Top 100 Images

Ranking
Date

1. Galactic Dance

Image of the interacting galaxy pair NGC 5394/5 obtained with NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory’s Gemini North 8-meter telescope on Hawai’i’s Maunakea using the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph in imaging mode. This four-color composite image has a total exposure time of 42 minutes.

2. Gemini South Captures Planetary Nebula CVMP 1

The international Gemini Observatory composite color image of the planetary nebula CVMP 1 imaged by the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph on the Gemini South telescope on Cerro Pachón in Chile.

3. Clear Skies at Cerro Pachón

Vera C. Rubin Observatory basks under a cloudless sky in this image. The observatory is currently under construction atop Cerro Pachón in Chile. If you look closely, you can see a sliver of the teal-blue steel of the telescope structure within the nearly finished dome. Further sheets of the same blue steel are neatly stacked in the building site nearby. Beyond Cerro Pachón, the domes of Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory are visible on a nearby summit, and other ridges of the Andean foothills fade into blue in the distance.
When complete, Rubin Observatory will use its 8.4-meter telescope and 3200-megapixel ...

4. Silver Galactic Sliver

The Silver Sliver Galaxy — more formally known as NGC 891 — is shown in this striking image from the Mosaic instrument on the 4-meter Nicholas U. Mayall Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. NGC 891 is a spiral galaxy that lies almost perfectly edge-on to us, leading to its elongated appearance and its striking resemblance to our home galaxy, the Milky Way, as seen from the Earth. Since NGC 891 is oriented edge-on, it’s great for investigating the galactic fountain model. When stellar winds and supernovae from the disk of a galaxy eject gas ...

5. Jupiter's Red Spots

Gemini North adaptive optics image of Jupiter and its two red spots (which appear white because this is a near-infrared image; in visible light they appear reddish). In this color composite image, white indicates cloud features at relatively high altitudes; blue indicates lower cloud structures; and red represents still deeper cloud features. The two red spots appear more white than red, because their tops hover high above the surrounding clouds. Also prominent is the polar stratospheric haze, which makes Jupiter bright near the pole (unlike the other orange/red features in this image, the polar haze is high in Jupiter's atmosphere). ...

6. Elliptical galaxy NGC 474 — excerpt from the Dark Energy Survey

Elliptical galaxies are generally characterized by their relatively smooth appearance when compared with spiral galaxies (one of which is to the left), which have more flocculent structures interwoven with dust lanes and spiral arms. NGC 474 is at a distance of about 100 million light-years in the constellation of Pisces. This image shows unusual structures around NGC 474 characterized as tidal tails and shell-like structures made up of hundreds of millions of stars. These features are due to recent mergers (within the last billion years) or close interactions with smaller infalling dwarf galaxies.
This image is an excerpt from ...

7. A Snowball SOARs

The white dome of the Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) Telescope looks a little like a giant snowball, juxtaposed against the icy backdrop. SOAR is an optical telescope, meaning that it observes the skies in the wavelength range that the human eye is sensitive to (and a little beyond). The telescope, however, is equipped with a 4.1-meter mirror, so it can collect a lot more light than human eyes. SOAR is based in Chile at Cerro Pachón. It stands at an altitude of 2,700 meters (8,900 feet) above sea level, which in this winter scene, explains the frosted mountain tops! SOAR ...

8. DECam image of the bulge of the Milky Way

This color-composite shows a main part of the new Blanco DECam Bulge Survey of 250 million stars in our galaxy’s bulge. The 4 x 2 degrees excerpt can be explored in all its whopping 50,000 x 25,000 pixels in this zoomable version.
In the image interstellar dust and gas seemingly acts like a red “filter” in front of the background stars, scattering the blue light away. Since we are surrounded by dust and gas in the Milky Way, this scattering effect is important to many parts of astronomy and is known as interstellar reddening.
DECam was primarily funded by the ...

9. An Astronomer’s Crystal Ball

The Milky Way appears to be trapped in a crystal ball in this fisheye image taken at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. Thanks to its remote location atop Cerro Tololo in northern Chile, CTIO enjoys a breathtaking panoramic view of the southern hemisphere’s night sky, and a spectacular perspective on the heart of the Milky Way. Though the dusty band of our Milky Way dominates this image, several of CTIO’s telescopes can also be seen along the edges. With more than 20 telescopes operating at the site, CTIO is fully equipped to take advantage ...

10. Rubin Observatory at sunset

This photo of the Rubin Observatory at sunset was taken from behind the nearby Gemini South telescope.

11. Gazing at the Milky Way

The Milky Way spills across the night sky above the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. Commissioned in 1974, the telescope was once the largest optical telescope south of the equator and remains an astronomical powerhouse to this day. This photograph captures the open dome of the telescope as it gazes upwards at the luminous band of stars and dust lanes making up our galaxy. Like all telescopes at CTIO, the Blanco benefits from the crystal-clear observing conditions in northern Chile — as you can see from this star-filled ...

12. vdB 152, Barnard 175

This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. Also known as Barnard 175, vdB 152 is a reflection nebula atop of a dark Bok globule. Embedded in the top right side of the nebula is the Herbig Haro object HH 450, a jet emitted from a newly forming star. The thin, red filaments in the upper-right corner of the image are the remnants of a supernova explosion. It is not yet clear whether or not the supernova remnant will collide with vdB 152. The image was ...

13. Planetary Nebula HFG1

This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. HFG1 is a planetary nebula in the constellation of Cassiopeia. It was produced by a binary star system (V664 Cas) that is moving rapidly through our Galaxy. The star is moving towards the upper-right of the image. As HFG1 plows through the interstellar medium, a bluish bowshock is produced; and a red trail of gas is left behind in its wake. The image was generated with observations in the Hydrogen alpha (red) and Oxygen [OIII] (blue) filters. In ...

