In the cold vacuum of space, radiation from massive stars carves away at cold molecular clouds, creating bizarre, fantasy-like structures. These pillars of cold hydrogen and dust, imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope, are located in the Carina Nebula. Violent ...
Dreamy, Young Stars
The Orion Nebula is a ‘happening’ place where stars are born and this colony of hot, young stars is stirring up the cosmic scene in this image from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope. The young stars dip and peak in brightness; ...
Stellar Spire in the Eagle Nebula
Appearing like a winged fairy-tale creature poised on a pedestal, this object is actually a billowing tower of cold gas and dust rising from a stellar nursery called the Eagle Nebula. The soaring tower is 9.5 light-years or about 90 ...
Heavy Metals
A team of physicists recently found that an atomic nucleus can hold many more neutrons than what was previously considered possible. In experiments conducted earlier this year, researchers created and detected one new ultra-heavy isotope of magnesium – magnesium-40 – ...
Google Goes to Space
The recently released version of the popular software Google Earth includes a new unique feature – a look not down towards our own planet but upwards into the heavens. Clicking the name of your favorite galaxy will take you millions ...