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  1. Apocalypse When? Hubble Casts Doubt on Certainty of Galactic Collision

    June 02, 2025Release ID: 2025-017 Missions: Hubble

    A Possible Near Miss Between Our Galaxy and the Andromeda Galaxy

    A three-panel image, two at the top and one stretched across the bottom. At the top of the image is the title “Three Future Scenarios for Milky Way and Andromeda Encounter.” This title is extended over all three panels. In the top left panel, two spiral galaxies are widely separated against the black background of space. Beneath these galaxies are the words “Galaxies bypass at 1 million light-year separation.” In the top right panel, two face-on spiral galaxies are close together. Their spiral arms appear stretched toward each other. At the bottom of this panel are the words “At 500,000 light-years, dark matter provides friction that brings galaxies to a close encounter.” In the bottom panel, two spiral galaxies have collided, resulting in a broad X-shaped patch of milky white. Mottled clouds of dark brown dust are superimposed. At the bottom of this panel are the words “A 100,000 light-year separation leads to a collision.”

  2. NASA's Hubble Provides Bird's-Eye View of Andromeda Galaxy's Ecosystem

    February 27, 2025Release ID: 2025-009 Missions: Hubble

    A Swarm of Dwarf Galaxies Buzz Around Our Milky Way's Twin

    Telescope image with infographic overlays. At top left the text reads, Hubble Space Telescope, Survey of Andromeda's Satellite galaxies. A large field of galaxies take up the left three-quarters. This portion shows hundreds scattered across the black background of space. Most are tiny white dots. Thirty-six tiny galaxies are circled in yellow. Four have labels. From top to bottom, left to right: NGC 185, NGC 147, NGC 205 (M110), NGC 221 (M32). NGC 221 appears slightly lower than a larger, angled oblong galaxy, which is labeled Andromeda Galaxy (M31). Along the right is a column separated into four boxes, each a zoomed in portrait of the labeled galaxies. From top to bottom: NGC 185 looks like a dim blue haze that takes up most of the frame; NGC 147 like a small, very dim oval, with scattered dots nearby; NGC 221 is large and bright white, and takes up most of the box; NGC 205 is not quite as large as NGC 221, and is pinker, with larger dots throughout the frame.

  3. Webb Reveals Rapid-Fire Light Show From Milky Way's Central Black Hole

    February 18, 2025Release ID: 2025-110 Missions: Webb

    Observations revealed ongoing fireworks featuring short bursts and longer flares.

    A large, black circle representing a black hole occupies the right third of the frame in this illustration. Thick, clumpy orange streaks arc above and below it, essentially surrounding it. The top arc extends down to the lower left and then curves around in front of the black hole to form a disk that is tilted toward the viewer. Near the inner edge of the disk, several bright, whiter spots have blue filaments looping above them, representing flares. The words “Artist’s Concept” appear below the illustration.

  4. NASA's Webb Peers into the Extreme Outer Galaxy

    September 12, 2024Release ID: 2024-131 Missions: Webb

    Among the Milky Way’s outskirts is a firecracker show of star formation.

    At center right is a compact star cluster composed of luminous red, blue, and white points of light. Faint jets with clumpy, diffuse material extend in various directions from the bright cluster. Above and to the right is a smaller cluster of stars. Translucent red wisps of material stretch across the scene. Background galaxies are scattered across this swath of space, appearing as small blue-white and orange-white dots or fuzzy, thin disks.

  5. NASA's Webb Reveals New Features in Heart of Milky Way

    November 20, 2023Release ID: 2023-148 Missions: Webb

    The play of darkness and light in our galaxy’s crowded core is put on display like never before.

    In a field crowded with stars, a funnel-shaped region of space appears darker than its surroundings with fewer stars. It is wider at the top edge of the image, narrowing towards the bottom. Toward the narrow end of this dark region a small clump of red and white appears to shoot out streamers upward and left. A large, bright cyan-colored area surrounds the lower portion of the funnel-shaped dark area, forming a rough U shape. The cyan-colored area has needle-like, linear structures and becomes more diffuse in the center of the image. The right side of the image is dominated by clouds of orange and red, with a purple haze.

  6. Hubble Determines Mass of Isolated Black Hole Roaming Our Milky Way Galaxy

    June 10, 2022Release ID: 2022-001 Missions: Hubble

    Hubble Finds Phantom Imprint in Space Revealing Wandering Stellar Corpse

    Black hole warping star forming regions and dust arms of Milky Way galaxy

  7. 1,000-Light-Year-Wide Bubble Surrounding Earth Is Source of All Nearby, Young Stars

    January 12, 2022Release ID: 2022-006 Missions: STScI

    For the first time, astronomers have retraced the history of our galactic neighborhood, showing exactly how the young stars nearest to our solar system formed.

    Local Bubble's Star-forming Regions

  8. Our Milky Way May Be More Fluffy, Less Wiry

    December 16, 2021Release ID: 2021-061 Missions: STScI

    New research shows a section of the outer Milky Way is more clumpy, less well-organized than previously thought

    Milky Way Perseus arm's perceived location versus actual

  9. Mini-Jet Found Near Milky Way's Supermassive Black Hole

    December 09, 2021Release ID: 2021-062 Missions: Hubble

    Hubble Finds a Smoldering Remnant in a Blast From the Past

    Multiwavelength composite view of Milky Way's center; vertical white fan graphic represents jet's axis from the black hole.

  10. NASA’s Webb Will Join Forces with the Event Horizon Telescope to Reveal the Milky Way’s Supermassive Black Hole

    October 27, 2021Release ID: 2021-053 Missions: Webb

    Webb will tackle the challenge of the supermassive black hole’s puzzling flares, which have proved both intriguing and frustrating for astronomers.

    Telescope image with a background of blue, purple, red, yellow, and white clouds, a bright white center, and scattered spots of red and blue.

  11. Hubble Launches Large Ultraviolet-Light Survey of Nearby Stars

    November 05, 2020Release ID: 2020-50 Missions: Hubble

    Hundreds of Stars in the Milky Way and Nearby Galaxies Are Being Surveyed to Build an Invaluable Library of Spectral Templates for Future Research

    ULLYSES targets in the LMC

  12. New Survey Finds that Single Burst of Star Formation Created Milky Way’s Central Bulge

    October 27, 2020Release ID: 2020-56 Missions: STScI

    Result contradicts previous studies suggesting two or more episodes of star formation

    Galactic Bulge

  13. Intense Flash from Milky Way's Black Hole Illuminated Gas Far Outside of Our Galaxy

    June 02, 2020Release ID: 2020-33 Missions: Hubble

    Cataclysmic blast felt 200,000 light-years away

    Intense Flash from Milky Way's Black Hole Illuminated Gas Far Outside of Our Galaxy

  14. Milky Way Raids Intergalactic 'Bank Accounts,' Hubble Study Finds

    October 10, 2019Release ID: 2019-46 Missions: Hubble

    Audit of the Milky Way's gas flow rates reveals a mysterious surplus of inflowing gas.

    Milky Way Inflows and Outflows

  15. Milky Way’s Center Will Be Revealed by NASA’s Webb Telescope

    October 09, 2019Release ID: 2019-52 Missions: Webb

    Galactic dust hides swarms of stars and black hole’s glowing disk

    The center of our Milky Way galaxy, shown in shades of red, nearly fills the entire image with stars, gas, and dust.

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