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Rubin Observatory</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> <div class="col-md-1 media-sortby"> <ul title="Sort by:"> <li><a href="/public/images/archive/top100/?" class="selected">Ranking</a></li> <li><a href="/public/images/archive/top100/?&sort=-release_date">Date</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> <div class="container-fluid" id="dark-body"> <div class="row page"> <div class="col-md-12"> <div id="top100-carousel-wrapper"> <div id="top100-carousel"> <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/noirlab2424a.jpg" alt="Rosette Nebula Captured with DECam"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/noirlab2424a/" aria-label="Rosette Nebula Captured with DECam"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">1.</span> Rosette Nebula Captured with DECam </div> <div class="top100-text"> Cradled within the fiery petals of the Rosette Nebula is NGC 2244, the young star cluster which it nurtured. The cluster’s stars light up the nebula in vibrant hues of red, gold and purple, and opaque towers of dust rise from the billowing clouds around its excavated core. This image, captured by 570-megapixel Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy Camera (DECam), 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, is being released in celebration of NOIRLab’s fifth anniversary. </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/noirlab2412a.jpg" alt="Dark Energy Camera Images Cometary Globule CG 4"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/noirlab2412a/" aria-label="Dark Energy Camera Images Cometary Globule CG 4"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">2.</span> Dark Energy Camera Images Cometary Globule CG 4 </div> <div class="top100-text"> This cloudy, ominous structure is CG 4, a cometary globule nicknamed ‘God’s Hand’. CG 4 is one of many cometary globules present within the Milky Way, and how these objects get their distinct form is still a matter of debate among astronomers. This image was captured by the Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy Camera on the U.S. National Science Foundation Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab. In it, the features that classify CG 4 as a cometary globule are hard to miss. Its dusty head and long, faint tail vaguely resemble … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/noirlab1912a.jpg" alt="Galactic Dance"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/noirlab1912a/" aria-label="Galactic Dance"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">3.</span> Galactic Dance </div> <div class="top100-text"> Image of the interacting galaxy pair NGC 5394/5 obtained with NSF NOIRLab's Gemini North 8-meter telescope on Hawai'i's Maunakea using the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph in imaging mode. This four-color composite image has a total exposure time of 42 minutes </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2227a.jpg" alt="A Bright Night over Gemini North"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2227a/" aria-label="A Bright Night over Gemini North"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">4.</span> A Bright Night over Gemini North </div> <div class="top100-text"> There’s more going on in this picture than you might think. This image shows Gemini North, located on Maunakea in Hawai‘i. Gemini North is one half of the International Gemini Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab. <br>To the lower left of Gemini is a red glowing light source. This is from the eruption of the Halemaʻumaʻu crater of the Kīlauea volcano, ongoing since late September 2021.<br>Further lower left of Gemini is the faint green light of Hilo, Hawai‘i, mostly hidden by the layer of clouds that often covers the ground as seen from Maunakea. This is a form of light … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/noirlab2118a.jpg" alt="Dark Energy Survey deep field image"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/noirlab2118a/" aria-label="Dark Energy Survey deep field image"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">5.</span> Dark Energy Survey deep field image </div> <div class="top100-text"> Ten areas in the sky were selected as “deep fields” that the Dark Energy Camera imaged several times during the survey, providing a glimpse of distant galaxies and helping determine their 3D distribution in the cosmos. The image is teeming with galaxies — in fact, nearly every single object in this image is a galaxy. Some exceptions include a couple of dozen asteroids as well as a few handfuls of foreground stars in our own Milky Way. </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/noao-m45.jpg" alt="M45 Pleiades"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/noao-m45/" aria-label="M45 Pleiades"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">6.</span> M45 Pleiades </div> <div class="top100-text"> This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the WIYN 0.9-meter telescope on Kitt Peak, Arizona. The Pleiades are an open cluster easily visible to the naked eye. The cluster is dominated by several hot, luminous and massive stars. The blue nebulosity surrounding the brightest stars are due to blue light from the stars scattering off of dust grains in the interstellar gas between us and the stars. The cluster is also known as the 'Seven Sisters'. And in Japan it is called Subaru. The image was generated with observations in the B (blue), V … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/noao1303a.jpg" alt="Rich Young Cluster Cep OB 3b"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/noao1303a/" aria-label="Rich Young Cluster Cep OB 3b"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">7.</span> Rich Young Cluster Cep OB 3b </div> <div class="top100-text"> Cep OB 3b is rich young cluster located in the northern constellation of Cepheus. This image was created by combining individual images observed through four different filters on the 0.9 meter telescope at Kitt Peak: blue, visual (cyan), near infrared (orange) and an emission line of hydrogen (red). The brightest yellow star near the center of the image is a foreground star, lying between us and the young cluster. The other bright stars are the massive young stars of the cluster that are heating the gas and dust in the cloud and blowing out cavities. Surrounding these massive cluster stars … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2250a.jpg" alt="Big Telescope, Bigger Moon"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2250a/" aria-label="Big Telescope, Bigger Moon"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">8.</span> Big Telescope, Bigger Moon </div> <div class="top100-text"> A full Moon is arguably the worst time to do any optical astronomy, whether it’s with a backyard telescope or at Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), a Program of NSF NOIRLab, near Tucson, Arizona. But the full Moon does make for a spectacular view to the naked eye and in this shot beautifully illuminates the surrounding desert landscape. Taken from the west of KPNO, this image appears to show the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope eclipsing nearly half the diameter of the Moon after moonrise. The Mayall telescope is home to the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI). DESI, led by … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/noao0136a.jpg" alt="Carina Nebula (NGC 3372)"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/noao0136a/" aria-label="Carina Nebula (NGC 3372)"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">9.</span> Carina Nebula (NGC 3372) </div> <div class="top100-text"> This image shows a giant star-forming region in the southern sky known as the Carina Nebula (NGC3372), combining the light from 3 different filters tracing emission from oxygen (blue), hydrogen (green), and sulfur (red). The color is also representative of the temperature in the ionized gas: blue is relatively hot and red is cooler. The Carina Nebula is a good example of how very massive stars rip apart the molecular clouds that give birth to them. The bright star near the center of the image is Eta Carinae, which is one of the most massive and luminous stars known. This … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/noirlab2006a.jpg" alt="Gemini South Captures Planetary Nebula CVMP 1"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/noirlab2006a/" aria-label="Gemini South Captures Planetary Nebula CVMP 1"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">10.</span> Gemini South Captures Planetary Nebula CVMP 1 </div> <div class="top100-text"> The international Gemini Observatory composite color image of the planetary nebula CVMP 1 imaged by the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph on the Gemini South telescope on Cerro Pachón in Chile. </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/noao0703a.jpg" alt="Spiral Galaxy IC 342"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/noao0703a/" aria-label="Spiral Galaxy IC 342"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">11.</span> Spiral Galaxy IC 342 </div> <div class="top100-text"> Spiral Galaxy IC 342 is located roughly 11 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Camelopardalis, “the giraffe.” Its face-on appearance in the sky — as opposed to our tilted and edge-on views of many other nearby galaxies, such as the large spiral galaxy Andromeda (M31) — makes IC 342 a prime target for studies of star formation and astrochemistry. The image, obtained in late 2006, was taken using the 64-megapixel Mosaic-1 digital imager on the Mayall 4-meter telescope. This image is the subject of NOAO press release 07-03. </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/noirlab2406a.jpg" alt="Ghostly Stellar Tendrils of the Vela Supernova Remnant"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/noirlab2406a/" aria-label="Ghostly Stellar Tendrils of the Vela Supernova Remnant"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">12.</span> Ghostly Stellar Tendrils of the Vela Supernova Remnant </div> <div class="top100-text"> This colorful web of wispy gas filaments is the Vela Supernova Remnant, an expanding nebula of cosmic debris left over from a massive star that exploded about 11,000 years ago. This image was taken with the Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy Camera (DECam), mounted on the US National Science Foundation's Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, a Program of NSF NOIRLab. The striking reds, yellows, and blues in this image were achieved through the use of three DECam filters that each collect a specific color of light. Separate images were taken in each filter … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2305a.jpg" alt="A Sky for Discovery"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2305a/" aria-label="A Sky for Discovery"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">13.