The night sky, our window to space, has fascinated humans for ages. Early civilisations used to track the movements of the Sun, Moon, planets, and other objects. Even now, we can spot stars and neighbouring planets in the sky. However, space agencies like NASA have made it possible for us to take a tour of the universe and know about mysterious star clouds, galaxies, and black holes, with high-definition images and data.
Here are the top 5 images shared by NASA of galaxies, stars, planets and nebulas.
The image captures the beauty of one of the brightest stars in Milky Way galaxy. According to NASA, the star AG Carinae shines with the brilliance of 1 million suns.
The new composite image of the Crab Nebula comprises X rays from Chandra, optical data from Hubble (purple), and infrared data from Spitzer (pink).
Crab Nebula has been constantly observed by Chandra telescope which was launched into space in 1999. The Crab Nebula is powered by a quickly spinning, highly magnetized neutron star called a pulsar, which was formed when a massive star ran out of its nuclear fuel and collapsed.
Andromeda galaxy is also known as Messier 31 or simply M31. The image captured from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) shows the infrared lights emerged from the universe. WISE used all its four infrared detectors to capture the picture, ie 3.4- and 4.6-micron light appears blue in this image; 12-micron light is green; and 22-micron light is red.
The colourful image of Cassiopeia A supernova remnant shows different gases emanating from the explosion. The image, captured by NASA's Chandra X-ray, indicates the location of different elements in the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant, including silicon (red), sulfur (yellow), calcium (green) and iron (purple). Supernova remnants help scientists better understand how stars produce and then disseminate many of the elements.
The mosaic of the Heart and Soul nebulae is located about 6,000 light-years from Earth. The nebulae is a part of a vast star-forming complex which is located in the Perseus spiral arm of Milky Way galaxy.
