While scanning the night sky in search of Saturn in August of 1665, the German amateur astronomer Abraham Ihle made an amazing discovery: the globular cluster M22. It was one of the first objects of its kind ever detected. Located 10,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Sagittarius, the cluster’s relatively bright apparent magnitude of 5.1 makes it a popular target for today’s amateur astronomers. In ideal conditions, M22 can be seen with the naked eye. The best time to observe the cluster is during August.
Containing some of the oldest known stars, globular clusters are popular objects of study for astronomers. M22 has some additional features that are particularly fascinating: two stellar-mass black holes, and six planet-sized objects (discovered by Hubble) that are not orbiting stars. The cluster is also one of only four of its kind ever found to host a planetary nebula — a short-lived gaseous shell ejected by a star at the end of its life.
Hubble’s stunning image, created using visible and infrared observations, captured the densely packed heart of M22.
For more information about Hubble’s observations of M22, see:
www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1514a/
hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/2001/news-2001-20.html
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA
Tags: Messier 22 NGC 6656 Messier Hubble Hubble Space Telescope night sky space NASA M22 Sagittarius August Sky astronomy stars star cluster globular cluster black hole planetary nebula Abraham Ihle
This magnificent view of the spiral galaxy M106 was assembled from Hubble exposures and ground-based images taken by the amateur astronomer Robert Gendler. Gendler’s ground-based images were used to fill in pieces of the galaxy that Hubble did not observe. The center of the galaxy is composed almost entirely of Hubble observations. The outer spiral arms are also predominantly Hubble data, but were colorized with ground-based images taken by Gendler and fellow amateur astronomer Jay GaBany.
The image reveals one of the most striking features of M106: its extra pair of arms. Most spiral galaxies only have one pair of arms, but M106 has an extra set, seen here as red wisps of gas. Unlike the other arms, these two extra arms are made up of hot gas rather than stars. Astronomers attribute these ghostly arms to the supermassive black hole at the galaxy’s center. The extra arms appear to be an indirect result of the violent churning of matter around the black hole.
M106 was discovered by Charles Messier’s observing assistant, Pierre Méchain, in 1781. It is located 24 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Canes Venatici. Although a larger telescope is needed to resolve detail, M106 has a relatively bright apparent magnitude of 9.1 and can be spotted with a small telescope. It is best observed during May.
For more information on Hubble’s observations of M106, see:
hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/2013/news-2013-06.html
Credit: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), and R. Gendler (for the Hubble Heritage Team)
Acknowledgment: J. GaBany
Tags: Messier Hubble Hubble Space Telescope night sky space NASA M106 Messier 106 Canes Venatici May Sky astronomy galaxy NGC 4258 Pierre Mechain hot gas supermassive black hole spiral galaxy
M90 is a bright, beautiful spiral galaxy situated in the Virgo cluster of galaxies. Located in the constellation Virgo, this galaxy is approximately 59 million light-years away from Earth and has a magnitude of 9.5. M90 is believed to be breaking away from the rest of the galaxies in the Virgo cluster and is one of the few galaxies traveling toward our Milky Way galaxy, not away.
Charles Messier found M90 in 1781 while looking at other galaxies in the Virgo cluster. M90 contains approximately a trillion stars and a thousand globular clusters. With the exception of the inner disk region, the galaxy's arms contain very little star formation. Interactions with neighboring galaxies likely stripped away the gas and material that M90 needs to have active star formation in its outer regions. In the future, M90 is expected to evolve into a lenticular galaxy, which is a galaxy that has qualities of both a spiral and an elliptical galaxy.
This Hubble observation was taken in infrared, ultraviolet, and visible light with the telescope's Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2. Less than half of the galaxy is visible in this image. Astronomers used these Hubble observations to help study the properties of galactic bulges and the cores of nearby galaxies.
The best time to view M90 is in May. It can be seen with binoculars in a clear, dark sky, and telescopes (especially larger ones) will begin to reveal more details of the galaxy, such as its arms and bright core.
Credits: NASA, ESA, STScI, and V. Rubin (Carnegie Institution of Washington), D. Maoz (Tel Aviv University/Wise Observatory), and D. Fisher (University of Maryland)
Tags: M90 Messier 90 May Sky Virgo Virgo Cluster Hubble Hubble Space Telescope Charles Messier Messier Objects Messier Catalog Night Sky galaxy spiral galaxy astronomy NASA space
M108, or the Surfboard galaxy, is located in the constellation Ursa Major approximately 46 million light-years away. It is called the Surfboard galaxy because, when viewed with a telescope, it is seen nearly edge-on with no apparent bulge or pronounced core.
M108 was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781 three days after he discovered M97. Charles Messier’s notes state that he observed the galaxy in 1781 but never took an accurate position of it or officially added it to his catalog. M108 was finally added to Messier’s catalog in 1953 by astronomer Owen Gingerich.
There is little evidence of a well-defined spiral pattern in the galaxy, but M108 is classified as a barred spiral galaxy with loosely wound spiral arms. Observations show young star clusters exposed against a mottled and detail-rich background. M108 also contains supershells, which are shells of gas driven by bursts of star formation and resulting supernova explosions. The supershells could also be driven by stellar jets or an infall of gas from outside the galaxy.
At the center of M108 is a supermassive black hole estimated to be 24 million times as massive as the Sun. The Chandra X-ray Observatory discovered multiple X-ray sources in M108, with the brightest X-ray source suspected to be an intermediately sized black hole that is actively accreting material.
M108 is one of the largest and brightest members of the Ursa Major cluster, which is part of the Virgo Supercluster of galaxies. It has a magnitude of 10 and is located just under the bowl of the Big Dipper. M108 can be seen with small telescopes as an elliptical streak of light with a brighter core, while telescopes 8 inches or larger will reveal more detail. The best time to observe M108 is in April, but it can be seen throughout the year for those in the Northern Hemisphere.
Credit: NASA, ESA, and H. Bond (The Pennsylvania State University); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)
For more information, visit: science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/science/explore-the-night...
For Hubble's Messier catalog website and information on how to find these objects in the night sky, visit: science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/science/explore-the-night...
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Tags: Messier Messier Object Messier Catalog NASA Hubble ESA Hubble Space Telescope telescope space telescope cosmos universe space cosmic astronomy galaxy galaxies M108 Messier 108
Soon after Hubble first began sending images from space, scientists discovered that the telescope's primary mirror had a flaw called spherical aberration. This flaw caused some of the collected light from celestial objects to be scattered, resulting in fuzzy images. In 1994, NASA released these two images of M100 taken with Hubble before (left) and after (right) the spherical aberration problem was corrected.
For more information about Hubble’s observations of M100, see:
hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/1994/news-1994-02.html
hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/1994/news-1994-49.html
hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/1994/news-1994-03.html
hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/1994/news-1994-01.html
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA
Tags: Messier Hubble Hubble Space Telescope night sky space NASA Coma Berenices May Sky M100 Messier 100 astronomy spherical aberration NGC 4321 galaxy spiral galaxy