The Hubble Ultra Deep Field

A composite of hundreds of exposures totalling around a million seconds, revealing some of the most distant galaxies ever seen at the time — light from the early universe.

• A dark field scattered with thousands of galaxies of many colours; several appear stretched into arcs by gravitational lensing.

  Galaxy cluster SMACS 0723

  Public Domain

  Webb's First Deep Field (SMACS 0723)

  NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI

• An edge-on galaxy with a bright bulging core and a dark, sharply defined dust lane, resembling a wide-brimmed hat.

  Sombrero Galaxy (Messier 104)

  Public Domain

  The Sombrero Galaxy (M104)

  NASA/ESA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

• Four interacting galaxies clustered together with a fifth foreground galaxy, amid countless background stars and galaxies.

  Stephan's Quintet (galaxy group)

  Public Domain

  Stephan's Quintet

  NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI

• The bright band of the Milky Way arching over the domes of a mountaintop observatory under a dark sky.

  The Milky Way

  CC BY 4.0

  The Milky Way over Paranal

  ESO

• Three towering columns of dark, dense gas and dust silhouetted against glowing greenish nebulosity.

  Eagle Nebula (Messier 16)

  Public Domain

  Pillars of Creation (Hubble, 1995)

  NASA, ESA, STScI

• A tangled, glowing web of orange, yellow, and blue filaments expanding outward from a central region.

  Crab Nebula (Messier 1)

  Public Domain

  The Crab Nebula (M1)

  NASA, ESA, STScI