sig09-009 11.23.09 NASA's Great Observatories' View of the Crab NebulaA star's spectacular death in the constellation Taurus was observed on Earth as the supernova of 1054 A.D. Now, almos... view image |
ssc2009-21b 11.23.09 Dusty Beginnings of a StarThis artist's rendering gives us a glimpse into a cosmic nursery as a star is born from the dark, swirling dust and g... view image |
ssc2009-21a 11.23.09 Twin Brown Dwarfs Wrapped in a BlanketThis image shows two young brown dwarfs, objects that fall somewhere between planets and stars in terms of their temp... view image |
sig09-008 11.04.09 A Picture of Unsettled Planetary YouthNASA's Spitzer Space Telescope captured this infrared image of a giant halo of very fine dust around the young star H... view image |
ssc2009-18a 09.23.09 Lump of Planetary StuffThis artist's conception shows a lump of material in a swirling, planet-forming disk. view image |
ssc2009-17a 08.12.09 Trigger-Happy CloudThis composite image, combining data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and Spitzer Space Telescope shows the star... view image |
ssc2009-16b 08.10.09 Signs of Blasted RockThis spectrum, or plot of infrared data, from NASA's Spitzer Space telescope reveals the presence of vaporized and me... view image |
ssc2009-16a 08.10.09 Planetary Demolition DerbyThis artist's animation shows a celestial body about the size of our moon slamming at great speed into a body the siz... view image |
ssc2009-15a 08.05.09 Spitzer's First Warm ImagesThese images are some of the first to be taken during Spitzer's warm mission -- a new phase that began after the tele... view image |
ssc2009-13a 06.10.09 Baby Stars in Galactic Rat's NestThis infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows three baby stars in the bustling center of our Milky Wa... view image |
ssc2009-13b 06.10.09 Telltale Signs of Stellar YouthThese data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope reveal a newborn star at the center of our Milky Way. Our galaxy's cor... view image |
ssc2009-11a 05.13.09 Seeing Crystals Form Around a Young StarAstronomers have had a rare opportunity to witness the creation of silicate crystals around a young star, as seen in ... view image |
ssc2009-11b 05.13.09 Silicate Crystal Formation in the Disk of an Erupting StarThis artist's concept illustrates how silicate crystals like those found in comets can be created by an outburst from... view image |
sig09-002 04.20.09 Emission from the White Dwarf System GD 16This chart shows the brightness and wavelength of the radiation coming from white dwarf GD 16 and its associated disk... view image |
ssc2009-09a 04.07.09 Cool Stars May Have Different Prebiotic Chemical MixNASA's Spitzer Space Telescope detected a prebiotic, or potentially life-forming, molecule called hydrogen cyanide (H... view image |
ssc2009-09b 04.07.09 Chemical Soups Around Cool StarsThis artist's conception shows a young, hypothetical planet around a cool star. A soupy mix of potentially life-formi... view image |
ssc2009-01a 01.05.09 Silicates in Alien AsteroidsThis plot of data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescopes shows that asteroid dust around a dead "white dwarf" star cont... view image |
ssc2009-01b 01.05.09 Asteroid 'Bites the Dust' Around Dead StarNASA's Spitzer Space Telescope set its infrared eyes upon the dusty remains of shredded asteroids around several dead... view image |
sig08-017 12.16.08 Devastated Stellar NeighborhoodThis image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the nasty effects of living near a group of massive stars: radia... view image |
ssc2008-22a 12.10.08 Not-So-Bright BulbsThis artist's concept shows the dimmest star-like bodies currently knowntwin brown dwarfs referred to as 2M 0939. view image |
ssc2008-21a 12.08.08 Celestial Sea of StarsNASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has captured a new, infrared view of the choppy star-making cloud called M17, also kno... view image |
ssc2008-20a 11.11.08 Quartz-like Crystals Found in Planetary DisksThis artists concept of a young star and its planet forming disk shows tiny quartz like crystals detected by the Spit... view image |
ssc2008-19b 10.27.08 Young Solar System in the MakingThis artist's diagram compares the Epsilon Eridani system to our own solar system. The two systems are structured sim... view image |
ssc2008-19a 10.27.08 Epsilon Eridani: Double the RubbleThis artist's conception shows the closest known planetary system to our own, called Epsilon Eridani. Observations fr... view image |
ssc2007-17a 10.25.08 Missing Black Holes Found!Astronomers have unmasked hundreds of black holes hiding deep inside dusty galaxies billions of light-years away. view image |
