuperTIGER Infographic
This bone-chilling force will leave you shivering alone in terror!
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This poster pictures an ominous, green bat that emerges from the cosmos, pushing objects like galaxies and stars further apart into the void of outer space.
Dark Energy – "Galaxy of Horrors" poster (English)
Este planeta lejano puede parecer un refugio amigable… ¡pero no te dejes engañar! ¡El clima en este mundo es mortal!
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Este planeta lejano puede parecer un refugio amigable… ¡pero no te dejes engañar! ¡El clima en este mundo es mortal! ¡El color azul cobalto del planeta proviene de una atmósfera brumosa e incendiaria que contiene nubes de cristales de vidrio! ¡Sus vientos aulladores envían las tormentas de vidrio a 5,400 MPH (2 km / s), azotando todo a su paso en una espiral espeluznante alrededor del planeta! ¡Es la muerte por un millón de cortes en este planeta slasher!
Lluvia de Terror – "Galaxy of Horrors" póster (En Español)
NASA's Spitzer penetrates dust hiding the Milky Way's center in this image.
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At the center of this starry vista is a bright white spot surrounded by warm knots of red clouds. The clouds extend across the image from left to right and nearly all the way from the bottom to the top, with some black sky visible toward the top of the image. Within the red wispy clouds, there are clouds that appear black, regions that are so dense, they are blocking our view.
Revealing the Milky Way's Center
NASA's Chandra detected the X-rays from Uranus.
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Uranus is depicted in blues and pinks, encircled by a near vertical white ring. The blue and white colors represent optical data obtained by the Keck-1 Telescope, and the pink represents X-ray data gathered by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. The blues, which appear as blended, near vertical stripes, range from midnight blue at our right, to teal and even neon sky blue at our left. Across the right half of the planet is a teardrop-shaped patch of neon pink. Several pale blue dots mark the surface of the planet, though none appear in the hot pink patch. The near vertical ring, which is slightly tipped toward our upper-right, is quite thin. It appears white when set against the black background, and pink when it passes in front of the planet's pink patch.
Chandra Studies Uranus in X-rays
This image of supernova remnant RCW 86 combines data from NASA's Chandra, WISE, and Spitzer as well as ESA's XMM-Newton.
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This starry background has red clouds scattered across the image. There’s a wide arc of blue, white and green at the bottom right of the image, and a thin arc running over the left and top of the image. Together these arcs almost form a circle.
Supernova Remnant RCW 86
This simulated image of part of the Andromeda galaxy highlights the potential of NASA’s upcoming Roman mission.
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This image shows the detector “footprint” of NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Six columns of three squares are arranged such that the top of the middle two columns are close to the top of the image, the next two columns are a little lower down, and the two outer columns are even lower. Within these square are seen a simulated image that has a background of pale black dotted with stars. The squares on the lower left side have brighter light, which would represent regions of the sky closer to the center of the Andromeda galaxy.
Simulated Image Demonstrates Roman's Future Power
A real monster black hole is revealed in this image from NASA's NuSTAR and Hubble.
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Three panels show the same region of sky in different wavelengths of light. On the left is a high-energy X-ray image, which has a bright white spot at the center with a halo of reds and yellows. The halo is brightest on the left side of the white central spot. On the right is the optical light image, which shows two cloudy ovals in shards of white, pale blue and red coming together. Where they meet the image is very bright. Also in the image are a few background spots of light on the black background. In the central image, the X-ray and optical images are shown together, so we see the bright spot where the galaxies come together surrounded by the red X-ray haze.
Tale of Two Black Holes
This festive portrait of our Milky Way galaxy comes from ESA's Planck mission.
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This oval image represents a view of the entire sky unfolded and laid out flat. Running horizontally across the middle of the oval is a bright line of white, which is light emitted by gas and dust in the plane of the Milky Way. Mottled red fills the oval with a few areas of yellow, especially along the plane of the Milky Way and extending above and below it. Over all of this, in the center, is a thick ring of blue.
A Milky Way 'Mixer' Amongst the Stars
In this mosaic stretching 340 light-years across, NASA's Webb’s showcases the Tarantula Nebula star-forming region.
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Swirling reds, whites, and light yellows mix around in front of a starry sky.
