'Smiling cat' Sh2-284 nebula captured in new image

This cloud of orange and red, part of the Sh2-284 nebula, is shown here in spectacular detail using data from the VLT Survey Telescope, hosted by the European Southern Observatory (ESO). This nebula is teeming with young ...

ESO captures the ghost of a giant star

A spooky spider web, magical dragons or wispy trails of ghosts? What do you see in this image of the Vela supernova remnant? This beautiful tapestry of colors shows the ghostly remains of a gigantic star, and was captured ...

Anatomy of a cosmic seagull

Colourful and wispy, this intriguing collection of objects is known as the Seagull Nebula, named for its resemblance to a gull in flight. Made up of dust, hydrogen, helium and traces of heavier elements, this region is the ...

New ultra diffuse galaxy found in the NGC 5846 group

Astronomers have detected a new ultra diffuse galaxy (UDG) located most likely in the NGC 5846 galaxy group. The discovery is part of the ongoing VEGAS survey aimed at investigating early-type galaxies in a range of environments. ...

Elliptical elegance

A glittering host of galaxies populate this rich image taken with ESO's VLT Survey Telescope, a state-of-the-art 2.6-m telescope designed for surveying the sky in visible light. The features of the multitude of galaxies strewn ...

Glory from gloom

A dark cloud of cosmic dust snakes across this spectacular wide field image, illuminated by the brilliant light of new stars. This dense cloud is a star-forming region called Lupus 3, where dazzlingly hot stars are born from ...

Stellar nursery blooms into view

The OmegaCAM camera on ESO's VLT Survey Telescope has captured this glittering view of the stellar nursery called Sharpless 29. Many astronomical phenomena can be seen in this giant image, including cosmic dust and gas clouds ...

Monster image of the Fornax Galaxy Cluster

Countless galaxies vie for attention in this monster image of the Fornax Galaxy Cluster, some appearing only as pinpricks of light while others dominate the foreground. One of these is the lenticular galaxy NGC 1316. The ...

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