ALT A pair of galaxies undergoes an extreme gravitational transformation. On our left side of the frame is a ghostly galaxy with a pale white core and faint outer ring. On our right is a pale white sphere-shaped galaxy surrounded by a grainy neon blue cloud, flecked with purple dots. The cloud has a funnel-like shape, pointing toward its ghostly neighbor.
ALT A pair of overlapping galaxies at the center of the image appear to form a leaping dolphin shape. More distant galaxies and stars dot the black background of space.
ALT This image of the Crab Nebula, captured by Hubble’s Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2, shows the six-light-year-wide expanding remnant of a supernova explosion amidst a dark sky speckled with stars and other objects. The Crab is an oval-shaped cloud webbed with the tattered remains of the star, which consist mostly of hydrogen. These wispy strands of material appear yellow-orange towards the center of the nebula, darkening to a blue-green and then orange-brown near the edges. The interior of the remnant glows with blue light from electrons whirling at nearly the speed of light around magnetic field lines from a central neutron star, the crushed core of the original star. The image is watermarked “Credits: NASA, ESA, J. Hester and A. Loll (Arizona State University).”