</span> A Sky for Discovery </div> <div class="top100-text"> The beauty of the night sky is often a subtle one, but from the right location the Universe’s radiance truly emerges. Wide, clear skies perfect for exploration are luckily commonplace for Gemini South, the southern twin of the International Gemini Observatory, operated by NSF NOIRLab.<br>This photo shows a brilliantly colored menagerie above and below Gemini South on Cerro Pachón. The telescope’s laser guide star system beams a column of light at the Milky Way. Our galaxy stretches like a belt across this photo, above the plethora of other objects. The most obvious of these are the Large and Small Magellanic … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/noirlab2208a.jpg" alt="Spiral galaxy NGC 1566"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/noirlab2208a/" aria-label="Spiral galaxy NGC 1566"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">14.</span> Spiral galaxy NGC 1566 </div> <div class="top100-text"> This image, taken by astronomers using the US Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy Camera on the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab, captures the galaxy NGC 1566 as it twirls, flinging its arms through the vastness of space. Colloquially nicknamed the Spanish Dancer, this spiral galaxy is often studied by astronomers learning about galaxy groups, stars of different ages, and galactic black holes. </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/noirlab2129a.jpg" alt="Chamaeleon Infrared Nebula"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/noirlab2129a/" aria-label="Chamaeleon Infrared Nebula"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">15.</span> Chamaeleon Infrared Nebula </div> <div class="top100-text"> This ethereal image, captured from Chile by the international Gemini Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab, looks as delicate as a butterfly’s wing. It is, however, a structure known as the Chamaeleon Infrared Nebula, which is located near the center of the even larger Chamaeleon I dark cloud, one of the nearest star-forming regions in our Milky Way. </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2008a.jpg" alt="Circumpolar Laser Tests at Gemini North"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2008a/" aria-label="Circumpolar Laser Tests at Gemini North"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">16.</span> Circumpolar Laser Tests at Gemini North </div> <div class="top100-text"> As stars appear to circle around the north celestial pole, a new laser at the Gemini North telescope on Hawaii’s Maunakea undergoes rigorous testing, as seen in this image from early October 2019. <br>The international Gemini Observatory, a program of the NSF NOIRLab, recently completed testing of a new laser from the company TOPTICA which is a critical component in the telescope’s adaptive optics system. Adaptive optics utilize artificial guide stars, produced by a laser, as a reference when compensating for distortions caused by turbulence in the Earth’s atmosphere. The result is ultra-sharp images that rival the view from space.Laser … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/gemini0608a.jpg" alt="Jupiter's Red Spots"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/gemini0608a/" aria-label="Jupiter's Red Spots"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">17.</span> Jupiter's Red Spots </div> <div class="top100-text"> Gemini North adaptive optics image of Jupiter and its two red spots (which appear white because this is a near-infrared image; in visible light they appear reddish). In this color composite image, white indicates cloud features at relatively high altitudes; blue indicates lower cloud structures; and red represents still deeper cloud features. The two red spots appear more white than red, because their tops hover high above the surrounding clouds. Also prominent is the polar stratospheric haze, which makes Jupiter bright near the pole (unlike the other orange/red features in this image, the polar haze is high in Jupiter's atmosphere). … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2441a.jpg" alt="Gemini and Sights of the South"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2441a/" aria-label="Gemini and Sights of the South"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">18.</span> Gemini and Sights of the South </div> <div class="top100-text"> The Milky Way flows across the southern hemisphere’s night sky in this photograph of Gemini South, one half of the International Gemini Observatory. Supported in part by the U.S. National Science Foundation and operated by NSF NOIRLab, Gemini South resides on the summit of Cerro Pachón in Chile, a location well known for its dazzling dark skies. Here it’s operating its constellation of five laser guide stars, which is used by its advanced adaptive optics system to reduce the blurring of images that’s caused by Earth’s atmosphere. Speckled through the Milky Way are some iconic constellations: Centaurus (the centaur), Crux … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2440a.jpg" alt="Comet Tsuchinshan–ATLAS over the McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2440a/" aria-label="Comet Tsuchinshan–ATLAS over the McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">19.</span> Comet Tsuchinshan–ATLAS over the McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope </div> <div class="top100-text"> Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) graces the dawn sky over the U.S. National Science Foundation Kitt Peak National Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab, just outside Tucson, Arizona in this image. It was captured in the morning hours before sunrise on Saturday 28 September 2024 by Rob Sparks from NOIRLab. In the foreground is the McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope, which is in the final stages of being transformed into a must-see location for visitors to Arizona, currently named the Windows Center. <br>Comets are dirty snowballs of gas, dust and ice, often from the far reaches of the Solar System. As a comet … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2431a.jpg" alt="From Cerro Pachón to the Moon"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2431a/" aria-label="From Cerro Pachón to the Moon"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">20.</span> From Cerro Pachón to the Moon </div> <div class="top100-text"> NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory atop Cerro Pachón in Chile is outlined against the full Moon rising above the horizon. A trick of perspective has enlarged the Moon beyond the size we’d naturally see it on Earth in this Image of the Week.<br>Often regarded as an ‘enemy’ of non-lunar astronomers because of its brightness, the beauty of Earth’s natural satellite cannot be ignored. On the right side of the Moon in this image is the large and relatively young Tycho crater, with its distinctive ray system prominently spreading across the lunar surface. On the bottom and left side are large, … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2408a.jpg" alt="The Impressionist’s Dusk"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2408a/" aria-label="The Impressionist’s Dusk"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">21.</span> The Impressionist’s Dusk </div> <div class="top100-text"> Do not be fooled by the seemingly artistic rendering of this image — the ombré colors painted across the sky above the snowy summit of Maunakea are all caused naturally by a phenomenon called Rayleigh scattering. As the day progresses and the Sun reaches the horizon, visible light has to pass through denser materials in the atmosphere. This scatters the light at longer wavelengths or in other words, redder light. This scattering creates spectacularly colorful views that anyone can see here on Earth.<br>On the far right, Gemini North — one half of the International Gemini Observatory, operated by NSF NOIRLab … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2406a.jpg" alt="Beaming up to the Stars"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2406a/" aria-label="Beaming up to the Stars"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">22.</span> Beaming up to the Stars </div> <div class="top100-text"> This image shows Gemini North, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, operated by NSF NOIRLab, using a yellow-colored laser beam to adjust its adaptive optics system during the commissioning of its new TOPTICA laser in 2018. This laser emanates from just above the telescope and travels through Earth’s atmosphere to a layer roughly 90 kilometers (50 miles) up. There, it excites traces of sodium gas to produce a glowing ‘artificial star’ which is then used to sample the atmospheric turbulence at lower altitudes. This measurement allows the adaptive optics system to move deformable mirrors on the telescope to compensate … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2315a.jpg" alt="Caught Between Earth and Sky"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2315a/" aria-label="Caught Between Earth and Sky"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">23.</span> Caught Between Earth and Sky </div> <div class="top100-text"> The silver dome of the Gemini North telescope, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, operated by NSF NOIRLab, catches the setting Sun, caught between the red-hued earth of the Maunakea volcano and an inky-blue sky. The scale of astronomical infrastructure can be difficult to grasp from images, particularly when telescopes are located in vast landscapes under wide skies. However, if you look closely the staircases winding up the side of Gemini North are visible — revealing the true size of this telescope. The dome of Gemini North — and that of its twin, Gemini South in Chile — is … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2223a.jpg" alt="Starry Night, Laser Light"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2223a/" aria-label="Starry Night, Laser Light"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">24.</span> Starry Night, Laser Light </div> <div class="top100-text"> Gemini South, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab, is seen here with its laser guide star in action. Both of the Gemini telescopes use laser guide stars to provide data for the calibration of their adaptive optics, systems of deformable mirrors that compensate for fluctuations in the upper atmosphere which can blur the images of distant stars and galaxies. The laser excites trace gas particles high in Earth’s upper atmosphere. Software then analyzes feedback from the laser to provide a model for the adaptive optics to map against. The laser guide stars can also … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2147a.jpg" alt="Ribbons of Light"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2147a/" aria-label="Ribbons of Light"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">25.</span> Ribbons of Light </div> <div class="top100-text"> For a photo taken at night, this image appears to be ablaze with light. The winding road, which leads to Gemini North, one half of the international Gemini Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab, looks like a bright white ribbon. However, this abundance of artificial light is an illusion. In reality, enormous effort is made to keep artificial light in the area around the telescopes to a bare minimum. This mitigates interference by light sources from Earth with astronomical observations.