• ESO/Digitized Sky Survey 2
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    This image of cosmic clouds in the constellation of Orion, released by the European Southern Observatory on May 15, 2013, reveals what seems to be a fiery ribbon in the sky. The orange glow represents faint light coming from cold interstellar dust, at wavelengths impossible for human eyes to see. The large bright cloud in the upper right of the image is the well-known Orion Nebula, also called Messier 42.

    Keep clicking for more out-of-this-world photos.

  • ESO
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    The European Southern Observatory released this striking image of nebula NGC 6559 on May 2, 2013. The picture shows glowing red clouds of hydrogen gas as well as blue regions where starlight is being reflected by tiny dust particles and dark regions where dust is thick and opaque.
  • European Space Agency/NASA Hubble
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    The red wisps of gas in this image, released by NASA on May 3, 2013, make up an object known as SNR 0519. They are remnants from when an unstable white dwarf star exploded violently as a supernova around 600 years ago. 

  • NASA/Goddard/SDO
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    A coronal mass ejection (CME) erupted from just around the edge of the sun on May 1, 2013, in a gigantic rolling wave. CMEs can shoot over one billion tons of particles into space at over one million mph. See a video here.

  • NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI
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    The spinning vortex of Saturn's north polar storm resembles a giant red rose in this false-color image from NASA's Cassini spacecraft. The eye is a staggering 1,250 miles across and wind speeds reach 330 mph. The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Nov. 27, 2012, and released on April 29, 2013.

  • NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI
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    Saturn's north pole is seen in this image taken by the Cassini spacecraft on Nov. 27, 2012, and released by NASA on April 29, 2013. A hurricane-like storm circling Saturn's north pole is visible inside the planet's famous "hexagon" feature, which scientists think is a wandering jet stream that whips around the north pole at about 220 miles per hour. Saturn's rings can be seen at the upper right of the image. This is a natural-color view that shows Saturn the way the human eye would see it.Saturn's north pole is seen in this image taken by the Cassini spacecraft on Nov. 27, 2012, and released by NASA on April 29, 2013. A hurricane-like storm circling Saturn's north pole is visible inside the planet's famous "hexagon" feature, which scientists think is a wandering jet stream that whips around the north pole at about 220 miles per hour. Saturn's rings can be seen at the upper right of the image. This is a natural-color view that shows Saturn the way the human eye would see it.
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    This spectacular false-color image from NASA's Cassini mission shows storms at Saturn's north pole. The eye of a hurricane-like storm appears dark red while the fast-moving hexagonal jet stream framing it is a yellowish green. Low-lying clouds circling inside the hexagonal feature appear as muted orange color. A second, smaller vortex pops out in teal at the lower right of the image. The rings of Saturn appear in vivid blue at the top right. The image was taken with Cassini's wide-angle camera on Nov. 27, 2012, and released April 29, 2013.
  • NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
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    On April 19, NASA released this new view of the Horsehead Nebula taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. April 24 marks the 23rd anniversary of the Hubble's launch aboard the space shuttle Discovery.
  • ESA/Herschel/PACS, SPIRE/N. Schneider, Ph. André, V. Könyves (CEA Saclay, France) for the Gould Belt survey Key Programme
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    This view from ESA’s Herschel space observatory shows the Horsehead Nebula in the context of its surroundings. The Horsehead nebula is located in the constellation Orion, about 1,300 light-years away. The Horsehead appears to rise above the surrounding gas and points towards the bright Flame Nebula. Intense radiation streaming away from newborn stars heats up the surrounding dust and gas, making it shine brightly to Herschel’s infrared-sensitive eyes (shown in pink and white in this image).

  • ESO
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    This image, released by the European Southern Observatory on April 10, 2013, shows the glowing green planetary nebula IC 1295 surrounding a dim and dying star located about 3300 light-years away in the constellation of Scutum (The Shield). At the center of the image, you can see the burnt-out remnant of the star's core as a bright blue-white spot at the heart of the nebula.
  • NASA/CXC/JPL-Caltech/STScI
    11 of 31

    A new view of the Small Magellanic Cloud galaxy is seen in this image released by NASA on April 3, 2013. The SMC is a dwarf galaxy about 200,000 light-years away that orbits the Milky Way. It is one of the Milky Way's closest neighbors and even though it's a small galaxy, the SMC is so bright that it is visible to the naked eye from the Southern Hemisphere and near the equator.

    The spiral galaxy in the lower lefthand corner is actually behind this nebula. Other distant galaxies -- located hundreds of millions of light-years or more away -- are visible around the edge of the image.