ssc2008-17a 10.08.08 Stellar Work of ArtThis painterly portrait of a star-forming cloud, called NGC 346, is a combination of multiwavelength light from NASA'... view image |
sig08-012 09.18.08 HH 221: Laser-Sharp Jet Splits WaterA jet of gas firing out of a very young star can be seen ramming into a wall of material in this infrared image from ... view image |
ssc2008-13a 07.15.08 'Peony Nebula' Star Settles for Silver MedalThis image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the Peony Nebular, which may contain the second brightest star i... view image |
ssc2008-08a 05.28.08 Ghostly Ring Around a MagnetarThis image shows a ghostly ring extending seven light-years across around the corpse of a massive star. The collapsed... view image |
ssc2008-07a 04.10.08 Globular Cluster Omega Centauri Looks Radiant in InfraredA cluster brimming with millions of stars glistens like an iridescent opal in this image from NASA's Spitzer Space Te... view image |
ssc2008-06a 03.13.08 A Young Stellar Disk around AA TauriThis plot of infrared data shows the signatures of water vapor and simple organic molecules in the disk of gas and du... view image |
ssc2008-06b 03.13.08 Water Vapor in the Young Planetary Disk of AS 205NThis plot of infrared data shows the strong signature of water vapor in the disk of gas and dust surrounding a young ... view image |
ssc2008-03a 02.11.08 Young Stars in Their Baby Blanket of DustNewborn stars peek out from beneath their natal blanket of dust in this dynamic image of the Rho Ophiuchi dark cloud ... view image |
ssc2008-03b 02.11.08 Young Stars in Their Baby Blanket of DustNewborn stars peek out from beneath their natal blanket of dust in this dynamic image of the Rho Ophiuchi dark cloud ... view image |
sig08-002 01.09.08 Accretion Disk Around Binary Star System WZ SgeAn artist's concept of the accretion disk around the binary star system WZ Sge. Using data from Kitt Peak National Ob... view image |
ssc2007-19a 11.29.07 Spinning Top StarA rare, infrared view of a developing star and its flaring jets taken by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope (right) shows... view image |
sig07-023 11.28.07 Planets Forming Around a Sun-like StarThis is an artist's rendition of the one-million-year-old star system called UX Tau A, located approximately 450 ligh... view image |
sig07-022 11.08.07 Bubbly Little Star: HH 46/47A new image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows a baby star 1,140 light-years away from Earth blowing two massi... view image |
sig07-019 10.03.07 Birth of an Earth-like PlanetThis artist's conception shows a binary-star, or two-star, system, called HD 113766, where astronomers suspect a rock... view image |
sig07-018 09.13.07 Infrared Coronet ClusterThe Corona Australis region (containing, at its heart, the Coronet cluster) is one of the nearest and most active reg... view image |
sig07-017 09.13.07 The Coronet Cluster in X-Ray and InfraredThe Corona Australis region (containing, at its heart, the Coronet cluster) is one of the nearest and most active reg... view image |
ssc2007-14a 08.29.07 Spitzer Sees Water Loud and Clear in a Young Solar SystemThis plot of infrared data, called a spectrum, shows the strong signature of water vapor deep within the core of an e... view image |
ssc2007-14c 08.29.07 Steamy Solar SystemThis diagram illustrates the earliest journeys of water in a young, forming star system. view image |
ssc2007-14d 08.29.07 Planet-Forming Disk Around a Baby StarThis artist's concept shows a young star surrounded by a dusty protoplanetary disk. This disk contains the raw materi... view image |
sig07-014 08.08.07 Stellar Families: Young Stars in SerpensThe Spitzer Space Telescope reveals embedded young stars in the Serpens South star cluster. view image |
sig07-013 07.24.07 Evidence for a Strange Stellar FamilyThis artist's concept depicts a quadruple-star system called HD 98800. The system is approximately 10 million years o... view image |
sig07-012 07.13.07 Sun and Earth in ScaleThis illustration shows the relative sizes of the Sun and the Earth by placing them impossibly close together. view image |
sig07-010 06.11.07 A Supernova's Shockwaves: N132DThis composite X-ray and infrared image of supernova remnant N132D shows the aftermath of a massive star's violent de... view image |
sig06-017 06.06.07 Highway of StarsThis artist's concept shows a newly discovered stream of ancient stars passing just over the head of the constellatio... view image |
sig07-006 05.17.07 Young Stars Emerge from Orion's HeadThis image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows infant stars "hatching" in the head of the hunter constellation,... view image |