<br>The road appears so bright because the photo was taken with a long exposure time. This is evident by the long … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/noirlab2106a.jpg" alt="Elliptical galaxy NGC 474 — excerpt from the Dark Energy Survey"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/noirlab2106a/" aria-label="Elliptical galaxy NGC 474 — excerpt from the Dark Energy Survey"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">26.</span> Elliptical galaxy NGC 474 — excerpt from the Dark Energy Survey </div> <div class="top100-text"> Elliptical galaxies are generally characterized by their relatively smooth appearance when compared with spiral galaxies (one of which is to the left), which have more flocculent structures interwoven with dust lanes and spiral arms. NGC 474 is at a distance of about 100 million light-years in the constellation of Pisces. This image shows unusual structures around NGC 474 characterized as tidal tails and shell-like structures made up of hundreds of millions of stars. These features are due to recent mergers (within the last billion years) or close interactions with smaller infalling dwarf galaxies. <br>This image is an excerpt from the … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2044a.jpg" alt="A Snowball SOARs"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2044a/" aria-label="A Snowball SOARs"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">27.</span> A Snowball SOARs </div> <div class="top100-text"> The white dome of the Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) Telescope looks a little like a giant snowball, juxtaposed against the icy backdrop. SOAR is an optical telescope, meaning that it observes the skies in the wavelength range that the human eye is sensitive to (and a little beyond). The telescope, however, is equipped with a 4.1-meter mirror, so it can collect a lot more light than human eyes. SOAR is based in Chile at Cerro Pachón. It stands at an altitude of 2,700 meters (8,900 feet) above sea level, which in this winter scene, explains the frosted mountain tops! SOAR … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/noirlab2025a.jpg" alt="Carina Nebula western wall (with adaptive optics)"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/noirlab2025a/" aria-label="Carina Nebula western wall (with adaptive optics)"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">28.</span> Carina Nebula western wall (with adaptive optics) </div> <div class="top100-text"> A 50-trillion-km (33-trillion-mile, or 5 light-year) long section of the western wall in the Carina Nebula, as observed with adaptive optics on the Gemini South telescope. This mountainous section of the nebula reveals a number of unusual structures including a long series of parallel ridges that could be produced by a magnetic field, a remarkable almost perfectly smooth wave, and fragments that appear to be in the process of being sheared off the cloud by a strong wind. There is also evidence for a jet of material ejected from a newly-formed star. The exquisite detail seen in the image is … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/noao-sun.jpg" alt="High resolution solar spectrum"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/noao-sun/" aria-label="High resolution solar spectrum"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">29.</span> High resolution solar spectrum </div> <div class="top100-text"> A high-resolution version of the spectrum of our Sun, this image was created from a digital atlas observed with the Fourier Transform Spectrometer at the McMath-Pierce Solar Facility at the National Solar Observatory on Kitt Peak, near Tucson, Arizona (‘Solar Flux Atlas from 296 to 1300 nm’ by Robert L. Kurucz, Ingemar Furenlid, James Brault, and Larry Testerman: National Solar Observatory Atlas No. 1, June 1984). The images shown here were created to mimic an echelle spectrum, with wavelength increasing from left to right along each strip, and from bottom to top. Each of the 50 slices covers 60 angstroms, … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/noao-vdb152.jpg" alt="vdB 152, Barnard 175"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/noao-vdb152/" aria-label="vdB 152, Barnard 175"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">30.</span> vdB 152, Barnard 175 </div> <div class="top100-text"> This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. Also known as Barnard 175, vdB 152 is a reflection nebula atop of a dark Bok globule. Embedded in the top right side of the nebula is the Herbig Haro object HH 450, a jet emitted from a newly forming star. The thin, red filaments in the upper-right corner of the image are the remnants of a supernova explosion. It is not yet clear whether or not the supernova remnant will collide with vdB 152. The image was … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/noao-hfg1.jpg" alt="Planetary Nebula HFG1"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/noao-hfg1/" aria-label="Planetary Nebula HFG1"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">31.</span> Planetary Nebula HFG1 </div> <div class="top100-text"> This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. HFG1 is a planetary nebula in the constellation of Cassiopeia. It was produced by a binary star system (V664 Cas) that is moving rapidly through our Galaxy. The star is moving towards the upper-right of the image. As HFG1 plows through the interstellar medium, a bluish bowshock is produced; and a red trail of gas is left behind in its wake. The image was generated with observations in the Hydrogen alpha (red) and Oxygen [OIII] (blue) filters. In … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2025a.jpg" alt="A Colorful Night"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2025a/" aria-label="A Colorful Night"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">32.</span> A Colorful Night </div> <div class="top100-text"> These whirling lines in the sky are the trails of stars after an hour-long exposure above Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), a Program of NSF NOIRLab. The trails are shortest around the North Star, Polaris, a star that happens to coincide almost directly with the celestial north pole. The different colors in the trails reflect the different temperatures of the stars, with blue being the hottest stars and yellow/red the coolest. The telescope visible above the horizon is the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope, and the red glow on the mountain is caused by red lights used to ensure the … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2016a.jpg" alt="WIYN Enveloped by Celestial Aura"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2016a/" aria-label="WIYN Enveloped by Celestial Aura"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">33.</span> WIYN Enveloped by Celestial Aura </div> <div class="top100-text"> The glow behind the 3.5-meter WIYN telescope looks like a celestial aura, but it is really a phenomenon known as the Zodiacal Light. This faint glow, created by the scattering of light by small dust particles left over from the formation of our Solar System, is only visible during evening and morning twilight (in the west and east, respectively) and along the plane of the Solar System or the zodiac (hence the name zodiacal light). The WIYN telescope is part of the Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), a program of NSF NOIRLab. Also visible is the brilliant light of the … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2014a.jpg" alt="A Backdrop of Blue and Red"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2014a/" aria-label="A Backdrop of Blue and Red"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">34.</span> A Backdrop of Blue and Red </div> <div class="top100-text"> A colorful sunset and layers of blue mountaintops backdrops the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a program of NSF NOIRLab. Most prominent in the image is the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope, which sits atop Cerro Tololo itself. The SMARTS 1.5-meter and 0.9-meter telescopes, as well as a selection of CTIO’s tenant observatories, are scattered along the ridge. This location allows astronomers a stellar view of the southern night sky, providing access to objects not visible from the northern hemisphere, such as the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2009a.jpg" alt="Trails Near and Far"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2009a/" aria-label="Trails Near and Far"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">35.</span> Trails Near and Far </div> <div class="top100-text"> This long-exposure photograph shows the motion of stars during the night above the Blanco 4-meter telescope (left) and the SMARTS 1.5-meter telescope (right) at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, a program of the NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory. Also visible in the photo are the trails left by astronomers walking to the Blanco telescope, created by their flashlights. Stars streak through the sky over the course of this one-hour exposure, appearing to spin around the south celestial pole in the upper left of the image. The star closest to the south celestial pole is Sigma Octantis, a relatively … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2005a.jpg" alt="Glowworm Glowing in the Dead of Night"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2005a/" aria-label="Glowworm Glowing in the Dead of Night"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">36.</span> Glowworm Glowing in the Dead of Night </div> <div class="top100-text"> When the weather conditions are just right, glowworms come out at night at Kitt Peak National Observatory. This glowworm crossed the road in front of the WIYN 3.5-meter telescope as the last of the summer Milky Way sets behind the WIYN dome. Although only the tail end of the glowworm is bioluminescent, the glowworm appears as a streak over the 10 second exposure, and the image shows how much distance it covered over the period of the exposure. </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2001a.jpg" alt="Sunset over Kitt Peak National Observatory"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2001a/" aria-label="Sunset over Kitt Peak National Observatory"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">37.</span> Sunset over Kitt Peak National Observatory </div> <div class="top100-text"> Every year around the winter solstice, the Sun appears to set behind Kitt Peak National Observatory as seen from Mount Lemmon almost 100 km (60 miles) away. Local photographers meet every year around the holidays to capture photos and videos of this interesting alignment. For a brief time, you can see many of the Kitt Peak telescopes, from the distinctive McMath-Pierce Solar telescope (left) to the large dome of the Mayall 4-meter telescope (right). The still image depicts the silhouettes of the telescopes with a green segment above the Sun and was taken on 17 December 2016. The video was … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw1952a.jpg" alt="Galactic Rainbow"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw1952a/" aria-label="Galactic Rainbow"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">38.