  • ESO
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    This image released by the European Southern Observatory on March 27, 2013, shows the bright open star cluster NGC 2547. The blue stars in the cluster were recently formed, and although their exact ages remain uncertain, astronomers estimate they range from 20 to 35 million years old. Between the bright stars, in the background of the image, are remote galaxies, some with spiral shapes.
  • NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
    13 of 31
    In this image released by NASA on March 4, 2013, Venus is visible through the rings of Saturn as a small, bright white dot (above and to the right of the image center). This view was taken with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on Nov. 10, 2012.
  • NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
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    In this image from NASA's Cassini spacecraft, Venus appears just off the edge of Saturn, at the top of the image, directly above the white streak of Saturn's G ring. Lower down, Saturn's E ring is also visible. A bright spot near the E ring is a distant star. The images was obtained on Jan. 4, 2013, and released on March 4, 2013.
  • ESO
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    This infrared image, released by the ESO on Feb. 20, 2013, shows stellar nursery NGC 6357, also called the Lobster Nebula. The image, taken from ESO's VISTA telescope, reveals vast, glowing clouds of gas and dust surrounding hot young stars.
  • NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
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    Saturn's F ring is visible in this image taken by the Cassini spacecraft in December 2012 and released on Feb. 18, 2013.
  • X-ray: NASA/CXC/MIT/L.Lopez et al; Infrared: Palomar; Radio: NSF/NRAO/VLA
    17 of 31
    On Feb. 13, 2013, NASA released this image of supernova remnant W49B. Supernovas are explosions that destroy massive stars. Usually the explosions are symmetrical, expelling stellar material evenly in all directions. In this case, material near the poles of the dying star was ejected much faster than material from its equator. Scientists believe this explosion may have formed the youngest black hole the Milky Way galaxy.
  • ESO
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    Released by the ESO on Feb. 6, 2013, this image shows the intricate structure of part of the Seagull Nebula. These wisps of gas and dust are known as Sharpless 2-296 (officially Sh 2-296) and form part of the "wings" of the celestial bird.
  • ESA/Herschel/PACS & SPIRE Consortium, O. Krause, HSC, H. Linz
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    The ESA released a new view of the Andromeda galaxy on Jan. 28, 2013. In this image, the warmest regions, like the densely populated center, are colored blue, while the colder clouds of dust and gas appear bright red. These clouds of gas are where new stars are being born.
  • ESO/APEX (MPIfR/ESO/OSO)/T. Stanke et al./Digitized Sky Survey 2
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    On Jan. 23, 2013, the European Southern Observatory released this view of clouds of cosmic dust in the region of Orion. Dense clouds of cosmic gas and dust are the birthplaces of new stars.
  • ESO/F. Comeron
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    This image shows a dark cloud of dust and gas called Lupus 3, where new stars are forming. Next to the stellar nursery is a bright cluster of stars that have already emerged. This picture was released on Jan. 16, 2013.
  • NASA, ESA. Acknowledgement: Josh Lake
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    The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, 200,000 light-years away from Earth. Huge clouds of gas within the galaxy are slowly collapsing and forming new stars, creating an array of striking colors. On Jan. 17, 2013, NASA released this new image of the LMC taken by the Hubble Space Telescope.
  • ESA/Hubble & NASA
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    The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope captured this image of a bright ring surrounding the heart of spiral galaxy NGC 1097 on Dec. 28, 2012. At the very center of the galaxy, a supermassive black hole 100 million times the mass of our sun is gradually sucking in the matter around it. The area immediately surrounding the black hole shines powerfully with radiation coming from the material falling in.
  • NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
    24 of 31

    On Dec. 18, 2012, NASA released this rare view of Saturn, taken from the Cassini spacecraft. The image was taken while Cassini was in the planet's shadow, so Saturn and its rings are backlit by the sun. The last time a similar view of Saturn was captured was in September 2006.

    Also visible in this image on the left side of the planet are two of Saturn's moons, Enceladus and Tethys.

  • ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)
    25 of 31
    Astronomers using a telescope in Chile's Atacama Desert have discovered an unexpected spiral structure in the material around dying red giant R Sculptoris. The spiral -- visible around the bright dot at the center of the image -- is likely caused by a hidden companion star orbiting R Sculptoris. The ESO released this image on Oct. 10, 2012.
  • EDO
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    This cloud of gas, formally called Sharpless 2-292, is part of a stellar nursery nicknamed the Seagull Nebula. It glows brightly due to the energetic radiation from a very hot young star lurking at its center. ESO's La Silla Observatory released the image on Sept. 26, 2012.
  • NASA/JPL-Caltech
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    Located 650 light years from Earth, the Helix nebula is the cosmic remains of a dying star. In this combined image released Oct. 3, 2012, from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and the Galaxy Evolution Explorer, the star's dusty outer layers glow from ultraviolet radiation being pumped out by its stellar core.
  • ESO
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    The ESO's La Silla Observatory in Chile released this image of a bright feather-like cloud of glowing gas on Sept. 12, 2012. Called the Pencil Nebula, this streak of vibrant red and blue is part of a ring of wreckage resulting from a supernova explosion that occurred 11,000 years ago.
  • NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration
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    On Sept. 6, 2012, NASA released this shot of an odd pairing of galaxies called Arp 116. The image, taken by NASA's Hubble Telescope, shows giant elliptical galaxy Messier 60 (M60) beside a much smaller spiral galaxy called NGC 4647. The smaller galaxy is two-thirds the size of M60, roughly the same size as the Milky Way and about 63 million light years from Earth.
  • ESA/Hubble & NASA
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    On Sept. 3, 2012, NASA released a sparkling picture of the center of globular cluster M 4. The cluster contains tens of thousands of stars including many white dwarfs, which are the cores of ancient dying stars. Also in M 4 is a planet called PSR B1620-36 b, which is 2.5 times the mass of Jupiter and 13 billion years old -- three times the age of our Solar System.
  • ESA/NASA
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    Next: Breathtaking Volcanic Eruptions from Space
    On July 2, 2012, Hubble Space Telescope posted this portrait of dying star Camelopardalis (U Cam for short) as it released a spherical shell of gas. U Cam is becoming increasingly unstable, and every few thousand years the red giant's core fuses and it expels stellar material in these eruptions. Although the star itself is small enough to fit into a single pixel of the photo, its brightness makes it appear much larger than it is.