14. A Sign of the Zodiac

This image of the Gemini South telescope is so full of light that it is difficult to believe that it was captured at night. Gemini South is the southern half of the international Gemini Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. The wedge-shaped light on the right side of the photo is not from an artificial source (although there are city lights below it), but is a natural phenomenon known as zodiacal light. This occurs when sunlight is scattered off dust particles in the plane of our Solar System, causing part of the sky to become illuminated either after Sun-down or ...

15. A Colorful Night

These whirling lines in the sky are the trails of stars after an hour-long exposure above Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. The trails are shortest around the North Star, Polaris, a star that happens to coincide almost directly with the celestial north pole. The different colors in the trails reflect the different temperatures of the stars, with blue being the hottest stars and yellow/red the coolest. The telescope visible above the horizon is the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope, and the red glow on the mountain is caused by red lights used to ensure the ...

16. Desert Stars

A shooting star streaks above Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. Silhouetted against the night sky and the faint glow of Earth’s atmosphere are (from left to right) the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope, the SMARTS 1.0-meter Telescope, the former University of Chile telescope, Las Cumbres Observatory 1-meter Telescope, and the KMTNet 1.6-meter Telescope. This image also features scattered boulders and desert plants (left) of Cerro Tololo. Before being purchased in 1967 to create an astronomical observatory, the land upon which CTIO stands supported a handful of subsistence farmers and goat herders. As the site’s old ...

17. Larger than Life

We are so accustomed to skies full of light pollution that this photograph of the Milky Way appears almost unreal in its vividness. It was taken at the site of the KPNO 2.1-meter Telescope of the Kitt Peak National Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. The locations for advanced telescopes are chosen based on several key criteria: the lack of artificial light sources nearby, an arid environment, and clear skies. Not only do these conditions facilitate science-quality telescopic observations, but they make for extraordinary astrophotography.

18. Dazzling in the dark

If you took only a quick glance at this image, you might think that the dark patches occulting the stars were smoke, rising from the ground. In fact this dazzling image — taken on Maunakea, Hawai’i at the northern site of the international Gemini Observatory (right), a program of NSF’s NOIRLab — shows the Milky Way in vivid detail, allowing us to see not only the stars, but the dusty regions which block their light. Tiny flecks mostly inorganic matter make up cosmic dust which in turn forms enormous obscuring clouds. The dark, smoke-like trail through the heart of the ...

19. Heart of the Milky Way

In this time-exposure photo, the center of the Milky Way glows in various colors — an effect invisible to oneʻs eyes — above the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a program of NSF’s NOIRLab. The heart of our galaxy is best viewed from the southern hemisphere and areas near the equator (such as Hawaiʻi) because of its orientation relative to the Earth. Thanks to its location in the mountains of northern Chile, CTIO makes the southern skies accessible to US astronomers. As well as hosting large research telescopes, CTIO accommodates a variety of smaller tenant observatories. The small domes populating ...

20. A (Galactic) Arm’s Length Away

The two galaxies in this image — NGC 672 (top right) and IC 1727 (bottom left) — appear to be so close that they are almost elbowing each other, like playful children. In fact, the galaxies shown in this beautifully detailed image taken at the Kitt Peak National Observatory, a program of NSF’s NOIRLab, are classified as a galactic pair, and the gravity of each galaxy influences the other. The pair are located around 20 million light-years away from Earth and the space between them spans over 80,000 light-years, a seemingly enormous gap. However, from the perspective of the galaxies’ ...

21. Sunlight Paints a Crimson Sky Over Gemini South

During rare cloudy weather, a vivid red sunset reflects off the dome of the international Gemini Observatory’s Gemini South telescope in Chile, a program of NSF’s NOIRLab. In this image, sunlight is scattered and reflected by gas, dust and particulates in the Earth’s atmosphere and spreads an artist’s palette of red and orange colors across the sky as the Sun sets over Chile’s Pacific coast. Fortunately, the nearby clouds reflecting these colors cleared out in time for the 8.1-meter Gemini primary mirror to collect starlight and complete a productive night of science observations — but not before treating the observatory ...

22. An Insider’s View

Take a peek at the inner workings of a world-class observatory in this image of the international Gemini Observatory, a program of NSF’s NOIRLab. Illuminated by the Moon outside this picture, the open structure of silver beams holding the secondary mirror (center) allows cool night air to pass freely between the mirrors. Combined with the open sides of the dome, the entire design ensures a uniform temperature matching the outside environment. Any variations of temperature create local turbulence that blurs astronomical images. Although this is a picture of the Gemini South telescope in Chile, its twin, the Gemini North telescope ...

23. Radiant Horizons

The stars and dust lanes of the Milky Way hang above telescope domes in this richly hued image of Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a program of NSF’s NOIRLab. The two bright, wispy ovals to the right are the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, dwarf galaxies visible only in the southern hemisphere. The band of color along the horizon is a phenomenon known as airglow, a visible reaction between molecules in Earth’s atmosphere and solar radiation. In this picture are the Curtis Schmidt Telescope (left), the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope (middle), and the SMARTS 1.5-meter Telescope (right). These telescopes, ...

24. WIYN Enveloped by Celestial Aura

The glow behind the 3.5-meter WIYN telescope looks like a celestial aura, but it is really a phenomenon known as the Zodiacal Light. This faint glow, created by the scattering of light by small dust particles left over from the formation of our Solar System, is only visible during evening and morning twilight (in the west and east, respectively) and along the plane of the Solar System or the zodiac (hence the name zodiacal light). The WIYN telescope is part of the Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), a program of NSF’s NOIRLab. Also visible is the brilliant light of the ...

