Stars scattered across the cosmos sparkle in the appropriately named Chandelier Cluster.

What is it?

The Hubble Space Telescope captured this twinkling image of NGC 6723, or the Chandelier Cluster, a globular star cluster located 27,000 light-years away in our Milky Way galaxy.

Every bright spot in this mesmerizing cosmic chandelier is an individual star in the cluster. Globular clusters typically contain older stars. In fact, they're known to hold some of the oldest stars in the galaxy, with some being 10 billion years old or older. Globular clusters are thought to contain some of the first stars, or the oldest stars in the universe.

As their name implies, globular star clusters are groups of stars. But this particular type of star cluster isn't just full of ancient stars; it's also giant. Globular star clusters can contain tens of thousands to millions of stars. And just in our Milky Way galaxy, there are about 150 known globular clusters.

Why is it incredible?

While this incredible image was captured by an ultra-powerful space telescope, backyard astronomers could spot the far-off globular cluster with binoculars or a telescope.

This type of star cluster is so visible because they are so massive and contain so many stars. With all those stars clumped together, even fainter globular clusters will typically be easier to spot than the smaller variety.

In fact, the Chandelier Cluster was discovered long before space telescopes were even a remote possibility. The cluster was discovered in 1826 by British astronomer James Dunlop.

For night sky enthusiasts, astrophotographers or casual skywatchers looking for this cluster, you can find it nestled in the constellation Sagittarius near the constellation Corona Australis. Have you ever spotted the Chandelier Cluster? Will you try to spot it now?

The Hubble Space Telescope has spotted a spiral galaxy swirling through the darkness of space, emanating an otherworldly glow through its cosmic, branching arms.

What is it?

A new image captured by the Hubble Space Telescope shows the barred spiral galaxy IC 486 in all its glory.

This galaxy is located about 380 million light-years from Earth, just to the left of the constellation Gemini.

IC 486 is a barred spiral galaxy, which means that it is a spiral galaxy — or a galaxy with a spiraling disk with "arms" that extend from its center — with a central bar-shaped structure composed of stars. These bars are seen in about two thirds of all spiral galaxies we've observed.

Why is it incredible?

The incredible nature of this image speaks for itself. The soft, gossamer glow of the spiral galaxy seems straight out of science fiction, but it is even more amazing to know that it is a real image of a real, massive galaxy far out in the cosmos.

But beyond its beauty, this image holds a multitude of scientific wonders. Highlighted at the center of the galaxy by a bright white glow, for instance, is IC 486's active galactic nucleus (AGN), the center of the galaxy and an active supermassive black hole.

The spiral galaxy NGC 7456 may appear like other whirling star systems in our universe. But, as a new image from the Hubble Space Telescope reveals, there is far more going on in this galaxy than meets the eye. Behind the patchy spiral arms and glowing clouds of gas lie star-forming areas and a very active galactic core.

What is it?

The recent image brings the fine details of NGC 7456 into focus, including its spiral arms, which are rich with dust that obscure the stars behind them. The pink areas are regions of gas where new stars are starting to form. As the gas responds to the flood of ultraviolet light from these young stars, it glows a signature red that astronomers use to track star formation.

Where is it?

Spiral galaxy NGC 7456 is located more than 51 million light-years away in the constellation Grus, the Crane.

Why is it amazing?

NGC 7456 can act as a cosmic laboratory of sorts for astronomers to track how stars form. By studying these areas, scientists gain insights into how galaxies recycle gas into new generations of stars and planets.

Beyond this, the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton X-Ray observatory also studied this spiral galaxy repeatedly and found mysterious regions known as ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs). These compact objects emit far more X-rays than expected for their size. The precise physics behind ULXs remains one of astronomy's enduring puzzles, and each galaxy that hosts them, including NGC 7456, can provide key clues.

Want to learn more?

You can read more about spiral galaxies and X-ray emission.

It's a cosmic battle of the bands today as the Hubble Space Telescope brings us a stunning image of colliding galaxies forming the shape of a vast guitar.

What is it?

Good luck restringing this cosmic collision, fittingly nicknamed "the Guitar." The colliding elliptical galaxy (NGC 3561B) and a spiral galaxy (NGC 3561A) of Arp 105 have a "tidal tail" of gas, dust, and stars that stretch out 362,000 light-years.

Unfortunately, this tidal tail doesn't plug into a cosmic amp, so we will never know if these galaxies are playing Starman by David Bowie or Supermassive Black Hole by Muse!

Where is it?

The galaxies in question are collectively known as Arp 105, situated in a chaotic and crowded galaxy cluster Abell 1185, located around 400 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major.

Why is it amazing?

The gravitational mosh pit created by these colliding galaxies is packed with fascinating features, such as a long and dark channel of dust emerging from NGC 3561B. This channel links to a bright blue area of star formation on the base of the cosmic guitar called "Ambartsumian's Knot."

This is a tidal dwarf galaxy, a type of star-forming system known to develop in the debris of tidal arms smashed up merging galaxies. It is possible that the dust channel could be feeding Ambartsumian’s Knot with the raw material for star formation.

Other tendrils of gas and dust can be seen stretching between these merging galaxies, which astronomers could use to determine just how long NGC 3561B and NGC 3561A have been making sweet music together.

Want to know more?

NGC 3561B and NGC 3561A are amazing but are only two out of hundreds billions in the observable universe, according to NASA.

To learn more about what galaxies are, the different types and how they form, check out our galaxies reference guide. For more news stories about galaxies like these, follow our galaxies coverage or our stories on the Hubble telescope and its discoveries.

The Hubble Space Telescope has found a UFO, but this one is filled with stars instead of little green men.

The iconic space telescope snapped an amazing new photo of the "UFO Galaxy" — a galaxy 35 million light-years from Earth that is officially known as NGC 2683.

"NGC 2683 is a spiral galaxy seen almost edge-on, giving it the shape of a classic science fiction spaceship," NASA officials wrote in a recent image description.

The galaxy was originally discovered on Feb. 5, 1788 by famed astronomer William Herschel. It is located in the Lynx constellation in the northern sky. But it was astronomers with the Astronaut Memorial Planetarium and Observatory in Cocoa, Fla., that dubbed NGC 2683 a cosmic UFO.

Astronomers suspect that NGC 2683 is a barred spiral galaxy, but the edge-on view from Hubble and other telescopes makes it difficult to see the object's structure directly. The off-kilter vantage point, however, does offer scientists a unique galactic perspective.

"In particular, it gives astronomers a great opportunity to see the delicate dusty lanes of the spiral arms silhouetted against the golden haze of the galaxy’s core," NASA officials explained. "In addition, brilliant clusters of young blue stars shine scattered throughout the disc, mapping the galaxy's star-forming regions."

Astronomers combined two views (one in visible light and the other in infrared) from Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys to create the new image of the UFO Galaxy, which was unveiled on March 26. A gap between Hubble's light detectors created a blurry strip across the width of the image, so scientists filled it in with images from ground-based telescopes.

The Hubble Space Telescope has been snapping spectacular views of the universe for more than 20 years. It is a joint mission by NASA and the European Space Agency.

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