</span> Galactic Rainbow </div> <div class="top100-text"> The Milky Way hangs poised over the Gemini South telescope<br>The colorful band of the Milky Way is poised above the 8.1-meter Gemini South telescope of NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory in this arresting image, which depicts bright patches of stars threaded through with winding lanes of dust. The Galactic Center hangs directly above the telescope, framing one of the most powerful astronomical observatories in the southern hemisphere.<br>The picture also captures the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, which appear on the left side of the image. These dwarf irregular galaxies are satellites of the Milky Way, and lack the conspicuous … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw1949a.jpg" alt="Starry Skies at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw1949a/" aria-label="Starry Skies at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">39.</span> Starry Skies at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory </div> <div class="top100-text"> Breathtaking observatory panorama showcases the Milky Way<br>This breathtaking panorama, captured by Hernan Stockebrand, showcases the pristine skies at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO). CTIO, a program of NSF NOIRLab, is a complex of astronomical telescopes and instruments in the Chilean Andes. CTIO’s mountainous surroundings and altitude — the site is 2200 meters (7200 feet) above sea level — ensure the mountaintop observatory enjoys spectacular night skies. This colorful panorama shows the arch of the Milky Way hanging above the observatory facilities, as well as strands of low clouds illuminated by the Moon, which is visible on the right side … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/gemini-20070806-ngc6520gem-clnflattrim.jpg" alt="The Starry Dandelion and the Cosmic Gecko NGC 6520"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/gemini-20070806-ngc6520gem-clnflattrim/" aria-label="The Starry Dandelion and the Cosmic Gecko NGC 6520"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">40.</span> The Starry Dandelion and the Cosmic Gecko NGC 6520 </div> <div class="top100-text"> Millions of years ago, a dust cloud about 5,200 light-years from the Sun coalesced to begin the process of star birth. Today, some 190 million years later, NGC 6520 is ablaze with hot, massive young stars arrayed in a dandelion seed-shaped cluster. Not far away lies the gecko-shaped remains of what may be their birth cloud, Barnard 86. This image, taken using the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph on Gemini South, shows details in a 9.7- x 5.4-arcmin section of a larger, highly populated region in the Sagittarius star cloud. It provides the clearest optical view of the cluster and its nearby … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2438a.jpg" alt="‘Seeing’ atop Cerro Pachón"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2438a/" aria-label="‘Seeing’ atop Cerro Pachón"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">41.</span> ‘Seeing’ atop Cerro Pachón </div> <div class="top100-text"> The star-filled Milky Way arches over Cerro Pachón in this Image of the Week, the sky alight with the spectacular green, orange, and purple airglow of Earth's upper atmosphere. On the right is Gemini South, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, supported in part by the U.S. National Science Foundation and operated by NSF NOIRLab, while on the left atop the structure is the DIMM3 Seeing Monitor. Both Gemini South and the DIMM3 Seeing Monitor are perched at an altitude of 8980 feet (2737 meters) in the mountains of Chile. This high location is known for its dry, stable … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2437a.jpg" alt="Southern Treasures on the Horizon"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2437a/" aria-label="Southern Treasures on the Horizon"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">42.</span> Southern Treasures on the Horizon </div> <div class="top100-text"> The disc of the Milky Way spreads across the eastern horizon of Hawaiʻi as it rises over the summit of Maunakea. The center of our galaxy silhouettes the Maunakea Observatories, including Gemini North (third from left), one half of the International Gemini Observatory, supported in part by the U.S. National Science Foundation and operated by NSF NOIRLab. At about 19 degrees north of the equator, Maunakea is in one of the most southerly locations in the United States. This makes it an excellent location to view large portions of the southern skies from the northern hemisphere, wonderfully captured in this … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2436a.jpg" alt="SARA South at Cerro Tololo"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2436a/" aria-label="SARA South at Cerro Tololo"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">43.</span> SARA South at Cerro Tololo </div> <div class="top100-text"> Above the U.S. National Science Foundation Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), the Milky Way elegantly stretches into the night sky from the horizon, as yellow, green, and red airglow seemingly permeate what would otherwise be a black sky in this Image of the Week. CTIO is a Program of NSF NOIRLab and is home to approximately 40 telescopes from 11 tenant observatories and research projects. Featured here is one such facility: the SARA Cerro Tololo Telescope, operated by the Southeastern Association for Research in Astronomy (SARA). SARA is a collaborative partnership of American universities that operate telescopes at multiple locations … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2432a.jpg" alt="A Periodic Visitor at Kitt Peak"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2432a/" aria-label="A Periodic Visitor at Kitt Peak"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">44.</span> A Periodic Visitor at Kitt Peak </div> <div class="top100-text"> The night sky above the WIYN 3.5-meter telescope at the U.S. National Science Foundation Kitt Peak National Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab, is adorned with Jupiter (center right) and the Pleiades (upper right) in this Image of the Week. But the most impressive of all the adornments is Comet Pons-Brooks on the bottom right side of this image. This comet, with a nucleus about 30 kilometers (19 miles) in diameter, follows a 71-year orbit around the Sun. It was first recorded in 1812 by Jean-Louis Pons, and was then ‘discovered’ on its next passage near Earth by William Robert … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2416a.jpg" alt="Natural Night Lights Over Gemini North"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2416a/" aria-label="Natural Night Lights Over Gemini North"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">45.</span> Natural Night Lights Over Gemini North </div> <div class="top100-text"> Surrounding the Gemini North telescope are three natural light phenomena that can only be seen in the darkest of skies. These dark skies surround this half of the International Gemini Observatory, supported in part by the U.S. National Science Foundation and operated by NSF NOIRLab, isolated in the middle of the Pacific Ocean at an altitude of 4214 meters (13,825 feet). High above the nearby cities on the summit of Hawai‘i’s Maunakea the sky avoids the light pollution from city lights and gives way instead to the natural atmospheric and interplanetary phenomena caused by solar activity.<br>Arching over Gemini North is … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2411a.jpg" alt="Southern Celestial Wayfinder"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2411a/" aria-label="Southern Celestial Wayfinder"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">46.</span> Southern Celestial Wayfinder </div> <div class="top100-text"> The stars are perfectly aligned in this image of the Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) Telescope, located on Cerro Pachón in Chile and operated by Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of NSF NOIRLab. The Milky Way galaxy appears to be pouring out of the open dome and spilling across the colorful sky. The wash of yellow and green near the horizon is a mix of airglow and light pollution from nearby villages. Where the two colors transition, the Large Magellanic Cloud and Small Magellanic Cloud shine through (lower left). But near the center of this image is a truly … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/noirlab2403a.jpg" alt="The Twisted Dusty Disk of NGC 4753"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/noirlab2403a/" aria-label="The Twisted Dusty Disk of NGC 4753"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">47.</span> The Twisted Dusty Disk of NGC 4753 </div> <div class="top100-text"> Discovered by astronomer William Herschel in 1784, NGC 4753 displays some truly fascinating features. In this image captured by the Gemini South telescope, one half of the International Gemini Observatory operated by NSF NOIRLab, the galaxy’s intricate dust lanes are a sight to behold. NGC 4753 is located about 60 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. It is a member of the NGC 4753 Group of galaxies within the Virgo II Cloud — a series of at least 100 galaxy clusters and individual galaxies stretching off the southern edge of the Virgo Supercluster. A 1992 study of NGC 4753 … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2352a.jpg" alt="Geminids Over Kitt Peak National Observatory"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2352a/" aria-label="Geminids Over Kitt Peak National Observatory"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">48.</span> Geminids Over Kitt Peak National Observatory </div> <div class="top100-text"> Speeding towards Earth, meteors from the Geminid meteor shower streak across the sky above the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), a Program of NSF NOIRLab, in Arizona. Stretching across the center of the sky is the dusty arm of the Milky Way, arching over the radiant of the meteor shower in the constellation Gemini on the right. This image was captured during the peak of this year’s shower on 14 December 2023.<br>The Geminid meteor shower is one of the most reliable meteor showers. Like other meteor showers, these fireballs are rocky particles zooming through … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2348a.jpg" alt="The Cosmic Road from Cerro Tololo"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2348a/" aria-label="The Cosmic Road from Cerro Tololo"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">49.