25. A Backdrop of Blue and Red

A colorful sunset and layers of blue mountaintops backdrops the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a program of NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory. Most prominent in the image is the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope, which sits atop Cerro Tololo itself. The SMARTS 1.5-meter and 0.9-meter telescopes, as well as a selection of CTIO’s tenant observatories, are scattered along the ridge. This location allows astronomers a stellar view of the southern night sky, providing access to objects not visible from the northern hemisphere, such as the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds.

26. Milky Way over McMath

The summer Milky Way rises behind the iconic McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope at NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory’s Kitt Peak National Observatory. The McMath-Pierce was the largest solar telescope in the world from its dedication in 1962 until it ceased research operations at the end of 2017. The interior of the facility is currently being renovated to become the Windows on the Universe Center for Astronomy Outreach. This new facility will give visitors to Kitt Peak a variety of educational experiences, including a portable planetarium, Science on a Sphere, displays highlighting NSF’s astronomy facilities and an unprecedented look at this ...

27. Purple Sky at Night: Astronomer’s Delight!

This scene shows an arresting purple sky streaked with star trails over Cerro Pachón, the site of the Gemini South telescope (right) and the 4.1 meter Southern Astrophysical Research telescope (SOAR, left), both programs of the NSF’s Optical Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory. From this mountaintop perch, which lies at an altitude of 2,737 meters (8980 ft) in the Chilean Andes, the 8.1-meter Gemini South telescope can survey the Southern sky — complementing the view from Gemini North atop Maunakea in Hawaiʻi. Together, these astronomical twins can access the entire night sky.

28. Hawai‘i Students Take a Journey Through the Universe!

Over the past week, almost 300 classrooms in the Hilo, Hawai‘i area engaged with local Maunakea observatory staff and other astronomy STEM professionals during the 16th annual Journey Through the Universe program. Here, Scot Kleinman, Gemini’s Associate Director of Development, shares how a coronagraph helps scientists discover exoplanets with second-grade students from Hilo’s E. B. De Silva elementary school. Now in its 16th year, the annual Journey Through the Universe program, led by staff at the international Gemini Observatory, a program of the NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory, brings hands-on science demonstrations into K-12 classrooms to inspire the next ...

29. Shooting for the Stars!

Kitt Peak National Observatory, a program of NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NOIRLab), is located on land leased from the Tohono O’odham Nation. NSF’s NOIRLab staff frequently partner with the American Indian Science and Engineering Students (AISES) chapter at Tohono O’odham Community College to host star-gazing events and other local engagement activities. One popular activity is for students to build and launch water rockets out of two-liter bottles with glow sticks attached to make the flights visible against the dark Arizona skies. This image shows the trajectory of a launch that reaches its apex near the constellation of Orion. ...

30. Trails Near and Far

This long-exposure photograph shows the motion of stars during the night above the Blanco 4-meter telescope (left) and the SMARTS 1.5-meter telescope (right) at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, a program of the NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory. Also visible in the photo are the trails left by astronomers walking to the Blanco telescope, created by their flashlights. Stars streak through the sky over the course of this one-hour exposure, appearing to spin around the south celestial pole in the upper left of the image. The star closest to the south celestial pole is Sigma Octantis, a relatively ...

31. Circumpolar Laser Tests at Gemini North

As stars appear to circle around the north celestial pole, a new laser at the Gemini North telescope on Hawaii’s Maunakea undergoes rigorous testing, as seen in this image from early October 2019.
The international Gemini Observatory, a program of the National Science Foundation’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NOIRLab), recently completed testing of a new laser from the company TOPTICA which is a critical component in the telescope’s adaptive optics system. Adaptive optics utilize artificial guide stars, produced by a laser, as a reference when compensating for distortions caused by turbulence in the Earth’s atmosphere. The result is ...

32. Where Discoveries Begin

A young artist adds his touch to the United States National Science Foundation’s (NSF’s) graphic wall at the 235th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Honolulu, Hawai‘i. This wall, designed by graphic designer Pete Marenfeld, was the center of the NSF Pavilion at the meeting, and encouraged participants to take a break from the meeting and indulge their creative sides — while exploring some of NSF’s world-class observatories which are part of NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NOIRLab). A time-lapse video shows the fascinating evolution of this wall painting over the duration of the 4-day meeting.
Equipped with ...

33. Starlit Solar Panels at Gemini South

This night-time photo of the Gemini South telescope on Cerro Pachón, Chile features a marvelous view of the Milky Way arching overhead and reflecting off some of the 668 photovoltaic panels that help power the facility. The same clear skies that provide such spectacular views of our galaxy also allow Gemini South, one of two telescopes making up the international Gemini Observatory a program of NSF’s Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory, to enjoy abundant sunlight during the day — making solar panels a down-to-earth addition to the facility. Starlight isn’t bright enough to generate electricity at night, when the astronomical observations ...

34. Glowworm Glowing in the Dead of Night

When the weather conditions are just right, glowworms come out at night at Kitt Peak National Observatory. This glowworm crossed the road in front of the WIYN 3.5-meter telescope as the last of the summer Milky Way sets behind the WIYN dome. Although only the tail end of the glowworm is bioluminescent, the glowworm appears as a streak over the 10 second exposure, and the image shows how much distance it covered over the period of the exposure.

35. Storm Lifting Over Gemini

After more than a week of wintery weather, the clouds started lifting over the Gemini North telescope of the international Gemini Observatory (center) on Maunakea. Joy Pollard of NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory snapped this shot during a visit to the mountain on 15 January. While snow is not uncommon on the nearly 14,000-foot summit area, this is the first major snowfall this winter on the mountaintop. The snowfall left drifts as high as 2 meters (7 feet) surrounding Gemini North and required the recruitment of staff volunteers to help shovel snow off the dome in order to get ...

