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Messier 96, also known as NGC 3368, is a spiral galaxy about 35 million light-years away in the constellation of Leo (The Lion). It is of about the same mass and size as the Milky Way. It was first discovered by astronomer Pierre Méchain in 1781, and added to Charles Messier’s famous catalogue of astronomical objects just four days later. A wave of star formation is occurring along the dark filaments that make up the spiral arms. The fledgling stars illuminate the surrounding hydrogen gas, making the stars appear pink. Star birth begins at the inner spiral arms and moves outward. The milky white regions in the centre of these galaxies represent the glow of countless stars. Credit: NASA/ESA/Hubble ✨ Follow @cosmoslegacy for More Astronomy Content ✨ #messier96 #ngc3368 #galaxy #galaxies #galactic #nasa #hubble #nasahubble #hubblespacetelescope #hubbletelescope #universe #cosmos #space #deepsky #astronomy #cosmology #astrophysics #physics #astrophotography #astrophoto #science

In this view captured by NASA's Cassini spacecraft on its closest-ever flyby of Saturn's moon Mimas, large Herschel Crater dominates Mimas, making the moon look like the Death Star in the movie "Star Wars." Herschel Crater is 130 kilometers, or 80 miles, wide and covers most of the right of this image. Scientists continue to study this impact basin and its surrounding terrain. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI ✨ Follow @cosmoslegacy for More Astronomy Content ✨ #mimas #mimasmoon #saturn #saturnmoon #moon #planetary #planetaryscience #spaceexploration #nasa #cassini #spacecraft #cassinispacecraft #solarsystem #universe #cosmos #space #astronomy #astrophysics #physics #astrophotography #astrophoto #science

The cosmic beauty of the globular cluster Liller 1 and foreground blue stars. Liller 1 is a particularly interesting globular cluster, because unlike most of its kind, it contains a mix of very young and very old stars. Globular clusters typically house only old stars, some nearly as old as the Universe itself. Liller 1 instead contains at least two distinct stellar populations with remarkably different ages: the oldest one is 12 billion years old and the youngest component is just 1-2 billion years old. This led astronomers to conclude that this stellar system was able to form stars over an extraordinary long period of time. Credit: NASA/ESA/Hubble ✨ Follow @cosmoslegacy for More Astronomy Content ✨ #liller1 #starcluster #globularcluster #hubble #hubbletelescope #hubblespacetelescope #nasahubble #nasa #universe #cosmos #space #deepsky #astronomy #astrophysics #physics #cosmology #astrophotography #astrophoto #science

A wider view of the Ring Nebula (M57 or NGC 6720) by Hubble Space Telescope. Credit: NASA/ESA/Hubble ✨ Follow @cosmoslegacy for More Astronomy Content ✨ #ringnebula #messier57 #planetarynebula #nebula #nebulae #hubble #nasahubble #hubblespacetelescope #hubbletelescope #nasa #universe #cosmos #space #deepsky #astronomy #astrophysics #physics #cosmology #astrophotography #astrophoto #science

This intriguing observation from the Hubble Space Telescope shows a gravitationally lensed galaxy with the long-winded identification SGAS J143845+145407. Gravitational lensing has resulted in a mirror image of the galaxy at the centre of this image, creating a captivating centrepiece. Gravitational lensing occurs when a massive celestial body — such as a galaxy cluster — causes a sufficient curvature of spacetime for the path of light around it to be visibly bent, as if by a lens. Appropriately, the body causing the light to curve is called a gravitational lens, and the distorted background object is referred to as being "lensed". Gravitational lensing can result in multiple images of the original galaxy, as seen in this image, or in the background object appearing as a distorted arc or even a ring. Another important consequence of this lensing distortion is magnification, allowing astronomers to observe objects that would otherwise be too far away or too faint to be seen. Hubble has a special flair for detecting lensed galaxies. The telescope's sensitivity and crystal-clear vision allow it to see faint and distant gravitational lenses that cannot be detected with ground-based telescopes because of the blurring effect of Earth's atmosphere. Hubble was the first telescope to resolve details within lensed images of galaxies, and is capable of imaging both their shape and internal structure. This particular lensed galaxy is from a set of Hubble observations that take advantage of gravitational lensing to peer inside galaxies in the early Universe. The lensing reveals details of distant galaxies that would otherwise be unobtainable, and this allows astronomers to determine star formation in early galaxies. This in turn gives scientists a better insight into how the overall evolution of galaxies has unfolded. Credit: NASA/ESA/Hubble ✨ Follow @cosmoslegacy for More Astronomy Content ✨ #galaxy #galaxies #galactic #hubble #nasahubble #hubblespacetelescope #hubbletelescope #nasa #universe #cosmos #space #deepsky #astronomy #cosmology #astrophysics #physics #astrophotography #astrophoto #science