sig07-007 05.17.07 Young Stars Emerge from Orion's HeadThis image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows infant stars "hatching" in the head of the hunter constellation,... view image |
ssc2007-08a 04.18.07 Heart of the Rosette NebulaThis infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the Rosette nebula, a pretty star-forming region more t... view image |
ssc2007-08c 04.18.07 Evaporating Protoplanetary DiskYoung, cooler stars like our sun can form in the danger zones around scorching hot stars, called O-stars. The closer ... view image |
ssc2007-08b 04.18.07 Every Rose Has a Thorn: Planetary Danger ZonesThis infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the Rosette nebula, a pretty star-forming region more t... view image |
sig07-005 04.17.07 Spitzer Digs Up Hidden Stars in a Dark Molecular CloudTwo rambunctious young stars are destroying their natal dust cloud with powerful jets of radiation, in an infrared co... view image |
ssc2007-07b 04.12.07 Pink PleiadesThe Seven Sisters, also known as the Pleiades, seem to float on a bed of feathers in a new infrared image from NASA's... view image |
ssc2007-07a 04.12.07 The Seven Sisters Pose for SpitzerThe Seven Sisters, also known as the Pleiades, seem to float on a bed of feathers in a new infrared image from NASA's... view image |
ssc2007-05c 03.29.07 Alien SunsetOur solitary sunsets here on Earth might not be all that common in the grand scheme of things. New observations from ... view image |
ssc2007-05b 03.27.07 Solar System with Snug SunsThis artist's concept depicts a faraway solar system like our own except for one big difference. Planets and asteroi... view image |
ssc2007-05a 03.27.07 Where Planets Take up ResidenceThis diagram illustrates that mature planetary systems like our own might be more common around twin, or binary, star... view image |
ssc2007-03a 02.12.07 Comets Kick Up Dust in Helix NebulaThis infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the Helix nebula, a cosmic starlet often photographed b... view image |
ssc2007-01d 01.09.07 Unwrapping the PillarsThis image composite highlights the pillars of the Eagle nebula, as seen in infrared light by NASA's Spitzer Space Te... view image |
ssc2007-01c3 01.09.07 Infrared View of the Eagle NebulaThis infrared view of the Eagle Nebula contrasts the hot dust of a supernova with cooler regions of star formation. view image |
ssc2007-01a 01.09.07 Cosmic Epic Unfolds in Infrared: The Eagle NebulaThis majestic view taken by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope tells an untold story of life and death in the Eagle nebul... view image |
sig07-003 01.09.07 Luminous Blue Variable HD168625: Destined To Be a Supernova?A Luminous Blue Variable star, HD168625, is surrounded by a bipolar nebula that is similar to the one around SN1987A.... view image |
ssc2007-01c 01.09.07 Eagle Nebula Flaunts Its Infrared FeathersThis set of images from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the Eagle nebula in different hues of infrared light. Ea... view image |
sig07-001 01.09.07 Forecasting Weather on Distant WorldsAn artist's concept shows a gas-giant planet orbiting very close to its parent star, creating searingly hot condition... view image |
sig06-029 11.30.06 Red Giant Plunging Through SpaceThis image from the Spitzer Space Telescope (left panel) shows the "bow shock" of a dying star named R Hydrae (R Hya)... view image |
ssc2006-19b 10.26.06 Cassiopeia A: Once an Onion, Always an OnionThis artist's concept illustrates a massive star before and after it blew up in a cataclysmic supernova explosion. Th... view image |
sig06-026 10.24.06 Seeing Stars in SerpensInfant stars are glowing gloriously in this infrared image of the Serpens star-forming region, captured by NASA's Spi... view image |
sig06-023 10.03.06 A Star's Close EncounterThe potential planet-forming disk (or "protoplanetary disk") of a sun-like star is being violently ripped away by the... view image |
sig06-022 09.18.06 Brown Dwarf CompanionThis is an artist's concept of the star HD 3651 as it is orbited by a close-in Saturn-mass planetary companion and th... view image |
ssc2006-15a 07.24.06 Stars Can't Spin Out of ControlThis artist's concept shows a dusty planet-forming disk in orbit around a whirling young star. NASA's Spitzer Space T... view image |
sig06-018 06.08.06 Supernova Dust Factory in M74Astronomers using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have spotted a "dust factory" thirty million light-years away in the... view image |
sig06-014 05.22.06 Stellar JetsThis artist concept illustrates jets of material shooting out from the neutron star in the interacting binary system ... view image |