36. Galactic Center Illuminates Cerro Tololo’s Blanco 4-Meter Telescope

The Milky Way arches high over the Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) in Chile. The Blanco 4-meter Telescope began operating in 1976, providing astronomers with a world-class observatory in the southern hemisphere, and it continues to produce cutting-edge science. The Blanco is currently equipped with the Dark Energy Camera (DECam), a state-of-the-art 500-megapixel camera which completed the five-year Dark Energy Survey in early 2019. DECam continues with an expanded mission and is providing astronomers with a powerful tool for studying dark energy, exoplanets and more.

37. Sunset over Kitt Peak National Observatory

Every year around the winter solstice, the Sun appears to set behind Kitt Peak National Observatory as seen from Mount Lemmon almost 100 km (60 miles) away. Local photographers meet every year around the holidays to capture photos and videos of this interesting alignment. For a brief time, you can see many of the Kitt Peak telescopes, from the distinctive McMath-Pierce Solar telescope (left) to the large dome of the Mayall 4-meter telescope (right). The still image depicts the silhouettes of the telescopes with a green segment above the Sun and was taken on 17 December 2016. The video was ...

38. Galactic Rainbow

The Milky Way hangs poised over the Gemini South telescope
The colorful band of the Milky Way is poised above the 8.1-meter Gemini South telescope of NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory in this arresting image, which depicts bright patches of stars threaded through with winding lanes of dust. The Galactic Center hangs directly above the telescope, framing one of the most powerful astronomical observatories in the southern hemisphere.
The picture also captures the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, which appear on the left side of the image. These dwarf irregular galaxies are satellites of the Milky Way, and lack ...

39. Convergence Over Cerro Pachón

Jupiter, Venus and the Moon Converge over Observatories
Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) Telescope operator Carlos Corco obtained this image of the recent conjunction of Jupiter, Venus and the Moon (right) over the 8-meter Gemini South telescope (left) on Cerro Pachón in Chile. A conjunction is the apparent meeting of two or more celestial bodies in the night sky.
Also visible (in the distance, just right of center) is the silhouette of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) which is currently under construction. In late 2022, LSST is slated to begin an unprecedented, decade-long, survey of the night sky in optical ...

40. Starry Skies at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory

Breathtaking observatory panorama showcases the Milky Way
This breathtaking panorama, captured by Hernan Stockebrand, showcases the pristine skies at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO). CTIO, a program of NSF’s NOIRLab, is a complex of astronomical telescopes and instruments in the Chilean Andes. CTIO’s mountainous surroundings and altitude — the site is 2200 meters (7200 feet) above sea level — ensure the mountaintop observatory enjoys spectacular night skies. This colorful panorama shows the arch of the Milky Way hanging above the observatory facilities, as well as strands of low clouds illuminated by the Moon, which is visible on the right ...

41. Starlink Satellites Imaged from CTIO

Earlier this week, while observing with DECam on the Blanco 4-meter telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of NSF's NOIRLab, astronomers Clara Martínez-Vázquez and Cliff Johnson noticed something interesting. One of their images, the 333 seconds-exposure seen here, contained at least 19 streaks that they quickly surmised were due to the second batch of Starlink satellites launched last week. The gaps in the satellite tracks are due to the gaps between the DECam CCD chips in the 2.2-degree field.
At the same time, the CTIO all-sky camera recorded the satellites which were even visible with the ...

42. Spiral Galaxy IC342

Spiral Galaxy IC342 is located roughly 11 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Camelopardalis, “the giraffe.” Its face-on appearance in the sky—as opposed to our tilted and edge-on views of many other nearby galaxies, such as the large spiral galaxy Andromeda (M31)—makes IC342 a prime target for studies of star formation and astrochemistry. The image, obtained in late 2006, was taken using the 64-megapixel Mosaic-1 digital imager on the Mayall 4-meter telescope. This image is the subject of NOAO press release 07-03

43. Carina Nebula western wall (with adaptive optics)

A 50-trillion-km (33-trillion-mile, or 5 light-year) long section of the western wall in the Carina Nebula, as observed with adaptive optics on the Gemini South telescope. This mountainous section of the nebula reveals a number of unusual structures including a long series of parallel ridges that could be produced by a magnetic field, a remarkable almost perfectly smooth wave, and fragments that appear to be in the process of being sheared off the cloud by a strong wind. There is also evidence for a jet of material ejected from a newly-formed star. The exquisite detail seen in the image is ...

44. Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory from above

Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory seen from Cerro Pachón.

45. Through the Camera Lens

Cameras allow us to see things which our eyes cannot! This atmospheric light painting was captured at Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. The composition is framed by an inky sky and the spectacular arch of the McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope serves as a backdrop. Light painting — where a moving light source is captured with a long camera exposure — has been practiced for well over a century. It has both scientific and artistic applications. NOIRLab’s Colors of Nature Summer Academy explores the science of color and the role color plays in art and nature. Colors ...

46. High resolution solar spectrum

A high resolution version of the spectrum of our Sun, this image was created from a digital atlas observed with the Fourier Transform Spectrometer at the McMath-Pierce Solar Facility at the National Solar Observatory on Kitt Peak, near Tucson, Arizona (‘Solar Flux Atlas from 296 to 1300 nm’ by Robert L. Kurucz, Ingemar Furenlid, James Brault, and Larry Testerman: National Solar Observatory Atlas No. 1, June 1984.). The images shown here were created to mimic an echelle spectrum, with wavelength increasing from left to right along each strip, and from bottom to top. Each of the 50 slices covers 60 ...