The Hubble Space Telescope has revisited one of its most iconic and popular images: the Eagle Nebula’s Pillars of Creation. This image shows the pillars as seen in infrared light, allowing it to pierce through obscuring dust and gas and unveil a more unfamiliar — but just as amazing — view of the pillars. In this ethereal view the entire frame is peppered with bright stars and baby stars are revealed being formed within the pillars themselves. The ghostly outlines of the pillars seem much more delicate, and are silhouetted against an eerie blue haze. Credit: NASA/ESA/Hubble ✨ Follow @cosmoslegacy for More Astronomy Content ✨ #pillarsofcreation #eaglenebula #nebula #nebulae #nasa #hubble #nasahubble #hubblespacetelescope #hubbletelescope #universe #cosmos #space #deepsky #astronomy #astrophysics #physics #cosmology #astrophotography #astrophoto #science

The James Webb Space Telescope has yet another discovery machine aboard – the Near-Infrared Spectrograph’s (NIRSpec’s) microshutter array. This instrument has more than 248,000 tiny doors that can be individually opened to gather spectra (light) of up to approximately 150 individual objects simultaneously. Of the thousands of distant galaxies behind galaxy cluster SMACS 0723, NIRSpec observed 48 individually – all at the same time – in a field that is approximately the size of a grain of sand held at arm’s length. Quick analysis made it immediately clear that several of these galaxies were observed as they existed at very early periods in the history of the universe, which is estimated to be 13.8 billion years old. Look for the same feature highlighted in each spectrum. Three lines appear in the same order every time – one hydrogen line followed by two ionised oxygen lines. Where this pattern falls on each spectrum tells researchers the redshift of individual galaxies, revealing how long ago their light was emitted. Light from the farthest galaxy shown travelled 13.1 billion years before Webb’s mirrors captured it. These observations mark the first time these particular emission lines have been seen at such immense distances – and these are only Webb’s initial observations. There may be even more distant galaxies in this image! In these spectra, Webb has also shown us the chemical composition of galaxies in the very early universe for the first time. And since similar spectra from galaxies at closer distances have long been studied by other space- and ground-based observatories, astronomers already know a lot about the properties of nearby galaxies. Now, astronomers will be able to study and compare spectra from Webb to determine how galaxies have changed over billions of years, dating back to the early universe. Credit: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI ✨ Follow @cosmoslegacy for More Astronomy Content ✨ #galaxy #galaxies #galactic #jameswebb #jameswebbspacetelescope #jameswebbtelescope #nasawebb #nasa #universe #cosmos #space #deepsky #astronomy #cosmology #astrophysics #physics #astrophotography #astrophoto #science

ESO's Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) has captured this unusual view of the Helix Nebula (NGC 7293), a planetary nebula located 700 light-years away. The coloured picture was created from images taken through Y, J and K infrared filters. While bringing to light a rich background of stars and galaxies, the telescope's infrared vision also reveals strands of cold nebular gas that are mostly obscured in visible images of the Helix. Credit: ESO ✨ Follow @cosmoslegacy for More Astronomy Content ✨ #helixnebula #ngc7293 #nebula #nebulae #planetarynebula #infrared #universe #cosmos #space #deepsky #astronomy #astrophysics #physics #cosmology #astrophotography #astrophoto #science

This picture showcases the emission nebula NGC 2313. The bright star V565 — surrounded by four prominent diffraction spikes — illuminates a silvery, fan-shaped veil of gas and dust, while the right half of this image is obscured by a dense cloud of dust. Nebulae with similar shapes — a star accompanied by a bright fan of gas — were once referred to as cometary nebulae, though the name is no longer used. Credit: NASA/ESA/Hubble ✨ Follow @cosmoslegacy for More Astronomy Content ✨ #ngc2313 #nebula #nebulae #nasahubble #hubblespacetelescope #hubbletelescope #nasa #hubble #universe #cosmos #space #deepsky #astronomy #physics #astrophysics #cosmology #astrophoto #astrophotography #science