20 stunning images of the universe, from galaxy collisions to violent star deaths

Telescopes and spacecraft have been used to uncover the mysteries of the cosmos for years

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  This is the NGC 6302 planetary nebula - commonly referred to as the Butterfly Nebula because of its shape. The ‘wings’ are gas heated to nearly 20,000°C and it is tearing across space at more than 950,000 kilometres an hour. At the centre of the nebula is a dying star that was once about five times the mass of the Sun. The image was captured by the Hubble telescope in 2009. Photo: European Space Agency

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  This is the heart of our Milky Way galaxy, captured by the Hubble telescope in 2016. It shows a tapestry of more than 500,000 stars and the nuclear star cluster, the biggest and densest star cluster in our galaxy. Photo: Nasa

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  In 2019, the first image of a black hole was captured. The Event Horizon Telescope captured it at the centre of the Messier 87 galaxy. EPA / Event Horizon Telescope

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  In 2022, the Event Horizon Telescope managed to take the first picture of a supermassive black hole at the centre of our galaxy, which is feeding on hydrogen gas. Photo: Event Horizon Telescope

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  A picture of Saturn taken by the Voyager spacecraft in 1980. Taken from a distance of 13 million kilometres, it shows the planet’s moons, Tethys and Dione. Photo: Nasa

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  An image of two galaxies colliding, fuelled an unusual triangular-shaped star-birthing. Captured by the Hubble telescope in 2022, the interacting galaxies are called Arp 143. Photo: Nasa

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  This image features the enormous nebula NDC 2014 and its neighbour NGC 2020, which together form part of a vast star-forming region in the Large Magellanic Cloud in the Milky Way, about 163,000 light years away. Captured by the Hubble telescope, it shows turbulent stellar nurseries, where new stars are born. Photo: European Space Agency

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  The James Webb Space Telescope showed the Carina Nebula, about 7,600 light years away. It revealed areas where stars were being born that other telescopes could not capture. Photo: Nasa / European Space Agency / Canadian Space Agency

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  The James Webb Space Telescope captured the sharpest views of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723. The image shows the cluster as it was 4.6 billion years ago. Photo: Nasa

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  Located 290 million light years away, Stephan’s Quintet, or NGC 7318B, is a compact group of five galaxies that was discovered in 1877. Four of them are locked in a cosmic dance of repeated close encounters. Photo: Nasa

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  Taken by the Hubble telescope in 2015, this is the largest and sharpest image taken of the Andromeda galaxy, which will collide with our galaxy in about five billion years. Photo: European Space Agency

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  Captured by Nasa’s New Horizons spacecraft in 2015, this image shows a region of Pluto that is rich in nitrogen, carbon monoxide and methane ices. Photo: Nasa

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  A striking composite image of Earth captured by Nasa’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter while in orbit around the Moon in 2015.Photo: Nasa

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  This image shows the polar ice cap on Mars. It was taken by the UAE’s Hope probe and processed by graphic designer Jason Major. Photo: Emirates Mars Mission

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  The Whirlpool Galaxy is 31 million light years away. Taken by Nasa’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, the image shows the galaxy's “arms”, which are actually swirling clouds of gas and dust where massive new stars are born. Photo: Nasa

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  The Solar Orbiter, a European Space Agency probe built in the UK, captured images of the Sun in 2020 that show mini solar flares, called campfires, spread across its surface. The probe came within 75.6 million kilometres of the Sun. Photo: European Space Agency

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  To celebrate Hubble’s 25th year in orbit, an image of star cluster Westerlund 2 was taken. Discovered in the 1960s, this cluster has some of the hottest, biggest and brightest stars known to humankind. Photo: European Space Agency

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  This Hubble image shows the star-forming region NGC 3603. The cluster is thought to have formed about a million years ago. Photo: European Space Agency

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  Taken by Nasa’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and Europe’s Very Large Telescope, this image shows the remains of an exploded star, an event called the supernova RCW 86. It is believed Chinese astronomers first observed this in 185 AD. Photo: Nasa

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  The Hubble telescope took a picture of a galaxy hidden behind the Milky Way. The spiral galaxy, IC 342, is about 11 million light years from Earth. Photo: Nasa / European Space Agency

From stunning snapshots of galactic explosions to black holes and polar ice caps on Mars, state-of-the-art telescopes and spacecraft have helped scientists to unravel the mysteries of the universe for many years.

The first fascinating images captured by the James Webb Space Telescope have sparked a new wave of enthusiasm for outer space.

Astronomers are particularly excited by the level of detail the telescope is capable of capturing, including looking back 13.5 billion years to events that followed the Big Bang.

The world’s most powerful space observatory has already taken several sharp pictures of the universe, including swirling galaxies and nebulae.

But is far from the first effort by humankind to further our understanding of space.

Its predecessor, the Hubble Space Telescope, paved the way for the Webb telescope to study the cosmos in more detail.

Hubble has looked to the skies since 1990

Hubble, a project by Nasa and the European Space Agency, has been operational for more than 30 years.

“Hubble has made more than 1.5 million observations over the course of its lifetime,” Nasa said.

“Over 19,000 peer-reviewed science papers have been published on its discoveries, and every current astronomy textbook includes contributions from the observatory.

“The telescope has tracked interstellar objects as they soared through our solar system, watched a comet collide with Jupiter and discovered moons around Pluto.

“Hubble has peered back into our universe’s distant past, to locations more than 13.4 billion light years from Earth, capturing galaxies merging, probing the supermassive black holes that lurk in their depths and helping us better understand the history of the expanding universe.”

Telescope on a modified Boeing plane

The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, or Sofia, is another telescope Nasa uses to capture objects in the cosmos.

It is a modified Boeing 747SP aircraft that carries a telescope into the stratosphere, allowing astronomers to study the solar system in a way that is not possible with telescopes on Earth.

“The observatory’s mobility allows researchers to observe from almost anywhere in the world and enables studies of transient events that often take place over oceans where there are no telescopes,” Nasa said.

“For example, astronomers on Sofia studied eclipse-like events of Pluto, Saturn’s moon Titan and Kuiper Belt Object MU69."

It has been in operation since 2007, but will be decommissioned in September owing to costs.

Spacecraft have also been used to capture previously unseen images of the cosmos. These include the New Horizon spacecraft, which has taken pictures of Pluto.