47. Whole disk NIRI image sharp

This image showing the entire disk of Jupiter in infrared light was compiled from a mosaic of nine separate pointings observed by the international Gemini Observatory, a program of NSF’s NOIRLab on 29 May 2019. From a “lucky imaging” set of 38 exposures taken at each pointing, the research team selected the sharpest 10%, combining them to image one ninth of Jupiter’s disk. Stacks of exposures at the nine pointings were then combined to make one clear, global view of the planet. Even though it only takes a few seconds for Gemini to create each image in a lucky imaging ...

48. Orion Bullets

Gemini's Laser Vision Reveals Striking New Details in Orion Nebula This composite image at infrared wavelengths was obtained using the Gemini North laser guide star system in conjunction with the ALTAIR adaptive optics system and the NIRI near-infrared imager. The image shows the Orion "bullets" as blue features and represents the light emitted by hot iron (Fe) gas. The light from the wakes, shown in orange, is from excited hydrogen gas.This image brings into focus a remarkably detailed view of supersonic “bullets” of gas and the wakes created as they pierce through clouds of molecular hydrogen in the famous Orion ...

49. Clear Skies at Cerro Pachón

COVID-19 restrictions in the La Serena region of Chile have impacted construction activity, but progress on the summit is still being made, with a focus on high-priority work.

50. Artist’s impression of quasar J0313-1806

An artist’s impression of quasar J0313-1806 showing the supermassive black hole and the extremely high velocity wind. The quasar, seen just 670 million years after the Big Bang, is 1000 times more luminous than the Milky Way, and is powered by the earliest known supermassive black hole, which weighs in at more than 1.6 billion times the mass of the Sun.

51. LMC and SMC over Cerro Tololo

CTIO Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope and SMARTS telescopes.

52. NOIRLab’s current and potential future system

NOIRLab’s current and potential future system of observatories and data-driven exploration tools.

53. Under the Dome

This image shows an immersive view from inside the dome of the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. The rotating dome is an impressive feat of engineering — designed to protect the delicate telescope from the elements. It weighs in at 430 tonnes (475 tons) and was built to withstand Chilean earthquakes. In addition to the Blanco’s dome, this photograph shows some of the equipment needed to run an astronomical observatory, ranging from calibration targets to good old-fashioned ladders! Glimpses of the mountains surrounding CTIO can be seen through ...

54. Glistening Spiral Galaxy

The spiral galaxy NGC 2541 is shown in extravagant detail in this astronomical snapshot from the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. Astronomers recognize a variety of galaxy types, and NGC 2541 is classified as an unbarred spiral galaxy. These galaxies possess spectacular spiral arms like the ones shown here, but lack the central bar-shaped structure displayed by galaxies such as the Milky Way. NGC 2541 lies 37 million light-years from Earth in the constellation of Lynx (The Lynx). Sandwiched between the constellations of Ursa Major, Gemini, and Leo, Lynx is ...

55. Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory

Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory.

56. Planetary Nebula Sh2-290

This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. Sh2-290 is an ancient planetary nebula. A planetary nebula is created when a low-mass star blows off its outer layers at the end of its life. Sh2-290 is one of the largest known planetary nebulae, with a diameter of about 7 parsecs. The bluish interior is from energized oxygen atoms. The bright side of the nebula is due to its interaction with ambient interstellar gas. The image was generated with observations in Hydrogen-alpha (red) , Sulphur [SII] (cyan) ...

57. Reflection Nebula NGC 1788

This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. NGC 1788 is an unusual reflection nebula (bluish white at the center of the image) surrounded by a glowing red ring of hydrogen gas. The stars inside the nebula are only about a million years old, which is very young compared to most stars. The ring of glowing hydrogen gas is energized by nearby hot, massive stars not visible in the image. The image was generated with observations in the B (blue), I (orange) and Hydrogen-Alpha (red) filters. ...

58. Take II on an Interstellar Comet

International Gemini Observatory follows a comet from beyond
NOIRLab’s International Gemini Observatory continues tracking a visiting comet from beyond our Solar System. Gemini’s second image release of the comet, discovered by Russian amateur astronomer Gennady Borisov in August of this year, reveals the evolution of the comet as it approaches its closest approach to our sun in December. The image also features the distant background galaxy (going by the catchy designation: 2dFGRS TGN363Z174) that happened to appear adjacent to the comet when the image was captured on the night of November 11–12 2019.
“The comet is doing what we would ...

59. IC 1396A Elephant Trunk Nebula

This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. IC 1396 is a giant emission nebula that is over 3 degrees in diameter. It is illuminated by a hot, massive O-type star (HD 206267) near its center. The star is not visible in this image- it is off of the top edge. This image is of IC 1396A, a dark, dense cloud of gas embedded in the nebula. It is informally known as the “Elephant Trunk Nebula” because of its distinctive shape. Images of other parts of ...

60. Clear Skies at Cerro Pachón

Vera C. Rubin Observatory basks under a cloudless sky in this image.

61. Rubin Observatory under Construction on Cerro Pachón

Rubin Observatory under Construction on Cerro Pachón, on a night with a full Moon in May 2020.

62. Comet NEOWISE Over Gemini North

Comet NEOWISE — technically known as C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) — is visible in this spectacular image of the pre-dawn sky to the right (East) of the Gemini North telescope on Maunakea in Hawai‘i, one of the pair of telescopes of the international Gemini Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. First discovered by the NEOWISE project using the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer space telescope in March 2020, the comet is a dirty snowball of gas, dust and ice roughly 5 km (3 miles) across. The curving golden tail of C/2020 F3 visible in this image is composed of gas and dust ...