ssc2006-10a 04.05.06 Circle of AshesThis plot tells astronomers that a pulsar, the remnant of a stellar explosion, is surrounded by a disk of its own ash... view image |
ssc2006-10c 04.05.06 Extreme PlanetsThis artist's concept depicts a planetary system discovered by Aleksander Wolszczan in 1992 around a pulsar. view image |
ssc2006-10b 04.05.06 Stellar Rubble May Be Planetary Building BlocksThis artist's concept depicts a type of dead star called a pulsar and the surrounding disk of rubble discovered by NA... view image |
ssc2006-05b 02.08.06 Supersized DiskThis illustration compares the size of a gargantuan star and its surrounding dusty disk (top) to that of our solar sy... view image |
ssc2006-05a 02.08.06 Little Dust Grains in Giant Stellar DisksThis graph of data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the composition of a monstrous disk of what may be plane... view image |
ssc2006-04a 01.11.06 Evidence for Comets Found in Dead StarThis graph of data, or spectrum, from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope indicates that a dead star, or white dwarf, call... view image |
ssc2006-04b 01.11.06 Comet 'Bites the Dust' Around Dead StarThis artist's concept illustrates a comet being torn to shreds around a white dwarf called G29-38. NASA's Spitzer Spa... view image |
sig06-001 01.10.06 Circumbinary DiskThis artist concept shows a debris disk in a cataclysmic variable system which consists of a highly magnetic white dw... view image |
ssc2006-03b 01.09.06 Artist's Impression of Massive Star ClusterThis is an illustration of one of the most massive star clusters within our Milky Way Galaxy, containing 14 rare red ... view image |
ssc2006-03a 01.09.06 A Hidden, Massive Star Cluster Awash with Red SupergiantsThe sky is a jewelry box full of sparkling stars in these infrared images. The crown jewels are 14 massive stars on t... view image |
sig05-028 12.22.05 Stellar Snowflake ClusterNewborn stars, hidden behind thick dust, are revealed in this image of a section of the Christmas Tree Cluster from N... view image |
ssc2005-26b 12.20.05 Portrait of Our Dusty PastThis artist's concept illustrates a solar system that is a much younger version of our own. Dusty disks, like the one... view image |
ssc2005-26a 12.20.05 Life's Starting Materials Found in Dusty DiskThis graph, or spectrum, from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope tells astronomers that some of the most basic ingredient... view image |
sig05-026 12.14.05 The Invisible DiskAstronomers can detect the presence of disks of dust orbiting distant stars by measuring how the combined light from ... view image |
sig05-027 12.14.05 Belt of DustA narrow asteroid belt filled with rocks and dusty debris, orbits a star similar to our own Sun when it was approxima... view image |
sig05-023 12.12.05 Star Clusters Found in the MIlky WayA metropolis of stellar activity is captured in these Spitzer infrared images taken by the Galactic Legacy Infrared M... view image |
sig05-024 12.12.05 New Star Cluster Discovered in the InfraredUsing an automated computer method to sift through data collected by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, astronomers on t... view image |
sig05-022 11.29.05 Itsy Bitsy Solar SystemThis artist's conception compares a hypothetical solar system centered around a tiny "sun" (top) to a known solar sys... view image |
ssc2005-22b 11.02.05 Out of the Darkness Comes StarsThis artist's concept shows what the very early universe might have looked like, just after its first stars began bur... view image |
ssc2005-21b 10.20.05 Sowing the Seeds of Planets?This artist's concept shows microscopic crystals in the dusty disk surrounding a brown dwarf, or "failed star." The c... view image |
ssc2005-21a 10.20.05 Planet Clumps and Crystals Around Brown DwarfsThis graph of data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the spectra (middle four lines) of dusty disks around fo... view image |
sig05-012 09.12.05 Planets May Leave Tracks in DustAstronomers using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have gathered the most detailed data yet on a gap in a protoplanetar... view image |
sig05-009 07.18.05 Disk Around Red Dwarf Stars in the Stephenson 34 SystemAstronomers were surprised to discover a 25-million-year-old protoplanetary disk around a pair of red dwarf stars 350... view image |
ssc2005-14d 06.09.05 Illustration of a Light EchoAcross the vast distances of space, light can 'echo' off of distant dust clouds in much the same way that sound can e... view image |
ssc2005-12a 05.30.05 All Pillars Point To EtaThis false-color image taken by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the "South Pillar" region of the star-forming re... view image |
Images by type
Images by subject
