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Quasar

A graphic shows a tilted disc in the center. A dark, diffuse purple ring lines its outer edge. The dark purple fades inward to a bright purple, light blue, and then lighter until it reaches the center where there is a black spot. From both the top and bottom of the disk's center, an icy light blue beam shoots out.
Credit: NASA
Published: December 1, 2022

An illustration of a quasar. The colors depicted in this illustration are for artistic purposes only.

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An illustration of a planetary nebula.
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A subtly transparent, colorful hourglass shape has a central point that is a white circle surrounded by bright, white haze. Extending outward from the center in opposite directions are plums of color that form the hourglass shape. The central part of each plume starts as an icy, light blue and fades upward into a purple color and outward into red. White dots representing stars speckle the image.
Planetary Nebula (Version Two, Purple)
An illustration of a long gamma-ray burst caused by a collapsing star.
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At the center of a series of nested blue circles is a black dot representing a black hole. A pair of cone-shaped, white jets emerge from either side of the black hole, tilted 45 degrees from vertical. The outermost blue circle has layered scalloped edges.
Long Gamma-Ray Burst From a Collapsing Star
An illustration of NASA's Chandra spacecraft.
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A graphic of Chandra is shown in light and dark blue with a long, cylindrical main body. At the front of this cylinder is a darker circle. Jutting off of the front of the main body are two "wings" of solar arrays.
Chandra X-ray Observatory
An illustration of JAXA's Hitomi spacecraft.
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This Hitomi illustration shows the space telescope in shades of blue. The main body of the spacecraft is a long octagon with a cylindrical object on the front end. The cylinder has several smaller cylinders extending from it. On the back end of the satellite extends a long pole that ends in an octagonal panel. Solar panels extend to either side of the main body.
Hitomi
A circular illustration of a supernova.
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A large circular shape with rounded waves around the edge, this graphic gives the appearance of a flower. Smaller transparent circles with the same wavy edge are layered inward to create an inner starburst shape. While the outer rings are a muddy, light red color, the inner starburst shape is a darker color with green around its edge and dark blue in the center. White dots representing stars speckle the image.
Supernova (Red)
An illustration of a blue star-forming nebula.
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A large, amorphous blob in a subtle tear drop shape has layers of transparent, hazy color overlapping. The different layers are a range of transparent blues, some greener shades than others. While white dots representing stars speckle the whole image, in the center of this shape is a bright white oval cloud with more pronounced and larger stars grouped together.
Star-forming Nebula (Version One, Blue)
An illustration of the ASCA spacecraft, developed by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science in Japan.
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A graphic of ASCA is shown in light and dark shades of blue. The body of the spacecraft is bottle shaped, and an array of solar panels crosses on top of the widest part.
ASCA (Advanced Satellite for Cosmology and Astrophysics)
An illustration of NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope.
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This illustration shows NASA's Kepler mission in shades of blue. The main body of the spacecraft is cylindrical in shape, with a slanted top and a base that attaches to a structure wrapping around half of the main body of the craft.
Kepler Space Telescope
An illustration of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope.
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This illustration shows NASA's James Webb Space Telescope in shades of blue. Its base is made up of multiple different layers in an elongated shape. On top of the base sits the observatory's primary mirror which is a large hexagonal shape made up of smaller hexagons. Two rods at the base and one at the top protrude forward and all connect to a small disc, shaped object.
James Webb Space Telescope
An illustration of NASA's NuSTAR space telescope.
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This illustration shows NASA's NuSTAR space telescope in shades of blue. Attached to the base of the instrument is a long, tower-like structure that extends out towards the front of the spacecraft that has a singular, wing-shaped solar array attached.
NuSTAR (Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array)
 An illustration of ESA's Euclid spacecraft.
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An illustration in multiple shades of blue depicting Euclid. The spacecraft has a cylindrical body with an open top and a flat, square base as well as a flat panel along its back.
Euclid
A textbook illustration of a pulsar.
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This object resembles a tilted open clamshell with a pearl in the center. The two halves of the shape have curved stripes that start as a bold, dark blue on the outside and move inward towards the center, getting brighter and lighter. In the center is a bright white circle with transparent yellow beams emerging from its sides.