63. Cosmic Fireworks

The spiral galaxy NGC 925 reveals cosmic pyrotechnics in its spiral arms where bursts of star formation are taking place in the red, glowing clouds scattered throughout it.

64. McMath Pierce Solar telescope at night with star trails

A nine-hour exposure of the McMath-Pierce Solar Facility on Kitt Peak. The normally white building appears red due to high altitude haze following the 1991 eruptions of Mount Pinatubo. No filters or multiple exposures were used.

65. Dark Energy Camera's 1 millionth exposure

The Dark Energy Camera's 1 millionth exposure. At the time of this exposure DECam was making an of a galaxy cluster. The 1 millionth exposure has been combined with 127 earlier exposures to make this view of the field. This demonstrates the power of DECam and an archive of a million exposures.
The biggest galaxy in the field is the face-on spiral galaxy ESO 440-11. Several galaxy clusters, thousands of background galaxies and a few handfuls of foreground Milky Way stars can be seen in this “random” image of the sky.
One of the most powerful digital cameras in ...

66. A Vista of NGC 2626 with the SMARTS 0.9-meter Telescope

This image is so beautiful that it could almost be a painting, but it is real. It has been produced using observations made at the SMARTS 0.9-meter Telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), which is a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. It features a reflection nebula known as NGC 2626, which lies 3300 light-years from Earth.
Reflection nebulae are not luminous themselves, but they reflect light from a nearby star or stars. The light scatters off the dust particles in the nebulae, which often results in reflection nebulae having a blue tint, because blue light scatters more efficiently. ...

67. Telescope Trio

The three buildings featured in this image house an important trio of telescopes: the SMARTS 1.0-meter Telescope, the Curtis Schmidt Telescope, and the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope (far right). They are situated at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. Clustered under the extraordinarily vivid sky, this telescope team is poised for action.

The Blanco has actually been active since 1976. It is an optical telescope, which means that it collects light with similar wavelengths to that seen by the human eye. The lens in a human eye only has a diameter of about 1 ...

68. Colorful Cosmic Reflections

This striking image, streaked with bright swathes of color, captures the beautiful reflection nebula NGC 2170. The diffuse clouds of interstellar dust in the nebula scatter and reflect light from nearby stars, creating this vividly colorful scene. Dust grains reflect blue light from hot stars embedded in the nebula. And warm hydrogen gas glows a deep red. Seen as dark tendrils, dust also absorbs the light from stars and gas behind it. This particular nebula lies in the constellation Monoceros (The Unicorn) — a faint constellation on the celestial equator. It was observed using the SMARTS 0.9-meter Telescope at Cerro ...

69. Heart of the Crab

In the heart of the Crab Nebula (Messier 1) a neutron star is rotating 30 times every single second. This pirouetting star, known as the Crab Pulsar, consists purely of neutrons, and has an intense magnetic field which ejects jets of material from its poles at nearly the speed of light. The Crab Pulsar has a mass about one and a half times that of our Sun, yet all this mass is packed into a sphere only 28 km (17 miles) in diameter — roughly the size of Mars’s small moon Phobos.
The wispy structures shown in this image are ...

70. Star trails and Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope

Star trails and Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope.

71. One Half of a Whole

Pictured here is Gemini South, sitting on the summit of Cerro Pachón in Chile. It is the southern member of the pair of 8.1-meter telescopes, which together comprise the international Gemini Observatory, a Program of NSF's NOIRLab. Gemini North saw its first light in 1999, and — appropriately for twin telescopes — Gemini South followed quickly behind with its first light in 2000. Since then, the united Gemini twins have provided a wealth of scientific observations. In this image, Gemini South is framed by the spectacular Milky Way, which — thanks to the photographic technique used — appears as a ...

72. Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory

The Total Solar Eclipse over Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile on 2 July 2019. Photo was taken with a DJI Phantom Pro 3. Clearly visible are the eclipse and the path of totality in the sky.

73. Starry Horizon from Kitt Peak

This fisheye image captures the night sky as viewed from the desert scrubland of southern Arizona. The domes of Kitt Peak National Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab, can be seen protruding from the rim of this image alongside the silhouettes of desert greenery. The fisheye lens creates the illusion that the night sky is a small circle, hemmed in by the horizon. The Milky Way arcs across the sky, its bright central band of stars threaded with dark lanes of dust. In addition to the subtle gloaming of the naturally occurring airglow, the image is lit up by the ...

74. Portrait of the Great Barred Spiral

This image captures the elegant galaxy NGC 1365 in the Fornax Cluster of galaxies. Also known as The Great Barred Spiral Galaxy, NGC 1365 is a strikingly perfect example of a barred spiral galaxy. This image shows the galaxy’s prominent bar and its graceful spiral arms, with lanes of dust obscuring the extended diffuse glow of stars. The central bar of NGC 1365 influences star formation throughout the entire galaxy and conceals a supermassive black hole hidden behind multitudes of newly formed stars. Astronomers are interested in barred spiral galaxies like NGC 1365 for more than just their elegance — ...

75. A Whirlpool of Stars

Gemini North, one of the pair of telescopes that make up the international Gemini Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab, stands in the foreground of this image with the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope in the background. The domes appear poised to leap into the swirling blue of the sky. The whirlpool of stellar streaks is an illusion, however, known to astrophotographers as star trails.

Just as the Sun progresses across the sky during the daytime, the Moon and stars progress across the sky at night. In both cases the reason is the same — the rotation of the Earth on ...

76. Telescope Trio

The gleaming dome of the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope is flanked by two telescopes of the SMARTS Consortium in this image from Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. Above the telescopes, the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds — two satellite galaxies that are neighbors to the Milky Way — hang over the scene. The starry band of the Milky Way itself streaks across the left hand side of the image, complete with dark lanes of dust.

