Basic Information What is this? The region around the supermassive black hole at the centre of our Galaxy Where is it in the sky? In the constellation of Sagittarius How big is it? The black hole is 6 million times as massive as our Sun How far away is it? 26,000 light years away, in …
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Horsehead Nebula
Basic Information What is this? The Horsehead Nebula Where is it in the sky? In the constellation of Orion, just off the end of his belt How big is it? The Horsehead Nebula itself is a few light years tall How far away is it? Around 1300 light years What do the colours represent? Red …
HFLS3 – a record-breaking galaxy
Basic Information What is this? A distant galaxy in the early Universe, forming stars over 1000 times faster than outr Milky Way galaxy Where is it in the sky? In the constellation of Draco How big is it? The galaxy is only around a twentieth the size of our Milky Way How far away is …
kappa Coronae Borealis
Basic Information What is this? A dusty disc around the star kappa Coronae Borealis Where is it in the sky? In the constellation of Coronae Borealis How big is it? The debris disc stretches up to 200 times further from the star than the Earth is from the Sun How far away is it? The …
W3 star-forming region
Basic Information What is this? The star-forming region “W3” Where is it in the sky? In the constellation of Cassiopeia How big is it? The region shown here is around 200 light years across How far away is it? Around 6200 light years away What do the colours represent? The red and orange regions are …
Betelgeuse
Basic Information What is this? The star Betelgeuse. Where is it in the sky? In the constellation of Orion. How big is it? The star is 1000 times the diameter of our Sun. How far away is it? Around 640 light years. What do the colours represent? The blue material is relatively warm gas and …
Apophis
Basic Information What is this? The asteroid Apophis, which passed by the Earth in January 2013 Where is it in the sky? It whizzed past the Earth very quickly, and moves around the sky as it orbits the Sun How big is it? Herschel has shown that the asteroid is around 325 metres in diameter …
Lynds 1544
Basic Information What is this? A cloud of gas and dust that contains large amounts of water vapour Where is it in the sky? In the constellation of Taurus How big is it? The region shown is around a third of a light year across How far away is it? Around 450 light years What …
Crab Nebula
Basic Information What is this? Dust shining in the Crab supernova remnant Where is it in the sky? In the constellation of Taurus How big is it? The bright part of the remnant in this image is around 10 light years across How far away is it? 6500 light years What do the colours represent? …
COSMOS Field
Basic Information What is this? A region of the sky containing thousands of galaxies, some of which are forming stars at incredibly fast raites Where is it in the sky? In the constellation of Sextans How big is it? The image covers an area of sky with the same width a four full Moons How …