This shock wave sails space at speeds of more than 500 thousand kilometers per hour. It moves down on this beautiful detailed composite picture. Thin twisted fibers are actually long waves in the layer of glowing gas that we see almost off the edge. Nebula catalogued as NGC 2736. It is often called the Pencil nebula because of appearance. Its length is about five light-years from us, it is removed 800 light-years. The nebula is a small part of the supernova remnant in the Sails, which is an expanding cloud of residues from a star that exploded about 11 thousand years ago. The diameter of the balance equal to 100 light years. At the beginning of the shock wave from the explosion was moving with the speed of several million kilometers per hour, but it slowed down a lot, grabbing the surrounding interstellar gas.



A dust cloud stretches across rich star fields on this wide-angle telescope image depicting the area around the Northern border of the southern Crown. The most dense part of the dust cloud is less than 500 light years, has a length of about 8 light-years and efficiently absorbs the light of more distant stars in the milky Way. Near the end of clouds (top right) you can see some of the beautiful blue nebulae, catalogued as NGC 6726, 6727, 6729 and IC 4812. Their characteristic blue color is caused by the reflection of light hot stars cosmic dust. Little yellowish nebula NGC 6729 surrounds a young variable star R the southern Crown. Great globular star cluster NGC 6723 seen in the upper right corner of the picture. Although it seems that NGC 6723 belongs to this group of nebulae, in fact it is at a distance of about 30 thousand light-years, much further dust clouds southern Crown.



This dusty heavenly landscape is crowned with bright star Markab. Markab burning in pervom upper right corner of the picture, in fact, is one of the peaks of asterism, called the Big Square. It is located within the constellation of Pegasus, the winged horse. This wide and deep telescopic picture covers an area of 5 degrees: it is 10 times the angular diameter of the full moon. Across the picture scattered blue reflection nebulae. Although the "view" camera is directed out of the plane of the milky Way, it is known that in this area there are a lot of molecular clouds. The associated dust cloud, Cirrus clouds high galactic latitudes, are at a distance of just 1,000 light years. Also visible are far beyond the milky Way galaxy background, for example, lying on the edge of the spiral galaxy NGC 7497 near the center of the picture.



Like delicate cosmic petals, these clouds of interstellar dust and gas have blossomed at a distance of 1300 light years in a rich star field in the constellation Cepheus. This iris nebula, which is catalogued as NGC 7023. This is not the only nebula in the sky, which is associated with the flower. Beautiful digital picture shows a rich color palette and an impressive symmetry parts of the iris nebula. Substance nebulae around massive young hot star, still in the formation stage. Located in the centre of fiber space dust glow red at the expense of photoluminescence - some dust efficiently convert invisible ultraviolet radiation of stars in the visible red light. And yet the main color of the nebula is blue, typical of dust scattering starlight. Infrared observations show that in the nebula can be complex molecules containing carbon and is known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The size of the bright blue part of the iris nebula is about 6 light-years.



M7 is one of the most outstanding scattered star clusters on the sky. Cluster consisting mainly of bright blue stars, can be seen with the naked eye in the tail of the constellation of Scorpio. M7 contains about 100 stars. His age is about 200 million years, a distance of about 1,000 light-years, and the breadth accumulation is 25 light years. This photograph with slow shutter speeds, made in Hacos farm in Namibia. The accumulation M7 was noticed by Ptolemy in 130 ad. Also the pictures are dark dust clouds, and literally millions more distant stars from the Central part of our Galaxy.



A crowded star field covers about two degrees on the sky in the "high flying" the constellation of Cygnus. But most of all on the image attracts the eye of the Cocoon nebula. Outer Cocoon is very compact region of star formation, which is at the end of a long chain of light-absorbing clouds of interstellar dust. The size of the nebula, catalogued as IC 5146 - about 15 light-years, it is about 4 thousand light years from us. As with other areas of star formation, it is distinguished by a reddish glow of hydrogen, excited by radiation from hot young stars, and the bluish glow of starlight reflected by dust on the edge of the invisible molecular clouds. The age of the bright star in the centre, probably only a few hundred thousand years. It gives energy to the glow of the nebula and blows his stellar wind bubble inside of molecular gas and dust clouds. Long dust fibers, seemingly dark in visible light, hiding in their depths emerging stars that can be seen only in the infrared rays.



