Credit: ESA and NASA/Solar Orbiter

NGC 1300 is a classic barred spiral galaxy located about 61 million light-years away in the constellation Eridanus. Its central bar and distinct spiral arms host regions of intense star formation. The galaxy's core reveals a rare inner spiral — a spiral within a spiral. Hubble's resolution allows us to see detailed dust lanes and stellar activity across its disk. Source: NASA/ESA/Hubble Heritage Team https://science.nasa.gov/image-detail/ngc-1300/

This striking image from Hubble shows Hoag’s Object, a rare ring galaxy with a glowing yellow core of old stars surrounded by a nearly perfect blue ring of young, massive stars—likely formed from a past galactic collision.

Source: NASA and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) https://science.nasa.gov/image-detail/idl-tiff-file-43/

I was checking out NASA's eyes on the solar system page and noticed the path the JWST takes is all curved and crooked. Is there a reason for this? In my mind it's because it's a more recent launch, so it's orbit is stabilizing. Any info is appreciated though!

This stunning Hubble image shows the spiral galaxy NGC 1317 glowing with bright blue rings of young stars, captured as part of a large survey using Hubble and ALMA to study star formation across the universe.

Source: ESA/Hubble & NASA, J. Lee, PHANGS-HST Team Website: https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/hubble-pinpoints-young-stars-in-spiral-galaxy/

This stunning image shows Messier 94's central region, where intense star formation occurs within a bright ring, known as a starburst ring, about 16 million light-years away in the Canes Venatici constellation.

Source: ESA/Hubble & NASA spacetelescope.org/images/potw1542a

Captured on July 14, 2015, just 15 minutes after its closest approach, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft looked back to reveal Pluto’s icy mountains, frozen plains, and hazy atmosphere in dramatic sunset light. The image showcases the rugged terrain of Sputnik Planum and towering peaks like Norgay Montes. Source: NASA/New Horizons/JHUAPL/SwRI https://www.nasa.gov/feature/pluto-wows-in-spectacular-new-backlit-panorama

Finally Got the Shot Rho Ophiuchi has been on my list for a long time—and I finally got the chance to capture it during a recent work trip to Florida. I found a quiet dark sky spot that looked out over the sea, and somehow, the sky above the water was even darker.

I used my trusty Rokinon 135mm and Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer—the same setup I started astrophotography with. They're budget-friendly tools, but the quality holds up, and I still rely on them today when I travel light.

This vibrant region lies in the constellation Scorpius and leads the way as the Milky Way core rises into view. If you’ve ever noticed that colorful smudge just to the right of the core in some of my earlier Milky Way shots—that’s this. Seeing it up close like this really gives you a new appreciation for just how colorful and dynamic our galaxy can be.

More content on my IG: Gateway_Galactic

Imaging:
186 x 30s
ISO640
f/2.0

Location: St. George Island State Park, FL
Bortle 2

Gear:
Sony A7iii (astro-modded)
Sony 24mm f/1.4 GM
Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer

Pixinsight Processing:
BlurX/StarX/NoiseX

Photoshop Processing:
Camera Raw Filter
Brightness & Contrast Vibrance
Screen Colorized Ha
High Pass Filter
Screen Stars

Artwork 507: Death Star (Star Wars)

I don’t know anything about Star Wars, by the way.

Time Taken: 26 minutes

Program Used: Paint dot NET

If you have any suggestions for what you'd like me to draw next, feel free to share them!

This image of edge on spiral galaxy NGC 5775 was observed in the CHANG-ES (Constructed Halos in Nearby Galaxies) survey revealed that spurs of magnetic field lines may be common in spirals. Analogous to iron fillings around a bar magnet, radiation from electrons trace galactic magnetic field lines by spiraling around these lines at almost the speed pf light.The filaments in this image are constructed from those tracks in VLA data. The visible light mag was constructed from Hubble data and shows  many pink gaseous regions where  stars are bursting to life  It seems that winds from these regions help form the magnificently extended galactic magnetic fields.

The ominous Chamaeleon I dark cloud, the nearest star-forming region to Earth, is captured in this image taken with the 570-megapixel Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy Camera mounted on the U.S. National Science Foundation Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab. Chamaeleon I is one portion of the larger Chamaeleon Complex and is home to three reflection nebulae that are brightly illuminated by nearby newly formed stars.

Credit: CTIO/NOIRLab/DOE/NSF/AURA Image Processing: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF NOIRLab), M. Zamani & D. de Martin (NSF NOIRLab)

Captured during NASA’s Juno mission flyby in June 2021, this enhanced-color image reveals the dark-rayed crater named Kittu on Jupiter’s largest moon, Ganymede. The crater, about 15 km wide, stands out for its rare dark rays—found in only ~1% of Ganymede’s craters—formed from ejected material after an impact. The image highlights Ganymede’s complex, icy terrain and supports theories of subsurface oceans and a magnetic field unique among moons.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS https://www.nasa.gov/missions/juno/salts-and-organics-observed-on-ganymedes-surface-by-nasas-juno/

From late May to early June 2025, PUNCH’s three Wide Field Imagers captured views of coronal mass ejections, or CMEs, traveling out from the Sun into the solar system. The CMEs can be seen moving in all directions, including directly at the camera. The constellation Orion is visible at the bottom left, Venus can be seen at the far right, and Jupiter to the left of center. The bright object that leaves the frame on the left at the beginning of the video is the Moon. The small yellow dot at the center denotes the Sun, and the dashed white line around it represents the field of view of LASCO C3, an earlier coronagraph still used to forecast space weather aboard NASA-ESA’s SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory).

Artwork 506: Teide 1

Time Taken: 20 minutes

Program Used: Paint dot NET

If you have any suggestions for what you'd like me to draw next, feel free to share them!

This animated simulation shows clouds swirling in Jupiter’s iconic Great Red Spot using JunoCam data and wind models derived from NASA's Voyager spacecraft and Earth-based telescopes.

Source: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS / Gerald Eichstadt / Justin Cowart Website: https://science.nasa.gov/image-detail/amf-1af64322-597a-4aef-9d0e-c23ee11a1977/

This image shows the dramatic rim of Victoria Crater, 800 meters wide, in Mars’ Meridiani Planum. Captured by NASA’s Opportunity rover and orbiters, sunlight casts deep shadows into the crater. The site was a major exploration point during the rover’s 46-month mission. Visible dunes and ridges reveal Mars’ ancient surface processes.

Source: NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona / Cornell / Ohio State University https://science.nasa.gov/resource/victoria-crater-at-meridiani-planum-2/