</span> The Cosmic Road from Cerro Tololo </div> <div class="top100-text"> The ‘way’ to the Universe begins at Cerro Tololo. In this incredible image, the Milky Way, which appears as a glowing cosmic road ascending to the heavens, seems to start at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of NSF NOIRLab. And indeed, the road towards understanding some cosmic phenomena does start at CTIO! <br>Earlier this year, the SMARTS 1.5-meter Telescope (left) made the first confirmed detection of an extremely rare pair of stars that will someday become a kilonova. One of the most energetic events in the Universe, kilonovae are the explosions that result when two neutron stars merge. … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/noirlab2329a.jpg" alt="Gemini South Reveals Tangled Spiral Arms of the Peculiar Galaxy NGC 7727"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/noirlab2329a/" aria-label="Gemini South Reveals Tangled Spiral Arms of the Peculiar Galaxy NGC 7727"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">50.</span> Gemini South Reveals Tangled Spiral Arms of the Peculiar Galaxy NGC 7727 </div> <div class="top100-text"> Gemini South, one half of the International Gemini Observatory operated by NSF NOIRLab, captures the billion-year-old aftermath of a double spiral galaxy collision. At the heart of this chaotic interaction, entwined and caught in the midst of the chaos, is a pair of supermassive black holes — the closest such pair ever recorded from Earth. </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2337a.jpg" alt="Calibration Station"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2337a/" aria-label="Calibration Station"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">51.</span> Calibration Station </div> <div class="top100-text"> The bright band of the Milky Way seems to spill from the open dome of the Rubin Auxiliary Telescope (AuxTel) in this image from the recent NOIRLab 2022 Photo Expedition. As well as the spectacular Milky Way, replete with intricate clouds of gas and dust, an amorphous airglow is visible along both horizons. <br>The AuxTel will take a variety of measurements and calibrations during the operations of Vera C. Rubin Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab. These complementary data will be used to understand atmospheric conditions and make scientific observations more accurate as Rubin Observatory conducts its decade-long sky survey. … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/noirlab2320a.jpg" alt="Gemini South Captures Toby Jug Nebula"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/noirlab2320a/" aria-label="Gemini South Captures Toby Jug Nebula"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">52.</span> Gemini South Captures Toby Jug Nebula </div> <div class="top100-text"> A billowing pair of nearly symmetrical loops of dust and gas mark the death throes of an ancient red-giant star, as captured by Gemini South, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, operated by NSF NOIRLab. The resulting structure, said to resemble an old style of English jug, is a rarely seen bipolar reflection nebula. Evidence suggests that this object formed by the interactions between the dying red giant and a now-shredded companion star. The image was obtained by NOIRLab’s Communication, Education & Engagement team as part of the NOIRLab Legacy Imaging Program. </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/noirlab2221a.jpg" alt="Dark Energy Camera Captures Bright, Young Stars Blazing Inside Glowing Nebula"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/noirlab2221a/" aria-label="Dark Energy Camera Captures Bright, Young Stars Blazing Inside Glowing Nebula"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">53.</span> Dark Energy Camera Captures Bright, Young Stars Blazing Inside Glowing Nebula </div> <div class="top100-text"> This image, taken by astronomers using the US Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy Camera on the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab, captures the star-forming nebula NGC 6357, which is located 8000 light-years away in the direction of the constellation Scorpius. This image reveals bright, young stars surrounded by billowing clouds of dust and gas inside NGC 6357, which is also known as the Lobster Nebula. </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2226a.jpg" alt="The Colors of the Night Sky"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2226a/" aria-label="The Colors of the Night Sky"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">54.</span> The Colors of the Night Sky </div> <div class="top100-text"> A remarkable array of colors is visible in the night sky over Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of NSF NOIRLab, in this image. We tend to assume that the night sky should be inky black and punctuated by stars, although it is rarely visible in cities and other highly-populated areas because of light pollution from artificial, man-made light. Interestingly, however, the night sky is not actually pitch black in the absence of light pollution. It instead reveals a beautiful array of subtle colors that arise from various phenomena. Most of the color in this image is due to … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2207a.jpg" alt="Rubin Observatory and Its Target"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2207a/" aria-label="Rubin Observatory and Its Target"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">55.</span> Rubin Observatory and Its Target </div> <div class="top100-text"> This image captures not only Vera C. Rubin Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab, but one of the celestial specimens Rubin Observatory will observe when it comes online: the Milky Way. The bright halo of gas and stars on the left side of the image highlights the very center of the Milky Way galaxy. The dark path that cuts through this center is known as the Great Rift, because it gives the appearance that the Milky Way has been split in half, right through its center and along its radial arms. In fact, the Great Rift is caused by a … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2133a.jpg" alt="Sunset and Shadow"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2133a/" aria-label="Sunset and Shadow"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">56.</span> Sunset and Shadow </div> <div class="top100-text"> At first glance, this looks like an image of a telescope perched by a sea shore. The telescope — Gemini North, one of the two telescopes that make up the international Gemini Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab — is actually situated at an altitude of over 4000 meters (13,000 feet). The churning waves are a rippling cloud deck, not a choppy sea, over which Maunakea’s shadow stretches for miles. <br>Maunakea’s highest point (far right) is tinged with light from the setting Sun, as shadows fall over Gemini North. As the day ends, the telescope’s work begins. A key advantage … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/noirlab2116a.jpg" alt="Gemini North Infrared View of Jupiter"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/noirlab2116a/" aria-label="Gemini North Infrared View of Jupiter"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">57.</span> Gemini North Infrared View of Jupiter </div> <div class="top100-text"> This infrared view of Jupiter was created from data captured on 11 January 2017 with the Near-InfraRed Imager (NIRI) instrument at Gemini North in Hawaiʻi, the northern member of the international Gemini Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. It is actually a mosaic of individual frames that were combined to produce a global portrait of the planet.<br>In the image warmer areas appear bright, including four large hot spots that appear in a row just north of the equator. South of the equator, the oval-shaped and cloud-covered Great Red Spot appears dark. </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/noirlab2020e.jpg" alt="Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/noirlab2020e/" aria-label="Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">58.</span> Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope </div> <div class="top100-text"> Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2026a.jpg" alt="A Sign of the Zodiac"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2026a/" aria-label="A Sign of the Zodiac"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">59.</span> A Sign of the Zodiac </div> <div class="top100-text"> This image of the Gemini South telescope is so full of light that it is difficult to believe that it was captured at night. Gemini South is the southern half of the international Gemini Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab. The wedge-shaped light on the right side of the photo is not from an artificial source (although there are city lights below it), but is a natural phenomenon known as zodiacal light. This occurs when sunlight is scattered off dust particles in the plane of our Solar System, causing part of the sky to become illuminated either after Sun-down or … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2015a.jpg" alt="Sunlight Paints a Crimson Sky Over Gemini South"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2015a/" aria-label="Sunlight Paints a Crimson Sky Over Gemini South"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">60.</span> Sunlight Paints a Crimson Sky Over Gemini South </div> <div class="top100-text"> During rare cloudy weather, a vivid red sunset reflects off the dome of the international Gemini Observatory’s Gemini South telescope in Chile, a program of NSF NOIRLab. In this image, sunlight is scattered and reflected by gas, dust and particulates in the Earth’s atmosphere and spreads an artist’s palette of red and orange colors across the sky as the Sun sets over Chile’s Pacific coast. Fortunately, the nearby clouds reflecting these colors cleared out in time for the 8.1-meter Gemini primary mirror to collect starlight and complete a productive night of science observations — but not before treating the observatory … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2010a.jpg" alt="Shooting for the Stars!"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2010a/" aria-label="Shooting for the Stars!"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">61.</span> Shooting for the Stars! </div> <div class="top100-text"> Kitt Peak National Observatory, a program of NSF’s NOIRLab, is located on land leased from the Tohono O’odham Nation. NSF NOIRLab staff frequently partner with the American Indian Science and Engineering Students (AISES) chapter at Tohono O’odham Community College to host star-gazing events and other local engagement activities. One popular activity is for students to build and launch water rockets out of two-liter bottles with glow sticks attached to make the flights visible against the dark Arizona skies. This image shows the trajectory of a launch that reaches its apex near the constellation of Orion. The winter Milky Way also … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/noao1803a.jpg" alt="McMath-Pierce at night"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/noao1803a/" aria-label="McMath-Pierce at night"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">62.