The NEW Milky Way galaxy BLACK HOLE

New data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory suggest a highly distorted supernova remnant may contain the most recent black hole formed in the Milky Way galaxy. The remnant appears to be the product of a rare explosion in which matter is ejected at high speeds along the poles of a rotating star.

NASA - Picture of the Day - NGC 6357

NGC 6357's Cathedral to Massive Stars
Image Credit: NASA, ESA and J. M. Apellániz (IAA, Spain)

How massive can a normal star be?

Estimates made from distance, brightness and standard solar models had given one star in the open cluster Pismis 24 over 200 times the mass of our Sun, nearly making it the record holder. This star is the brightest object located just above the gas front in the above image. 

Close inspection of images taken with the Hubble Space Telescope, however, have shown that Pismis 24-1 derives its brilliant luminosity not from a single star but from three at least. Component stars would still remain near 100 solar masses, making them among the more massive stars currently on record. Toward the bottom of the image, stars are still forming in the associated emission nebula NGC 6357. 

Appearing perhaps like a Gothic cathedral, energetic stars near the center appear to be breaking out and illuminating a spectacular cocoon. from here

Hubble Spies 'UFO' Galaxy - NGC 2683

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA

Good photography depends on a good positioning. 

Discovery News published this week this fortunate picture of a spiral galaxy, which is fortuitously positioned edge-on relative to the view from the Earth-orbiting Hubble Space Telescope.

Officially known as NGC 2683, was nicknamed the "UFO Galaxy" by astronomers at the Astronaut Memorial Planetarium and Observatory in Cocoa, Fla.  NASA says the side-on view gives scientists:

 

"a great opportunity to see the delicate dusty lanes of the spiral arms silhouetted against the golden haze of the galaxy’s core."

The picture, released Friday, also shows bright clusters of young blue stars scattered throughout the disc, showing the galaxy's star-forming regions.   from here

Universe - The Final Frontier

 Credits : Sloan Digital Sky Survey III. (David Kirkby/University of California at Irvine/SDSS)

Scientist, with the help of the SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY,  designed the most detailed map of a quarter of the known universe. It is the most detailed yet done. 

Each green dot is a galaxy.

 NASA/ESA/the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

This bipolar star-forming region, called Sharpless 2-106, looks like a celestial snow angel. 

It is nearly 2,000 light-years from Earth. 

A massive, young star, IRS 4 is in the middle of the formation. Twin lobes of super-hot gas, glowing blue in this image, stretch outward from it.  from here