The vibrant colors of the night sky are due to the faint hues of airglow and the first hints ...

77. Technicolor Night

The night sky overflows with light and color in this long-exposure image from Kitt Peak National Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. The starry band of the Milky Way spans the upper left of the image, and the subtle reddish colors of airglow tint the sky in scarlet. The long exposure time allows the camera to collect sufficient light that the stars are picked out in sharp detail. However, that long exposure time also means that the lights from both the interior of the WIYN 0.9-meter Telescope’s dome and the distant city of Tucson in the far left appear to ...

78. A Giant’s Funeral Pyre

This image shows the planetary nebula Sh2-42 in the constellation Sagittarius, and was captured by using the SMARTS 0.9-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. Despite the name, planetary nebulae have nothing to do with planets — they are spectacular funeral pyres formed by red giant stars at the end of their lives. As these giant stars expand and throw their outer gaseous layers into space, the hot exposed core of the star ionizes the surrounding material, causing it to glow in a range of vivid colours. As it reaches the end of its life, ...

79. Hanging by a Thread

In this image, one of the Maunakea observatories appears to be hanging by a golden thread. In reality, the thread is a beam of light, and it is not descending from the sky, but is pointing upwards from the telescope itself. It originates from Gemini North, part of the international Gemini Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. The light beam is a laser guide star , and its purpose is to form an artificial constellation of stars in the atmosphere, 90 kilometers (56 miles) from the Earth’s surface.

Intuitively it seems that the laser beam must be extraordinarily powerful. ...

80. Andromeda Galaxy with DESI Overlay

The disk of the Andromeda Galaxy (Messier 31), which spans more than 3 degrees across the sky, is targeted by a single DESI pointing, represented by the large circular overlay. The smaller circles within this overlay represent the regions accessible to each of the 5000 DESI robotic fiber positioners. In this sample, the 5000 spectra that were simultaneously collected by DESI include not only stars within the Andromeda Galaxy, but also distant galaxies and quasars.

81. A Study in Scarlet

This snapshot captures the towering Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope and one of the four SMARTS Consortium telescopes, both set against the spectacular backdrop of the early evening sky. The dome of the SMARTS 1.5-meter Telescope — which is actually gleaming white — has been illuminated in scarlet light, giving the observatory an unusually vivid appearance.
This image was captured at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. The observatory’s high-altitude desert location — it lies 2200 meters (7200 feet) above sea level at the edge of Chile’s Atacama Desert — provides astronomers with the pristine conditions ...

82. Gemini North Infrared View of Jupiter

This infrared view of Jupiter was created from data captured on 11 January 2017 with the Near-InfraRed Imager (NIRI) instrument at Gemini North in Hawaiʻi, the northern member of the international Gemini Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. It is actually a mosaic of individual frames that were combined to produce a global portrait of the planet.
In the image warmer areas appear bright, including four large hot spots that appear in a row just north of the equator. South of the equator, the oval-shaped and cloud-covered Great Red Spot appears dark.

83. Gemini and its Laser Beam

A beam of light shining into the night sky illuminated by moonlight. Its origin is Gemini North, one of the twin telescopes that make up the international Gemini Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. The light is in fact a laser guide star, and it serves a remarkable purpose. The laser guide star’s light encounters a layer of sodium high in the Earth’s atmosphere (about 90 kilometers (56 miles overhead) where it creates an artificial star. This artificial star is used as a reference by Gemini North, to allow the telescope to correct for much of the turbulence of Earth’s ...

84. Some Assembly Required

This image of the week features the Telescope Mount Assembly of the 8.4-meter Simonyi Survey Telescope at Vera C. Rubin Observatory, currently under construction atop Cerro Pachón in Chile. This image shows the telescope frame prior to the mounting of the Top-End Assembly, a 28-metric tonne (31-ton) steel structure which was installed last month. Once the telescope is completed, the Top-End Assembly will support the telescope’s secondary mirror and the Rubin Observatory LSST Camera — the largest digital camera ever constructed for astronomy.
The Simonyi Telescope will carry out the Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), a ...

85. Not a Planet

This gorgeous image resembles an inky patch of space that has been smudged by a giant celestial thumbprint. Actually the object is a planetary nebula named PN M 2-53. It was imaged using the Gemini North telescope of the international Gemini Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab.
Planetary nebulae have a wildly misleading name, as they have nothing to do with planets — or even exoplanets. The misnomer originates from the late 1700s, when astronomers thought that the gaseous structures resembled planets. Planetary nebulae are actually formed by some dying stars, right at the end of their lives. The layers ...

86. Moonrise Over Gemini North

A gathering of telescopes perch near the summit of Maunakea, a dormant volcano on Hawai‘i Island with an elevation of 4207 meters (13,803 feet), making it an ideal location for astronomical observations. Nearly centered under the rising full Moon is Gemini North, the northern member of the international Gemini Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. Its twin telescope, Gemini South, has its home in Chile. The two telescopes are practically identical, each with an impressive 8-meter primary mirror to collect light. Whilst the twin telescopes will never meet, their separation serves a purpose — between them, they can observe almost ...

87. Spiral Galaxy Messier 106

This image of the spiral galaxy Messier 106, or NGC 4258, was taken with the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. A popular target for amateur astronomers, Messier 106 can also be spotted with a small telescope in the constellation Canes Venatici. This view captures the entire galaxy, detailing the glowing spiral arms, wisps of gas, and dust lanes at the center of Messier 106 as well as the leisurely twisting bands of stars at the galaxy’s outer edges. Two dwarf galaxies also appear in the image: NGC 4248 in the ...