</span> McMath-Pierce at night </div> <div class="top100-text"> A nine-hour exposure of the McMath-Pierce Solar Facility on Kitt Peak. The normally white building appears red due to high altitude haze following the 1991 eruptions of Mount Pinatubo (principally: there were some other volcanoes around that time which contributed). No filters or multiple exposures were used. Three equally spaced star trails on the far right mark the Belt of Orion. To the left of these, there is a band of other trails containing red Betelgeuse, blue Bellatrix, and white Procyon. Picture by Dr Bill Livingston. </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/noao1507a.jpg" alt="IC 1396A Elephant Trunk Nebula"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/noao1507a/" aria-label="IC 1396A Elephant Trunk Nebula"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">63.</span> IC 1396A Elephant Trunk Nebula </div> <div class="top100-text"> This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. IC 1396 is a giant emission nebula that is over 3 degrees in diameter. It is illuminated by a hot, massive O-type star (HD 206267) near its center. The star is not visible in this image- it is off of the top edge. This image is of IC 1396A, a dark, dense cloud of gas embedded in the nebula. It is informally known as the “Elephant Trunk Nebula” because of its distinctive shape. Images of other parts of … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2422a.jpg" alt="A Celestial Veil Over Rubin Observatory"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2422a/" aria-label="A Celestial Veil Over Rubin Observatory"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">64.</span> A Celestial Veil Over Rubin Observatory </div> <div class="top100-text"> Vera C. Rubin Observatory sits under the faint glow of a fascinating astronomical phenomenon known as zodiacal light. It appears as a faint, cone-shaped glow that extends along the path followed by the planets and Sun (known as the ecliptic) and is caused by sunlight reflecting off interplanetary dust that sits in the plane of our Solar System. This phenomenon is most easily seen in the western sky just after sunset or in the eastern sky just before sunrise. The dust is thought to be left by comet tails and collisions between asteroids. Zodiacal light is faint and usually drowned … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2409a.jpg" alt="Dark Skies Aren’t Always Black Skies"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2409a/" aria-label="Dark Skies Aren’t Always Black Skies"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">65.</span> Dark Skies Aren’t Always Black Skies </div> <div class="top100-text"> Paradoxically, a truly dark sky isn’t pitch black. The darkest skies in the world, such as this one over Cerro Pachón, are actually theaters for a spectacular show of cosmic lights. Above Gemini South (right of center), half of the International Gemini Observatory operated by NSF NOIRLab, and Vera C. Rubin Observatory (right), a Program of NSF NOIRLab, the lights from stars, our galaxy, and atmospheric interplay are captured with a long exposure in this Image of the Week.<br>Near the horizon is a hazy sea of faint red and green light known as airglow; this glow is caused by atomic … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/ann23034a.jpg" alt="The Milky Way Above SOAR on Cerro Pachón"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/ann23034a/" aria-label="The Milky Way Above SOAR on Cerro Pachón"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">66.</span> The Milky Way Above SOAR on Cerro Pachón </div> <div class="top100-text"> The band of the Milky Way galaxy stretches across the night sky above the SOAR telescope, located on Cerro Pachón in the foothills of the Chilean Andes. The mountain is also home to Gemini South, one half of the International Gemini Observatory operated by NSF NOIRLab, and Vera C. Rubin Observatory. Spread across the horizon are the vivid colors of airglow, a faint light emitted by energized atoms in Earth’s upper atmosphere. </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2334a.jpg" alt="Milky Way Front and Center"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2334a/" aria-label="Milky Way Front and Center"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">67.</span> Milky Way Front and Center </div> <div class="top100-text"> The vantage point of the foothills of the Chilean Andes provides some of the best views of the night sky in the world, especially from Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of NSF NOIRLab. Earth is oriented in such a way that most of the Milky Way can be seen on a clear night from the southern hemisphere, where CTIO is located. Beneath the oblique arms of our galaxy lie, left to right, the US Naval Observatory Deep South Telescope, DIMM1 Seeing Monitor, CHilean Automatic Supernova sEarch dome, aTmCam (straight back), SMARTS 1.0-meter Telescope, UBC Southern Observatory, and Curtis … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2333a.jpg" alt="A Pantheon Above WIYN"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2333a/" aria-label="A Pantheon Above WIYN"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">68.</span> A Pantheon Above WIYN </div> <div class="top100-text"> The Milky Way and colorful celestial objects stretch over Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), a Program of NSF NOIRLab, in this image of the WIYN 3.5-meter Telescope. This telescope is used to hunt for and characterize exoplanets with the NEID (pronounced NOO-id, rhymes with “fluid”) spectrograph, a state-of-the-art instrument for highly precise measurements of stellar movements.<br>Above the WIYN telescope is a pantheon of constellations and their stellar companions. To the left, near the tree, is the brightest star in the sky, Sirius, that indicates the constellation Canis Major (the Great Dog). To its right is the constellation Orion (the Hunter) … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2331a.jpg" alt="CTIO on the Edge of the World"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2331a/" aria-label="CTIO on the Edge of the World"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">69.</span> CTIO on the Edge of the World </div> <div class="top100-text"> Beautiful sunsets often grace the telescopes of Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of NSF NOIRLab. Pictured in this aerial image are the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope (foreground), the SMARTS 1.5-meter, 0.9-meter, and 1.0-meter Telescopes, the Curtis Schmidt Telescope, and many more of the 40+ NOIRLab-operated telescopes in the foothills of the Chilean Andes. At 2200 meters (7200 feet) above sea level and in its relatively isolated position, Cerro Tololo is the perfect place to observe the southern skies. In fact, the summit takes its name from the way it drops away steeply on the northern side, as … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2327a.jpg" alt="Open Skies and an Open Dome"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2327a/" aria-label="Open Skies and an Open Dome"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">70.</span> Open Skies and an Open Dome </div> <div class="top100-text"> The Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope has pristine access to wide open skies of the Chilean Andes from its perch at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of NSF NOIRLab. To the upper left of the telescope is the ‘evening star’, actually the planet Venus. Below on the left are the SMARTS 1.5-meter Telescope and SMARTS 0.9-meter Telescope (furthest back).<br>Housed within the silver dome of the Blanco Telescope is the Dark Energy Camera (DECam), mounted at the prime (first) focus near the top of the white Serrurier truss. The blue U-shaped structure holding the truss is the large bearing … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2323a.jpg" alt="Celestial Landmarks of the Northern Sky"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2323a/" aria-label="Celestial Landmarks of the Northern Sky"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">71.</span> Celestial Landmarks of the Northern Sky </div> <div class="top100-text"> The eighteen-story Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope is located at Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), a Program of NSF NOIRLab, and is seen here against the backdrop of two celestial landmarks of the northern hemisphere: The constellation Ursa Major (the Great Bear), with its seven bright stars that make the Big Dipper, on the right side of Mayall and the North Star Polaris on the left. <br>The stars of the Big Dipper asterism are notable even on their own. The second star in the Big Dipper’s handle is Mizar and together with its fainter companion star Alcor they are known … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/noirlab2315a.jpg" alt="Gemini North Back On Sky With Dazzling Image of Supernova in the Pinwheel Galaxy"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/noirlab2315a/" aria-label="Gemini North Back On Sky With Dazzling Image of Supernova in the Pinwheel Galaxy"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">72.</span> Gemini North Back On Sky With Dazzling Image of Supernova in the Pinwheel Galaxy </div> <div class="top100-text"> Gemini North, part of the International Gemini Observatory operated by NSF NOIRLab, is back observing the night sky following the repair and refurbishment of its primary mirror. The telescope’s debut observation captured the supernova dubbed SN 2023ixf (lower left), which was discovered on 19 May by Japanese astronomer Koichi Itagaki. This dazzling point of light, the closest supernova seen in the past five years, is located along one of the spiral arms of the Pinwheel Galaxy (Messier 101). </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2319a.jpg" alt="Stellar Red Giant Above KPNO"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2319a/" aria-label="Stellar Red Giant Above KPNO"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">73.</span> Stellar Red Giant Above KPNO </div> <div class="top100-text"> The dynamic coloring of the night sky at Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), a Program of NSF NOIRLab, makes for a beautiful backdrop behind the UArizona Bok 2.3-meter Telescope. Distant city lights, cars, airglow, and the arc of the Milky Way all add to the variety of colors. Zodiacal light emanating from the horizon intersects with the Milky Way on the right hand side of the image.<br>One orange star at the center of this image stands out amongst the rest. This is the red supergiant Betelgeuse, a star that marks a ‘shoulder’ of the hunter constellation, Orion. Being a relatively … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2316a.jpg" alt="Nebular Harvest"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2316a/" aria-label="Nebular Harvest"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">74.