Webb Catches A Cosmic Tarantula
¡Esta fuerza escalofriante te dejará temblando de terror!
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Este póster muestra un murciélago verde siniestro que emerge del cosmos, empujando objetos como galaxias y estrellas hacia el vacío del espacio exterior.
Energía oscura – "Galaxy of Horrors" póster (En Español)
The "Hand of God," a pulsar wind nebula, is imaged here by NASA's Chandra and NuSTAR missions.
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A supernova remnant rises like an ethereal hand up the center of the image. The “wrist” appears in bright white while the finger-like structures are formed from a tangle of yellow strands of emission. This hand-shaped nebula intersects a spotty red oval with dots of light.
X-ray View of 'Hand of God'
NASA's Spitzer captured this mosaic image of the Cepheus C and Cepheus B regions in the constellation Cepheus.
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Two cloudy nebula appear in this image, each in shades of green, yellow and red. One appears to blast across the image from the lower left just about to the top of the image just the right of center. At the top end the nebua had a bright white spot with a red halo, and trailing behind to the lower left of the image is a semi-transparent green cloud looking like a dress trailing behind. Taking up the lower right portion of the image is a compact green bundle of clouds, with just a thin strip of black sky between the two nebulae.
Cepheus C & Cepheus B
NASA’s Webb has peered into the chaos of the Cartwheel Galaxy.
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A large pink, speckled galaxy resembling a wheel with a small, inner oval, with dusty blue in between on the right. Two smaller spiral galaxies about the same size are to the left, all against a black background.
Webb Captures the Cartwheel Galaxy
This image from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) features comet 65/P Gunn.
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Comet 65/P Gunn looks like a match with a flame against a starry background. A thin stripe of red runs from the left side of the image almost to the middle where a bright red and yellow ball flares up with a tail tapering off to the right.
WISE Catches Comet 65-P Gunn
This image of the whole sky shows 22 months of data recorded by NASA's NICER mission aboard the International Space Station.
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On a black background are a network of orange filaments connecting a number of bright spots. The bright spots indicate places where the filaments cross, and are sources in the sky where NICER often points its telescope. The swirling loops between those points reveal the path NICER’s telescope takes between these sources.
NICER's Night Moves Trace the X-ray Sky
This NASA NuSTAR image reveals high-energy X-rays from radioactive material in Cassiopeia A.
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This image of X-ray light from a supernova remnant shows a nearly-circular mess of colors representing different wavelengths of X-ray light. Near the center is a blotchy patch of electric blue light. Surrounding and interweaving with that are wisps of yellow, orange and red. A plume of green juts out on the left side of the blast, with green edging around the orange light on the top and bottom of the blast. And a faint ring of pale yellow light surrounds the main ball of color.
Untangling the Remains of Cassiopeia A
NASA's Webb captured this image of the star-forming region NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula.
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The image is divided horizontally by an undulating line between a cloudscape forming a nebula along the bottom portion and a comparatively clear upper portion. Speckled across both portions is a starfield, showing innumerable stars of many sizes. The smallest of these are small, distant, and faint points of light. The largest of these appear larger, closer, brighter, and more fully resolved with 8-point diffraction spikes. The upper portion of the image is blueish, and has wispy translucent cloud-like streaks rising from the nebula below. The orangish cloudy formation in the bottom half varies in density and ranges from translucent to opaque. The stars vary in color, the majority of which, have a blue or orange hue. The cloud-like structure of the nebula contains ridges, peaks, and valleys – an appearance very similar to a mountain range. Three long diffraction spikes from the top right edge of the image suggest the presence of a large star just out of view.
Webb Reveals the Carina Nebula
AU Microscopii se encuentra entre los sistemas planetarios más jóvenes jamás observados por los astrónomos, ¡y su estrella tiene unas brutales rabietas!
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Ubicado a menos de 32 años luz de la Tierra, AU Microscopii se encuentra entre los sistemas planetarios más jóvenes jamás observados por los astrónomos, ¡y su estrella tiene unas brutales rabietas! ¿Has oído hablar de los "terribles dos años"? Pues AU Mic está en medio de sus terribles 22… ¡millones de años! Este sistema joven diabólico mantiene cautivo a su planeta, AU Mic b, dentro de un disco de polvo fantasmal y lo atormenta incesantemente con explosiones mortales de rayos X y otras radiaciones, frustrando cualquier posibilidad de vida ... ¡tal como la conocemos! ¡Cuidado! No hay escapatoria a la furia estelar de este sistema. Las llamaradas monstruosas de AU Mic te harán rogar por la oscuridad eterna.