Pulsar (Version One)
An illustration showing an irregular galaxy.
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An amorphous, bean-shaped diffuse purple blob that's darker around the rim with a light, whitish center. White dots representing stars speckle the image.
Irregular Galaxy (Version Three)
An angled oval illustration of a supernova.
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A large oval shape on an angled tilt with rounded waves around the edge, this graphic has a flower-like appearance. Smaller transparent circles with the same wavy edge are layered inward to create an inner starburst shape. The outer rings are a very yellow green color and they move inward into different light orange colors and finally to a center oval shape that is a dark blue and appears like a starburst because of the waved outlines that lay on top. White dots representing stars speckle the image.
Supernova (Yellow)
An illustration of a purple spiral galaxy.
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A hazy range of purples makes up the base of this swirling spiral of light blue lines twirling inward toward a yellow cloud with a white spot in the center. White dots representing stars speckle the image.
Spiral Galaxy (Purple)
An illustration of a pink and purple star-forming nebula.
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A large, amorphous blob in a subtle tear drop shape has layers of transparent, hazy color overlapping, starting with a small blue haze around the edge and moving inward to a dark purple, a redder purple, and then a brighter purple. While white dots representing stars speckle the whole image, in the center of this shape is a bright white oval cloud with more pronounced and larger stars grouped together.
Star-forming Nebula (Version One, Purple)
An illustration of a yellow  elliptical galaxy.
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A diffuse oval is outlined by light yellow but gets progressively more opaque moving towards the center, a bright white spot surrounded by a small ring of white haze. White dots representing stars speckle the image.
Elliptical Galaxy (Yellow)
An illustration of JAXA’s XRISM spacecraft.
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This illustration shows NASA's XRISM spacecraft in shades of blue. A multi-sided cylindrical body has solar array "wings" on either side and a smaller, rounded cylindrical front with small pieces of the instrument at the very front.
XRISM (X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission)
An illustration showing a purple, front view of a barred spiral galaxy.
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A background of medium, bright purple shows a bright, white, thin line that creates an oblong, elongated swirl that connects in the middle with a yellowish, diffuse cloud. White dots representing stars speckle the image.
Barred Spiral Galaxy (Front View, Purple)
An illustration of NASA's NICER X-ray observatory.
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This illustration shows NASA's NICER observatory in shades of blue. A smaller, flat and square lower half connects to a top half that is cube-shaped with a series of small, circular pieces across its face.
NICER (Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer)
An illustration of NASAs Spitzer.
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This illustration shows NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope in shades of blue. The main body of the observatory is cylindrical with an open top and a large piece containing the observatory's solar array on a panel on the telescope's back.
Spitzer Space Telescope
An illustration of NASA's Hubble spacecraft.
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This Hubble illustration shows the space telescope in shades of blue. A main cylindrical body has an opening with a flap at the top. The spacecraft's main body connects to two sets of two panels jutting out from either side horizontally and two circular objects attached vertically.
Hubble Space Telescope
An illustration of a pulsar with asymmetric magnetic field lines.
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This object resembles an open clamshell with a pearl in the center and with one half significantly larger than the other. The two halves of the shape have different sizes of curved stripes that start as a dark blue on the outside and move inward towards the center, getting brighter and lighter. In the center is a bright white circle with transparent yellow beams emerging from its sides.
Pulsar (Version Two)
An illustration of NASA's TESS spacecraft.
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This illustration of NASA's TESS shows the spacecraft in shades of blue. The multi-sided, cylindrical shaped main body of the satellite has two solar array "wings," each extending out from the sides of the satellite which is attached to an open, cone shaped bottom piece. Nestled inside the cone are four squares which show the relative positions of TESS’s cameras.
TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite)
An illustration of the HaloSat spacecraft.
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This HaloSat illustration shows the space telescope in shades of blue. The body of the spacecraft is a rectangle with three circles along the long, narrow side. One solar panel extends from the spacecraft body.
HaloSat

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