</span> Nebular Harvest </div> <div class="top100-text"> Observing the night sky has never been so delightful as with this image of LBN 867, the Raspberry Nebula. Captured here by the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope using the Mosaic-3 detector at Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), a Program of NSF NOIRLab, this nebula is located in the constellation Orion. LBN 867’s overall structure, though, is more like an onion than a raspberry: it hosts three different celestial objects in one! The characteristic red bloom of LBN 867 is an emission nebula. It glows as a result of the ionization of hydrogen gas by the light from the star … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/NOIRLab-Front-Back-Cover.jpg" alt="NOIRLab’s current and potential future system"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/NOIRLab-Front-Back-Cover/" aria-label="NOIRLab’s current and potential future system"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">75.</span> NOIRLab’s current and potential future system </div> <div class="top100-text"> NOIRLab’s current and potential future system of observatories and data-driven exploration tools. For an annotated version go here. </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/noirlab2030b.jpg" alt="Deepest, widest view of the Small Magellanic Cloud from SMASH"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/noirlab2030b/" aria-label="Deepest, widest view of the Small Magellanic Cloud from SMASH"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">76.</span> Deepest, widest view of the Small Magellanic Cloud from SMASH </div> <div class="top100-text"> Part of the SMASH dataset showing what is arguably the best wide-angle view of the Small Magellanic Cloud to date. The Large and Small Magellanic Clouds are the largest satellite galaxies of the Milky Way and, unlike the rest of the satellite galaxies, are still actively forming stars — and at a rapid pace. </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2040a.jpg" alt="Galactic Waterfall"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2040a/" aria-label="Galactic Waterfall"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">77.</span> Galactic Waterfall </div> <div class="top100-text"> The Milky Way resembles a waterfall rushing down the colorful night sky above Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of NSF NOIRLab. The green-tinged light on the horizon is airglow, originating from the naturally occurring gases in Earth’s atmosphere. Airglow is present at all latitudes but is incredibly dim at visible wavelengths, making it difficult to spot with the naked eye but vivid and bright with long exposure photography. While the horizon softly glows with light, the skies above the telescopes remain awash with stars. </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2033a.jpg" alt="Trails Through the Night Sky"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2033a/" aria-label="Trails Through the Night Sky"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">78.</span> Trails Through the Night Sky </div> <div class="top100-text"> Although this appears to be a daytime scene, star trails circle and illuminate the night sky in this long-exposure photo of Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), a Program of NSF NOIRLab. The telescope visible at the highest peak is the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope and almost directly above it, at the center of the concentric star trails, sits the North Star, Polaris. As the Earth turns and the stars appear to move through the sky, Polaris remains stationary at the north celestial pole, our planet’s axis of rotation. The lights of Tucson, Arizona, glow yellow on the horizon about … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2031a.jpg" alt="Under the Dome"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2031a/" aria-label="Under the Dome"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">79.</span> Under the Dome </div> <div class="top100-text"> This image shows an immersive view from inside the dome of the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of NSF NOIRLab. The rotating dome is an impressive feat of engineering — designed to protect the delicate telescope from the elements. It weighs in at 430 tonnes (475 tons) and was built to withstand Chilean earthquakes. In addition to the Blanco’s dome, this photograph shows some of the equipment needed to run an astronomical observatory, ranging from calibration targets to good old-fashioned ladders! Glimpses of the mountains surrounding CTIO can be seen through … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/noirlab-ctio-4m-15m-8311-hstockebrand.jpg" alt="Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/noirlab-ctio-4m-15m-8311-hstockebrand/" aria-label="Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">80.</span> Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory </div> <div class="top100-text"> Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory. </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2029a.jpg" alt="Comet NEOWISE Over Gemini North"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2029a/" aria-label="Comet NEOWISE Over Gemini North"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">81.</span> Comet NEOWISE Over Gemini North </div> <div class="top100-text"> Comet NEOWISE — technically known as C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) — is visible in this spectacular image of the pre-dawn sky to the right (East) of the Gemini North telescope on Maunakea in Hawai‘i, one of the pair of telescopes of the international Gemini Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab. First discovered by the NEOWISE project using the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer space telescope in March 2020, the comet is a dirty snowball of gas, dust and ice roughly 5 km (3 miles) across. The curving golden tail of C/2020 F3 visible in this image is composed of gas and dust … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2028a.jpg" alt="Through the Camera Lens"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2028a/" aria-label="Through the Camera Lens"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">82.</span> Through the Camera Lens </div> <div class="top100-text"> Cameras allow us to see things which our eyes cannot! This atmospheric light painting was captured at Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), a Program of NSF NOIRLab. The composition is framed by an inky sky and the spectacular arch of the McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope serves as a backdrop. Light painting — where a moving light source is captured with a long camera exposure — has been practiced for well over a century. It has both scientific and artistic applications. NOIRLab’s Colors of Nature Summer Academy explores the science of color and the role color plays in art and nature. Colors … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2019a.jpg" alt="A (Galactic) Arm’s Length Away"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2019a/" aria-label="A (Galactic) Arm’s Length Away"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">83.</span> A (Galactic) Arm’s Length Away </div> <div class="top100-text"> The two galaxies in this image — NGC 672 (top right) and IC 1727 (bottom left) — appear to be so close that they are almost elbowing each other, like playful children. In fact, the galaxies shown in this beautifully detailed image taken at the Kitt Peak National Observatory, a program of NSF NOIRLab, are classified as a galactic pair, and the gravity of each galaxy influences the other. The pair are located around 20 million light-years away from Earth and the space between them spans over 80,000 light-years, a seemingly enormous gap. However, from the perspective of the galaxies … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/gemini0605a.jpg" alt="Nebula NGC 6164-5"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/gemini0605a/" aria-label="Nebula NGC 6164-5"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">84.</span> Nebula NGC 6164-5 </div> <div class="top100-text"> NGC 6164-5 imaged at Gemini South. The emission nebula NGC 6164-5 is a rectangular, bipolar cloud with rounded corners and a diagonal bar producing an inverted S-shaped appearance. It lies about 1,300 parsecs (4,200 light-years) away in the constellation Norma. The nebula measures about 1.3 parsecs (4.2 light-years) across, and contains gases ejected by the star HD 148937 at its heart. This star is 40 times more massive than the Sun, and at about three to four million years of age, is past the middle of its life span. Stars this massive usually live to be only about six million … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/gemini-20030314-dark-trails-01.jpg" alt="Star Trails Over Gemini North"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/gemini-20030314-dark-trails-01/" aria-label="Star Trails Over Gemini North"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">85.</span> Star Trails Over Gemini North </div> <div class="top100-text"> Approximately 2 hours of stacked exposures of the summer sky over Gemini North. The setting moon provided light on right of dome and twilight provides a glow to the left side of dome, a small red light provides highlight on center of dome. . A star field has been offset by about 30 minutes to show individual stars separated from trails revealing Scorpius and Sagittarius over the Gemini dome. </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2405a.jpg" alt="Masked in Shadows"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2405a/" aria-label="Masked in Shadows"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">86.</span> Masked in Shadows </div> <div class="top100-text"> Gently rising above the horizon the Moon emerges, thinly veiled in the colors of Earth’s atmosphere. Although not apparent at first, a lunar eclipse is in the works; as the Moon glides “behind” the Earth, the Sun casts the shadow of Earth on the lunar surface. A lunar eclipse can last for several hours, and can be seen from anywhere on Earth where the Moon is above the horizon. This image was captured on 20 January 2019 from a high mountainous perch where Gemini North, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, operated by NSF NOIRLab, is located in Hawai‘i. … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2351a.jpg" alt="Lighting the Way"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2351a/" aria-label="Lighting the Way"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">87.</span> Lighting the Way </div> <div class="top100-text"> It’s a snowy evening near the summit of Maunakea, Hawai‘i. One would expect traversing a dark, snowy mountaintop to be frightening, but the photographer here reveals a different perspective. With the clever use of a long exposure, the summit is vividly illuminated by a wide array of light, showing several telescopes. Gemini North, half of the International Gemini Observatory, operated by NSF NOIRLab, is situated at the center of the image. Long exposure times captures light streaks of passing vehicles, like the backlights of a car tracing the road leading to the summit, and the effect of Earth’s rotation, revealed … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/noirlab2325a.jpg" alt="NGC 3923"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/noirlab2325a/" aria-label="NGC 3923"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">88.