Llamaradas de Furia – "Galaxy of Horrors" póster (En Español)
This composite image of the nebula RCW 120 was captured by NASA's Spitzer and SOFIA missions.
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A faint ring of gray clouds breaks at the top, looking like horns extending upward. Inside the left side and lower part of the gray ring is a thick blue cloud. A ribbon of red overlaps part of the blue cloud on the left side, but also extends just outside the gray clouds. All of this is on a black background dotted with star light.
RCW 120
This illustration explains the electromagnetic force, one of the four fundamental forces in the universe.
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This infographic is done mostly in shades of blue. At the top left is the title: "Electromagnetic Force." Below that is a block of text that reads: "The electromagnetic force holds together objects with opposite electrical charges, like the proton and electron that make up one hydrogen atom." Below and to the right of the text is an illustration of a hydrogen atom. A blue circle representing a proton sits in the middle of a larger, transparent white circle. A yellow electron is orbiting the proton, illustrated by a streak of yellow trailing the proton across the top of the white circle.
Electromagnetic Force
In this photo, NICER’s X-ray concentrator optics are inspected under a black light for dust and foreign object debris.
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Taking up the center of the photo is one of NICER’s X-ray concentrators which is formed from concentric cylindrical mirrors that look like a vinyl record with very deep grooves. On top of the concentrator is a metal structure with a hexagonal plate in the center that has thin bars extending from each of the six corners, looking like a spiderweb. This one concentrator is surrounded by five others, which are only partially seen. Along the top quarter of the image is a clear window that reflects rectangular light and has a series of small holds in a grid across the bottom edge. Some parts of the central concentrator and the one to the upper right of it are bathed in purple light.
Close-up View of NICER's X-Ray Optics
The history of the universe is outlined in this illustration. 
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This infographic is done in shades of blue and white. At the top left is the title: “History of the Universe.” Below that is a cone with graphics representing different stages of cosmic history within eight evenly spaced ovals. Below the cone is text connected to each oval indicating time since the beginning of the universe, the name of the cosmic era, and a brief description. The first oval on the left is filled with blobs, and the associated text reads: 10 to the negative 32 seconds, Inflation, and Initial expansion. Moving right, the next oval is filled with light (represented as squiggles), protons, and neutrons. The text below reads: one microsecond; first particles; and neutrons, protons, and electrons form. The next oval is filled with light (squiggles) and atomic nuclei. The text below reads: three minutes; first nuclei; and helium and hydrogen form. The next oval is filled with light (squiggles) and atoms. The text below reads: 380,000 years; first light; and the first atoms form. The next oval is filled with transparent areas of blue representing gas with a few dots representing stars. The text below reads: 200 million years; first stars; and gas and dust condense into stars. The next oval is filled with tightly packed galaxies with some transparent areas representing gas. The text below reads: 400 million years; galaxies and dark matter; and galaxies form in dark matter cradles. The next oval is filled with galaxies that have moved apart with stars in between. The text below reads: 10 billion years; dark energy; and expansion accelerates. The last oval is filled with galaxies that have moved far apart with stars in between. The text below reads: 13.8 billion years; today; and humans observe the universe.
History of the Universe
NASA's Swift imaged the extremely luminous afterglow of explosion GRB 080319B.
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The image has two views of the same portion of sky. On the left, the X-ray light is shown in yellows and oranges like a bright ball of fire on a black background. On the right is the optical view with several balls of white light showing a starry background. In the center of the image is one of the balls of light but surrounded by an orange and green halo.
A Stellar Explosion You Could See on Earth

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The galaxy JW100 features prominently in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.
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Hubble Snaps a Galactic Jellyfish
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Researchers observing with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have pinpointed silicate cloud features in a distant planet’s atmosphere.
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NASA's Webb Spots Swirling, Gritty Clouds on Remote Planet
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UGCA 307 hangs against an irregular backdrop of distant galaxies in this image from the Hubble Space Telescope.
