LUME GRAVITY STARS & GALAXIES
Hubble view of the Whirlpool Galaxy and its smaller companion

ATLAS / GALAXIES

Not just
points of light.

Beyond our own Milky Way, whole worlds of stars take shape, meet, and change. Five real observations. Five ways to see a galaxy differently.Enter the first galaxy ↓
Hubble image · NASA, ESA, S. Beckwith (STScI), and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

01—05 / AN OBSERVATIONAL JOURNEY

Look closer. Then look again.

These are telescope observations assembled and processed from measured light, not imaginary views. The colours and framing help reveal physical structures; the original record stays one tap away.The movement as you scroll adds depth; it does not show the galaxies moving in real time.

01 / SPIRAL · M51

The Whirlpool

A spiral with a companion.

Its sweeping arms are lanes of stars, gas and dust. The smaller galaxy NGC 5195 passes behind it; their gravitational encounter helps drive waves through the disk and compresses gas into new stars.

View Hubble’s original image and context
HUBBLE · VISIBLE LIGHT · IMAGE CREDIT ABOVE
Hubble mosaic of the Sombrero Galaxy showing its luminous bulge and dark dust lane
ONE GALAXY · TWO VIEWS
HUBBLE · VISIBLE LIGHT MOSAICESA/Hubble & NASA, K. Noll

02 / NEARLY EDGE-ON · M104

The Sombrero

Turn a galaxy on its side.

Hubble's visible-light mosaic reveals the extended glow of the central bulge. Switch to Webb's mid-infrared view and the smooth inner disk and clumpy dust ring emerge differently. These are two ways of observing the same galaxy, not a time sequence.

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The Antennae as observed by Hubble
HUBBLE · VISIBLE + NEAR-INFRAREDESA/Hubble & NASA

03 / MERGING PAIR · NGC 4038/4039

The Antennae

Two galaxies, one upheaval.

These once-separate spirals are merging. Pink gas and bright blue clusters mark vigorous star formation. The long tidal tails that give the pair its name extend beyond this close Hubble view.

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Webb infrared composite of the Cartwheel Galaxy and nearby companions
ONE GALAXY · TWO VIEWS
WEBB · NEAR + MID-INFRAREDNASA, ESA, CSA, STScI

04 / RING GALAXY · ESO 350-40

The Cartwheel

A collision drew a ring.

A high-speed encounter sent expanding rings through a former spiral. Switch between Hubble's optical and near-infrared view and Webb's near- and mid-infrared composite. The contrast comes from different wavelengths and processing, not a time sequence; their colours are not what unaided eyes would see.

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Stephan’s Quintet as observed by Webb
WEBB · NEAR + MID-INFRARED MOSAICNASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI

05 / GALAXY GROUP · HCG 92

Stephan’s Quintet

Five galaxies in view; four interacting.

The leftmost galaxy is much nearer to us than the other four. Among the interacting members, Webb reveals star-forming regions, stripped material and a shock wave as one galaxy moves through the group.

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THE VIEW KEEPS OPENING

Continue exploring galaxies.

Begin at home · The Milky Way Follow the light farther
Images: ESA/Hubble and ESA/Webb, each linked to its original record with the complete image credit. Different instruments and wavelengths are not presented as natural-eye colour. Image sizes and distances are not to scale.