</span> NGC 3923 </div> <div class="top100-text"> The symmetrical, onion-like layers of shell galaxy NGC 3923 are showcased in this galaxy-rich image (zoom in here!) taken by the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Dark Energy Camera mounted on the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, a Program of NSF NOIRLab. A nearby, massive galaxy cluster is also captured exhibiting the phenomenon known as gravitational lensing. </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/noirlab2321a.jpg" alt="Cropped View of Galaxies in Lopsided Tug of War"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/noirlab2321a/" aria-label="Cropped View of Galaxies in Lopsided Tug of War"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">89.</span> Cropped View of Galaxies in Lopsided Tug of War </div> <div class="top100-text"> The spiral galaxy NGC 1532, also known as Haley’s Coronet, is caught in a lopsided tug of war with its smaller neighbor, the dwarf galaxy NGC 1531. The image — taken by the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Dark Energy Camera mounted on the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, a Program of NSF NOIRLab — captures the mutual gravitational influences of a massive- and dwarf-galaxy merger. </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2326a.jpg" alt="Testing Gemini’s Super-Laser"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2326a/" aria-label="Testing Gemini’s Super-Laser"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">90.</span> Testing Gemini’s Super-Laser </div> <div class="top100-text"> This image shows Gemini North, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, operated by NSF NOIRLab, using a yellow-colored laser beam to adjust its adaptive optics system during commissioning in 2016. This laser emanates from the middle of the telescope and travels through Earth’s atmosphere. It excites traces of sodium 90 kilometers (50 miles) up in Earth’s upper atmosphere so that the system can measure the atmospheric turbulence. The telescope’s individual instruments then use a system of deformable mirrors to compensate for the effect of the turbulence and achieve sharp images of stars, planets, and galaxies at resolutions that rival … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/Pachon_VRubin_Dusk_2-CC.jpg" alt="Sunset at Rubin Observatory"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/Pachon_VRubin_Dusk_2-CC/" aria-label="Sunset at Rubin Observatory"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">91.</span> Sunset at Rubin Observatory </div> <div class="top100-text"> Sunset at Rubin Observatory on Cerro Pachón in Chile. </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/Pachon_Tololo_from_Pachon-CC.jpg" alt="Sunset at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/Pachon_Tololo_from_Pachon-CC/" aria-label="Sunset at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">92.</span> Sunset at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory </div> <div class="top100-text"> Sunset at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory as seen from Cerro Pachón. </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2324a.jpg" alt="Red Bloom above Cerro Tololo"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2324a/" aria-label="Red Bloom above Cerro Tololo"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">93.</span> Red Bloom above Cerro Tololo </div> <div class="top100-text"> Below the southern skies, the telescopes of Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of NSF NOIRLab, bask in the starlight of the brilliant Milky Way. Speckled with multi-colored stars, our home galaxy in this image stretches down into the city-lit horizon, just grazing past the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope (left) and SMARTS 1.5-meter Telescope (right). The Small and Large Magellanic Clouds that accompany our home galaxy are seen to the left of the Blanco telescope. In between the telescopes blooms a deep shade of red that permeates through the tendrils of the Milky Way. This is the Gum … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/noirlab2313a.jpg" alt="Reflection Nebula Bernes 149 in Dark Cloud Lupus 3"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/noirlab2313a/" aria-label="Reflection Nebula Bernes 149 in Dark Cloud Lupus 3"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">94.</span> Reflection Nebula Bernes 149 in Dark Cloud Lupus 3 </div> <div class="top100-text"> The two young, low-mass proto-stars HR 5999 and HR 6000 illuminate nearby dust, creating the reflection nebula Bernes 149. These stars grew out of the dusty dark cloud of Lupus 3, part of a larger complex of as many as nine dark clouds. </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/noirlab2308a.jpg" alt="‘Taffy Galaxies’ Collide, Leave Behind Bridge of Star-Forming Material"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/noirlab2308a/" aria-label="‘Taffy Galaxies’ Collide, Leave Behind Bridge of Star-Forming Material"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">95.</span> ‘Taffy Galaxies’ Collide, Leave Behind Bridge of Star-Forming Material </div> <div class="top100-text"> The Gemini North telescope, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, operated by NSF NOIRLab, captured this dazzling image of the so-called Taffy Galaxies — UGC 12914 and UGC 12915. Their twisted appearance is the result of a head-on collision that occurred about 25 million years prior to their appearance in this image. A bridge of highly turbulent gas devoid of significant star formation spans the gap between the two galaxies. </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2304a.jpg" alt="High, Dry and Covered in Snow"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2304a/" aria-label="High, Dry and Covered in Snow"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">96.</span> High, Dry and Covered in Snow </div> <div class="top100-text"> Maunakea, one of the volcanoes constituting the island of Hawai‘i, is an inactive shield volcano and one of the tallest mountains on Earth at an elevation of 4205 meters (13,786 feet). It’s home to Gemini North, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, operated by NSF NOIRLab. The summit of Maunakea makes for a fantastic astronomical observing location thanks to its high altitude, low humidity, and position far from and above most city lights. It’s also located above the tropical cloud cover that can obscure the view of the night sky around much of the rest of the island.<br>The barren … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2246a.jpg" alt="Beginning to End of a Total Lunar Eclipse"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2246a/" aria-label="Beginning to End of a Total Lunar Eclipse"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">97.</span> Beginning to End of a Total Lunar Eclipse </div> <div class="top100-text"> This still image combines hundreds of time-lapse exposures that capture the entirety of the 8 November 2022 total lunar eclipse above the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab. Lunar eclipses occur when the Moon passes through the shadow of Earth. During a total lunar eclipse, when the whole Moon enters Earth’s shadow, our natural satellite is drenched in red. The period of totality is evident in this image by the red at the center of the lunar light ‘string.’ The other long streaks of light in the night sky are stars. … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2245a.jpg" alt="Double Trouble Total Lunar Eclipse"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2245a/" aria-label="Double Trouble Total Lunar Eclipse"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">98.</span> Double Trouble Total Lunar Eclipse </div> <div class="top100-text"> Next to the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab, a total lunar eclipse crawls across the desert sky in the early morning hours of yesterday in this week’s Image of the Week. The Milky Way, dotted by star-forming regions, arches over the telescope (explore in the zoomable image).<br>This year, the typical two annual lunar eclipses were both total, something which hasn’t happened since 2018. You can see the other 2022 total lunar eclipse above Cerro Tololo International Observatory, another Program of NSF NOIRLab, in the Image of the Week here and … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2238a.jpg" alt="Gemini North and Its Roommates"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2238a/" aria-label="Gemini North and Its Roommates"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">99.</span> Gemini North and Its Roommates </div> <div class="top100-text"> Gemini North, one the telescopes of the International Gemini Observatory, is pictured against a pastel sky along with three fellow telescopes near the summit of Maunakea in Hawai‘i. Gemini Observatory, which is operated by NSF NOIRLab, consists of twin telescopes, one in each of two of the world’s best sites for ground-based astronomy: Gemini North atop Maunakea in Hawai‘i and Gemini South on Cerro Pachón in Chile. The pristine observing conditions at Maunakea mean that Gemini North shares its site with more than a dozen other telescopes. This image shows the silver-clad dome of Gemini North flanked by the Canada-France-Hawaii … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="slide"> <div class="img-wrapper"> <img draggable="false" data-lazy="/public/media/archives/images/wallpaper2/iotw2237a.jpg" alt="Sunset at Kitt Peak"> <button aria-label="View fullscreen" class="fullscreen" onclick="top100Fullscreen()">Fullscreen <span class="fa fa-arrows-alt"></span> </button> <div class="top100-description"> <a href="/public/images/iotw2237a/" aria-label="Sunset at Kitt Peak"> <div class="top100-title"> <span class="number">100.</span> Sunset at Kitt Peak </div> <div class="top100-text"> At Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), a Program of NSF NOIRLab located near Tucson, Arizona, it’s unusual to have a cloudy night like this Image of the Week. The high desert climate and mountaintop location make it a great environment for world-class scientific research. The 19 research telescopes on the peak experience over 300 clear nights a year, allowing near year-round observing opportunities. This is great for the many exciting projects at KPNO. For example, the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), led by the US Department of Energy, is acquiring the spectra of tens of millions of galaxies and quasars … </div> </a> </div> </div> </div>  </div>  </div>  <div class="copyright"> <a href="/public/copyright/">Usage of NOIRLab Images and Videos</a><br /> <a href="/public/subscribe-media/">Are you a journalist? 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