88. Devin Chu at the Journey Through the Universe Career Panel

Devin Chu, a participant in a previous iteration of Journey Through the Universe, presented at one of this year’s Journey career panels. Also see the video of Devin Chu’s presentation on this page.

89. Heavy Lifting at Vera C. Rubin Observatory

On 2 March 2021 at Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile, the top-end assembly for the telescope was lowered through the observatory enclosure by a giant, 500-ton capacity crane. The top-end assembly holds the 3.5-meter convex secondary mirror and the giant 3-ton LSST Camera. The camera optics consist of three large fused-silica lenses and a set of astronomical filters.
The installation of the top-end is an important step in the completion of the Telescope Mount Assembly, which will hold and precisely position the 8.4-meter diameter main mirror called M1M3 (which doubles as both primary and tertiary mirror) and the ...

90. Lightning Strikes Up

The telescopes at Maunakea sit calmly beneath a sky filled with extraordinary light. Amongst these telescopes is Gemini North, the northern member of the international Gemini Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. Gemini North sits at an altitude of around 4200 meters (13,800 feet). Not only does this altitude facilitate world-class astronomical observations, but Gemini North’s nighttime Cloud Cams were able to capture the extraordinary light phenomena seen on the right side of the image.
The column of blue and red lights surrounded by a bright blaze of white light appears so otherworldly that it looks like it must be ...

91. Guardians of the Galaxy

A crack team, each with their own remarkable abilities, are gathered together in a remote spot in the Chilean Andes. Together, they will help uncover some of the Universe’s biggest secrets. It sounds like the premise for an exciting superhero movie! But it’s just another day at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab, where a collection of remarkable telescopes are situated.
The Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope (far left) is a reflecting telescope, and it has the biggest primary mirror at CTIO. The primary mirror in a reflecting telescope is used to collect light ...

92. Snowy Sunrise on Maunakea

In this Image of the Week the sunrise lights up a snow-capped Maunakea, home to the Maunakea Observatories that include the northern member of the international Gemini Observatory, a Program of NSFʻs NOIRLab. When most people think of Hawai‘i, what comes to mind is a warm and sunny climate. However, during the northern winter months, snow sometimes blankets the two largest mountains on Hawaiʻi Island, Maunakea and Maunaloa, creating captivating winter scenes. Gemini North on Maunakea saw snow on 25 January 2021 and the snow remains even now on 10 February, 2021.

93. Oh, What a Beautiful Morning!

We typically see photographs of telescopes at night, juxtaposed against a sky full of stars. In this gorgeous sun-drenched image, we glimpse a different side of the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. The early morning Sun bathes the observatory in a warm light. The locale might look inviting, but it actually is not a very friendly environment for humans. Modern observatories are typically built at locations that are “high and dry”. This is because the atmosphere needs to be as thin and arid as possible in order to get the best possible observations. Furthermore, the ...

94. Serpent’s Nebula

The emission nebula Sh2-54 glows brightly in this image from the SMARTS 0.9-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. Gathering the fine details of this particular image required almost twenty minutes of observations and three different wavelength filters. Situated within the constellation of Serpens (The Serpent), Sh2-54 forms part of a much wider nebulosity which includes the famous Eagle Nebula. Serpens is a unique constellation, the only one of the official 88 used today that is split into two unconnected parts: Serpens Caput — the Serpent’s Head — and Serpens Cauda — The Serpent’s Tail.

95. Brown dwarfs in the Sun’s neighborhood

This visualization represents a three-dimensional map of brown dwarfs (red dots) that have been discovered within 65 light-years of the Sun. The Sun, which is not shown, is located at the center of the view. The disk of the Milky Way appears in the background. Other stars close to the Sun appear as variously colored points in the field.

96. Sunset Skies at CTIO

The mountains of northern Chile fade into the distance under a vibrant orange sky in this sunset photograph of Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. More than 20 telescopes operate at CTIO — and many of them can be seen jutting from the mountain in the foreground of this image. The Víctor M. Blanco 4-m Telescope and the SMARTS Telescopes dominate the mountain peak, with smaller telescopes spread along the ridge. Despite the tranquility of the sunset, the engineers and astronomers at the observatory are working hard, spending the hours before dusk preparing a packed ...

97. A Centaur in Transition

The blazing bright ball slicing through the center of this image is an example of a type of celestial body known as a centaur — a Solar System object that can be like both a comet and an asteroid. These fast moving icy objects reside in unstable orbits in the space between Jupiter and Neptune. The centaur in this image is named P/2019 LD2 (ATLAS), or LD2 for short. LD2 was observed from Gemini North, the Hawai‘i-based half of the international Gemini Observatory, which is a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab.
LD2 is on the cusp of an important transition ...

98. Víctor M. Blanco Telescope Maintenance

Juan Andrade, CTIO Mechanics, prepares the tube of CO2 before the cleaning process of the primary mirror of the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory.

99. Deepest, widest view of the Large Magellanic Cloud from SMASH

Part of the SMASH dataset showing an unprecedented wide-angle view of the Large Magellanic Cloud. The Large and Small Magellanic Clouds are the largest satellite galaxies of the Milky Way and, unlike the rest of the satellite galaxies, are still actively forming stars — and at a rapid pace. The depth of these survey data can be appreciated by the number of stars visible in the outer regions of the galaxy, as seen in the lower part of the image.

100. Telescopes at the Ready

Four telescopes are silhouetted against a violet sky, poised and ready to observe the Universe from Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. Belonging to the PROMPT project, this set of quick-response robotic telescopes — six in total — are designed to spring into action and observe short-lived astronomical phenomena. Each telescope is optimized to observe at a different wavelength range, and together they capture the aftermath of energetic events such as gamma ray bursts. The PROMPT telescopes are funded and operated by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and are made available to undergraduate ...

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