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Hubble Sees a Diminutive Dwarf Galaxy
Hubble Sees a Diminutive Dwarf Galaxy
The Large Area Telescope aboard NASA’s Fermi satellite can give us a glimpse of an otherwise invisible cosmic light show.
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NASA's Fermi Captures Dynamic Gamma-Ray Sky in New Animation
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The rare sight of a Wolf-Rayet star was one of the first observations made by NASA’s Webb in June 2022.
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NASA's Webb Telescope Captures Rarely Seen Prelude to Supernova
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The irregular spiral galaxy NGC 5486 hangs against a background of dim, distant galaxies in this Hubble image.
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Hubble Spots a Star-Forming Spiral
Hubble Spots a Star-Forming Spiral
This image features a galaxy called 3C 297 that is lonelier than expected after it likely pulled in and absorbed its former companion galaxies.
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Chandra Helps Astronomers Discover a Surprisingly Lonely Galaxy
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Scientists created a gargantuan synthetic survey showing what we can expect from the Roman Space Telescope’s future observations.
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Millions of Galaxies Emerge in New Simulated Images From NASA's Roman
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A “jellyfish galaxy” with trailing tentacles of stars hangs in inky blackness in this Hubble image.
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Hubble Peers at a Galactic Seascape
Hubble Peers at a Galactic Seascape
A new simulation shows how NASA’s Roman Space Telescope will unveil the evolving universe in ways that have never been possible before.
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How NASA's Roman Space Telescope Will Rewind the Universe
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NASA's Hubble captured photos of asteroid Dimorphos when it was deliberately hit by a spacecraft called DART in September 2022.
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Hubble Captures Movie of DART Asteroid Impact Debris
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A massive galaxy cluster in the constellation Cetus dominates the center of this Hubble image.
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Hubble Observes Cosmic Contortions
Hubble Observes Cosmic Contortions
A new study using Chandra X-ray Observatory has tracked two pairs of supermassive black holes in dwarf galaxies.
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NASA's Chandra Discovers Giant Black Holes on Collision Course
NASA's Chandra Discovers Giant Black Holes on Collision Course
NASA will launch Israel’s first space telescope, the Ultraviolet Transient Astronomy Satellite (ULTRASAT).
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NASA to Launch Israel's First Space Telescope
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A spectacular trio of merging galaxies in the constellation Boötes takes center stage in this Hubble image.
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Hubble Views a Merging Galactic Trio
Hubble Views a Merging Galactic Trio
Astronomers revealed a deep field image from NASA’s Webb featuring never-before-seen details in a region of space known as Pandora’s Cluster.
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NASA's Webb Uncovers New Details in Pandora's Cluster
NASA's Webb Uncovers New Details in Pandora's Cluster
Right in the middle of this image, taken with the Hubble Space Telescope, lies the newly discovered dwarf galaxy known as Donatiello II.
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Hubble Spots an Elusive Galaxy
Hubble Spots an Elusive Galaxy
New Hubble images of Saturn herald the start of the planet's "spoke season," when enigmatic features appear across its rings.
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Hubble Captures the Start of a New Spoke Season at Saturn
Hubble Captures the Start of a New Spoke Season at Saturn
Some of the hottest spots in the Sun’s atmosphere appear in the telescope’s X-ray view.
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NASA's NuSTAR Telescope Reveals Hidden Light Shows on the Sun
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Engineers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center finished testing the high-gain antenna for the Roman Space Telescope.
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High-Gain Antenna for NASA's Roman Mission Clears Environmental Tests
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An asteroid roughly the size of Rome’s Colosseum has been detected by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.
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Webb Detects Extremely Small Main Belt Asteroid
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A snapshot of the Tarantula Nebula is featured in this image from Hubble.
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Hubble's New View of the Tarantula Nebula
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Astronomers using NASA's Hubble have for the first time directly measured the mass of a single, isolated white dwarf.
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For the First Time Hubble Directly Measures Mass of a Lone White Dwarf
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The bright variable star V 372 Orionis takes center stage in this Hubble image.
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Hubble Views a Stellar Duo in Orion Nebula
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NASA’s Webb team will receive the 2023 John L. “Jack” Swigert, Jr., Award for Space Exploration, a top award from the Space Foundation.
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NASA's Webb Telescope Receives Top Space Foundation Award
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