This web page contains some truly stunning images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope of distant galaxies and nebulas. Some of these galaxies, like the Sombrero Galaxy, are 28 million light years from Earth. That represents a distance of 265,104,000,000,000,000,000 kilometres from Earth !!
THE SOMBRERO GALAXY - 28 MILLION LIGHT YEARS FROM EARTH. IT HAS 800 BILLION SUNS AND IS 50,000 LIGHT YEARS ACROSS.
THE ANT NEBULA, A CLOUD OF DUST AND GAS WHOSE TECHNICAL NAME IS MZ3, RESEMBLES AN ANT WHEN OBSERVED USING GROUND-BASED TELESCOPES. THE NEBULA LIES WITHIN OUR GALAXY BETWEEN 3,000 AND 6,000 LIGHT YEARS FROM EARTH.
NEBULA NGC 2392, CALLED ESKIMO BECAUSE IT LOOKS LIKE A FACE SURROUNDED BY A FURRY HOOD. THE HOOD IS, IN FACT, A RING OF COMET-SHAPED OBJECTS FLYING AWAY FROM A DYING STAR. ESKIMO IS 5,000 LIGHT YEARS FROM EARTH.
THE CAT'S EYE NEBULA. THE HOURGLASS NEBULA, 8,000 LIGHT YEARS AWAY, HAS A PINCHED-IN-THE-MIDDLE LOOK BECAUSE THE WINDS THAT SHAPE IT ARE WEAKER AT THE CENTRE.
THE CONE NEBULA. THE PART PICTURED HERE
IS 2.5 LIGHT YEARS IN LENGTH (THE EQUIVALENT OF 23 MILLION RETURN TRIPS
TO THE MOON).
THE PERFECT STORM, A SMALL REGION IN THE SWAN NEBULA, 5,500 LIGHT YEARS AWAY, DESCRIBED AS 'A BUBBLY OCEAN OF HYDROGEN AND SMALL AMOUNTS OF OXYGEN, SULPHUR AND OTHER ELEMENTS'.
STARRY NIGHT, SO NAMED BECAUSE IT REMINDED ASTRONOMERS OF THE VAN GOGH PAINTING IT IS A HALO OF LIGHT AROUND A STAR IN THE MILKY WAY.
THE GLOWERING EYES FROM 114 MILLION LIGHT YEARS AWAY ARE THE SWIRLING CORES OF TWO MERGING GALAXIES CALLED NGC 2207 AND IC 2163 IN THE DISTANT CANIS MAJOR CONSTELLATION.
THE TRIFID NEBULA. A 'STELLAR NURSERY', 9,000 LIGHT YEARS FROM HERE, IT IS WHERE NEW STARS ARE BEING BORN.