Giant elliptical galaxy M60 and spiral galaxy NGC 4647 look very odd couple on this clear star portrait drawn space telescope named Hubble. But both of them are a part of the Universe and the galaxies congregate together in the Eastern part of neighboring clusters of galaxies in Virgo. Bright M60 at a distance of about 54 million light-years away, has a simple shape of an egg, which is created randomly swarming old stars. NGC 4647 opposite consists of young blue stars, gas and dust, which are located in the swirling sleeves flat rotating disk. According to estimates of the spiral galaxy NGC 4647 is a bit further than the M60 at 63 million light-years away. However, this pair of galaxies known as ARP 116, may be on the verge of significant gravitational interaction. M60 (also known as NGC 4649) is about 120 000 light-years across. Slightly more than a little NGC 4647 is 90 000 light-years, which is roughly equal to the size of the milky Way.



Simple symmetric planetary the Ring nebula (M57), a well-known observer is at a distance of 2 000 light years. On this remarkable figure of heaven rings are seen hints of different colors and fine details of the nebula. The drawing was made thanks to the 800-fold increase and excellent visibility conditions, when the artist was looking into the eyepiece 40-inch reflector telescope. Original drawing made with colored pencil on white paper, then it was scanned and transferred to the negative. Nebula, stretching for about 1 light year in space consists of the outer layers of the shell dropped by a dying star type of the Sun. The intense ultraviolet radiation from the Central star ionises the atoms of the surrounding gas and causes the nebula to glow. Ionized hydrogen adds a reddish tint. The ionized oxygen gives a distinctive blue-green glow. The Central star of the Ring nebula is hard to see in a small telescope under normal conditions. However, while drawing she was all the time visible to the artist.



How old rings of Saturn? While no one can give an exact answer. Perhaps rings formed relatively recently compared with the age of the Solar system, about a hundred million years ago, when the object of the size of the moon collapsed around Saturn. This assumption is confirmed by the analysis of stability of the rings and the fact that the rings are bright and, consequently, relatively little has been blown numerous small dark meteors. However, we have recently received new data, on the contrary, increase the probability of the hypothesis that some of Saturn's rings may be of age in a few billion years and to be nearly as old as the Saturn. The study of the images circulating around Saturn spacecraft Cassini showed that some of the particles in the rings of Saturn can temporarily be collected in a heap, and to face. Thus refreshed particles rings, fresh, bright ice returns to the surface. In this picture, the rings of Saturn are shown in natural colors, the image was obtained apparatus Cassini at the end of October. Before dark ring visible bright as ice Tafia - moon of Saturn, which was parcel, probably due to cleanse its surface freezing rain with neighbouring satellites of Enceladus.



What happened to our Sun? Nothing particularly unusual - it was simply thrown out fiber. In the end of last month has been a breakthrough existing solar fiber into space, the result is a powerful coronal mass ejections. Fiber in a few days he was held alternating magnetic field of the Sun, and the eruption occurred unexpectedly. This explosion has followed closely revolving around the Sun, the solar dynamics Observatory. It led to the ejection of electrons and ions in the Solar system, some of them in three days reached the Ground and flew into the earth's magnetosphere, causing polar lights. Loops of plasma surrounding the active area, you can see over eruptive fiber in this ultraviolet image. If you missed these polar lights, do not despair - in the next two years will be a maximum of solar activity, and you can expect many more coronal emission and generated auroras on Earth.



This art? At the beginning of this month astronaut to the International space station Aki Hoshide (Japan) have made this impressive photo on how helped to expand the technical capabilities of the International space station (ISS), orbiting around the Earth. On the collage shows the Sun, the Earth, the two parts of the hand-robot, astronaut costume outputs in airless space, the blackness of open space and unusual camera, the photo was taken. This picture stands in one row with other historical - and perhaps even the art - portraits, done in space before. The 32-nd expedition ended yesterday when the internationally unrecognized breakaway from the ISS lander took the crew to the Earth.



Next stop: Ceres. Last week, automatic spacecraft dawn (the dawn) has finished work on the asteroid Vesta. He became the first earth apparatus, visited this distant world, located between Mars and Jupiter in the Main asteroid belt in our Solar system. The best of the photos made by the machine, but back on the West, were connected in this panorama covering the entire planet. Now it is obvious that Vesta is a remnant of the early years of the Solar system, the building bricks for solid planets such as Earth. Ancient surface Vesta cratered and long depressions left from the violent clashes. On a small planet in the very low gravity, therefore, on its surface there is a huge rocks and mountains, twice the height of Everest on Earth. They can be seen in the lower part of the photo. However, Vesta occupies 500 kilometers in diameter, only the second largest massive object in the asteroid belt. So, two weeks ago dawn lit its ion engines and was corrected in pursuit of the most massive body asteroid belt - Ceres. If all goes according to plan, dawn reaches of Ceres in 2015. In the telescope Ceres looks different, but what will see the dawn?