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Reposted by Tim Hardin

ESA Space Science

@science.esa.int

This latest image from Hubble gives us a view of a curious feature: a glowing cloud of gas streaming from the disc of NGC 4388! So, what caused it?

Find out here 👉 esahubble.org/images/potw2...

🔭 🧪

A spiral galaxy seen nearly edge-on. Its disk is filled with red and blue lights from star-forming nebulae and clusters of hot stars, respectively, as well as thick dark clouds of dust that block the strong white light from its centre. A faint, glowing halo of gas surrounds the disc, fading into the black background. A bluish plume of gas also extends from the galaxy’s core to the lower-right of the image.

December 15, 2025 at 12:56 PM

Reposted by Tim Hardin

ESA Space Science

@science.esa.int

DYK? 16 years' worth of pictures of the week are available on our Hubble website, a testament to the incredible treasures that this NASA/ESA telescope has uncovered for us all.

Enjoy them here 👉 https://esahubble.org/images/potw/
🔭

A gigantic cloud of cold hydrogen gas called N159. The red and yellow coloured field is filled with sparkling stars, some covered by clouds of gas and dust.

$The spiral galaxy NGC 5643 seen face-on. The galaxy glows with a bright central core and sweeping, dusty arms. Several foreground stars with diffraction spikes are scattered throughout.$ Planetary nebula PK 329-02.2. A winding blue cloud appears wrapped around two stars at the centre.

Planetary nebula PK 329-02.2. A winding blue cloud appears wrapped around two stars at the centre.

Globular cluster NGC 6934. A few hundred thousand stars are grouped together like a giant ball of stars.

November 28, 2025 at 3:04 PM

Reposted by Tim Hardin

ESA Space Science

@science.esa.int

Our #SolarOrbiter has split the flood of energetic electrons flung out into space from the Sun into two groups, tracing each back to a different kind of outburst from our star 👉 www.esa.int/Science_Expl...
1/3 🔭 🧪☀️

Infographic showing how the Solar Orbiter spacecraft traces superfast electrons back to their sources on the Sun. The Sun is depicted on the left, with colored dots representing sources of energetic electrons from solar flares (blue) and coronal mass ejections (red). Curved lines illustrate magnetic field lines along which electrons travel from these events toward the Solar Orbiter spacecraft, shown on the right against a starry background. Text explains that more than 300 bursts of 'Solar Energetic Electrons' were observed between November 2020 and December 2022, allowing scientists to connect electrons detected in space with their origins on the Sun.

September 1, 2025 at 7:08 AM

Reposted by Tim Hardin

ESA Space Science

@science.esa.int

This unassuming spiral galaxy, NGC 7456, has caught the attention of both the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and ESA's XMM-Newton satellite.

Find out why 👉 esahubble.org/images/potw2... 🔭

A spiral galaxy. It shines brightly at the centre, and most of its disc also glows in warm colours. Its two spiral arms, which wind outwards from the centre, are made up mostly of large patches of bright blue specks. They also contain thin, reddish clouds of dust, and bright pink bubbles of glowing gas, where stars are forming. Distant galaxies can be seen around the galaxy as small orange spots, on a dark background.

September 1, 2025 at 8:26 AM

Reposted by Tim Hardin

ESA Space Science

@science.esa.int

Spotted: a cosmic tug-of-war in action! 🌀

The gravitational pull of galactic neighbours may be responsible for this galaxy's asymmetric appearance.

This is the third time the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured this galaxy. Find out why 👉 esahubble.org/images/potw2... 🔭

A spiral galaxy, tilted nearly face-on to us, with a slightly unusual shape. Its spiral arms form an oval-shaped ring around the galaxy’s disc, filled with blue light from stars, as well as pink glowing gas bubbles where new stars are forming. Threads of dark red dust swirl around the brightly glowing core, blocking some of its light. The dust lanes extend into and follow the spiral arms.

August 25, 2025 at 7:01 AM

Reposted by Tim Hardin

ESA Space Science

@science.esa.int

Perseids incoming! ☄️

The most famous meteor shower of the year sees its peak on the night of 12 to 13 August.

Making a wish will require extra effort this time around:

🌖 look away from the Moon
💡 avoid light pollution
☕ expect to stay up late
🧣 stay warm 1/2

🔭

Starry night sky with several meteors streaking outward from the centre. Most meteor trails have a gradient, transitioning from green to yellow.

August 11, 2025 at 11:54 AM

Tim Hardin

@panda-verse.bsky.social

Harvard Glacier Alaska

May 21, 2025 at 3:28 AM

Tim Hardin

@panda-verse.bsky.social

May 8, 2025 at 3:45 AM

Tim Hardin

@panda-verse.bsky.social

Cigar Galaxy (Messier 82)🫠

May 8, 2025 at 3:45 AM

Reposted by Tim Hardin

ESA Space Science

@science.esa.int

ICYMI, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope returned to the Eagle Nebula 🦅

This vast stellar nursery displays a towering spire of cosmic gas and dust, making the setting look like a curling party streamer or a plume of smoke from a blown-out candle.

Read more 👉 esahubble.org/news/heic2507/
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A tall, thin structure of dark gas clouds. It is darker and broader at the base and broadens out again at the top, with spikes, fingers and wisps of gas protruding in all directions from its head. Some parts are illuminated, but most is dark, lit only at the edges from behind. A wall of colourful gas lies behind it, bluish at the top and redder towards the bottom. Several blue and gold stars are scattered across it.

May 7, 2025 at 1:10 PM

Reposted by Tim Hardin

ESA Space Science

@science.esa.int

🌀 ✨ The bejewelled spiral arms of galaxy NGC 3596 sparkle in this image snapped by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.

Read more 👉 esahubble.org/images/potw2...
🔭

A spiral galaxy viewed face-on, with a slightly oval-shaped disc. The centre is a bright white spot surrounded by a golden glow. Two spiral arms extend out from the centre, wrapping around the galaxy and broadening out to form the thick outer edge of the disc. Thin reddish strands of dust and bright pink spots follow the arms through the disc. Faint strands of stars extend from the arms’ tips, out beyond the disc.

May 5, 2025 at 7:02 AM

Reposted by Tim Hardin

European Space Agency

@esa.int

🦑💫This NASA/ESA Hubble image features the spiral galaxy Messier 77, also known as the Squid Galaxy.

It would take more than a century between the discovery of the galaxy and the realisation that the ‘spiral nebulae’ scattered across the sky were not part of our own galaxy!

#HubbleSpaceTelescope 🔭

A close-up of a spiral galaxy, seen face-on. Its center glows brightly. From the sides of the galaxy’s core emerge spiral arms which wind through the round disc of the galaxy, filled with shining pink spots where stars are forming and more dark-red dust. Some faint stars can be seen around the galaxy, as well as a particularly bright star in the lower left of the image.

April 14, 2025 at 8:09 AM

Reposted by Tim Hardin

Wonder of Science

@wonderofscience.bsky.social

This is what happens when galaxies collide; a billion year gravitational waltz.

This supercomputer simulation includes images from Hubble of actual galactic collisions at different stages.

Credit: NASA, ESA, and F. Summers

April 8, 2025 at 12:32 AM

Reposted by Tim Hardin

Space Telescope Science Institute

@stsci.edu

NEWS: Dwarf galaxy Leo P—the clustering of blue stars at lower right—has an oddball history. After an early burst of star formation, its star production shut down. But unlike most dwarf galaxies, star formation reignited and continues today: bit.ly/4j6OgIQ #AAS245 🔭 🧪