JCC Awesome Photographs/Pictures (Cite your Sources as per OP)

https://www.deviantart.com/siamesesam/art/Coolant-327535221

 

https://www.deviantart.com/gaston3-italia/art/Sunset-Light-756248779

 

NGC 253: The Sculptor Galaxy
Image Credit & Copyright: Angus Lau

Explanation: NGC 253 is not only one of the brightest spiral galaxies visible, it is also one of the dustiest. Discovered in 1783 by Caroline Herschel in the constellation of Sculptor, NGC 253 lies only about ten million light-years distant. NGC 253 is the largest member of the Sculptor Group of Galaxies, the nearest group to our own Local Group of Galaxies. The dense dark dust accompanies a high star formation rate, giving NGC 253 the designation of starburst galaxy. Visible in the above photograph is the active central nucleus, also known to be a bright source of X-rays and gamma rays.

 

https://www.deviantart.com/organicvision/art/Setting-Tree-949567980

 

https://www.deviantart.com/thefirebomb/art/Piano-737807193

 

https://www.deviantart.com/kennywasafk/art/Fox-Shrine-538721305

 

The Medulla Nebula Supernova Remnant
Image Credit & Copyright: Russell Croman

Explanation: What powers this unusual nebula? CTB-1 is the expanding gas shell that was left when a massive star toward the constellation of Cassiopeia exploded about 10,000 years ago. The star likely detonated when it ran out of elements, near its core, that could create stabilizing pressure with nuclear fusion. The resulting supernova remnant, nicknamed the Medulla Nebula for its brain-like shape, still glows in visible light by the heat generated by its collision with confining interstellar gas. Why the nebula also glows in X-ray light, though, remains a mystery. One hypothesis holds that an energetic pulsar was co-created that powers the nebula with a fast outwardly moving wind. Following this lead, a pulsar has recently been found in radio waves that appears to have been expelled by the supernova explosion at over 1000 kilometers per second. Although the Medulla Nebula appears as large as a full moon, it is so faint that it took 130-hours of exposure with two small telescopes in New Mexico, USA, to create the featured image.

 

https://www.deviantart.com/mahafsoun/art/Stock-Gothic-Fantasy-Forest-Black-495710005

 

https://www.deviantart.com/isischneider/art/yellow-cab-415190232

 

https://www.deviantart.com/aquilina108/art/Costume-Melian-659158830

 

https://www.deviantart.com/drdrum666/art/Golden-silhouette-406221086

 

Seeing Titan
Image Credit: VIMS Team, U. Arizona, U. Nantes, ESA, NASA

Explanation: Shrouded in a thick atmosphere, Saturn's largest moon Titan really is hard to see. Small particles suspended in the upper atmosphere cause an almost impenetrable haze, strongly scattering light at visible wavelengths and hiding Titan's surface features from prying eyes. But Titan's surface is better imaged at infrared wavelengths where scattering is weaker and atmospheric absorption is reduced. Arrayed around this visible light image (center) of Titan are some of the clearest global infrared views of the tantalizing moon so far. In false color, the six panels present a consistent processing of 13 years of infrared image data from the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) on board the Cassini spacecraft orbiting Saturn from 2004 to 2017. They offer a stunning comparison with Cassini's visible light view. NASA's revolutionary rotorcraft mission to Titan is due to launch in 2027.

 

A towering basalt column cliff backs-up the volcanic black sand beach of Reynisfjara in Iceland, against a glowing sunrise sky.

https://www.deviantart.com/coigach/art/DAWN-OVER-REYNISFJARA-945299593

 

https://www.deviantart.com/acrylicdreams/art/Glass-sphere-on-moss-at-a-lake-792947464

 

https://www.deviantart.com/erdbeerstern/art/Where-the-sun-never-shines-954951499

 

https://www.deviantart.com/iomasaty/art/Once-upon-a-dream-488006154

 

"An image shows snailfish swimming around a baited camera more than 27,000 feet below the surface in the Izu-Ogasawara Trench off the coast of Japan"

from www.npr.org/2023/04/05/1168051498/deepest-fish-japan-photograph

 

NGC 206 and the Star Clouds of Andromeda
Image Credit & Copyright: Howard Trottier

Explanation: The large stellar association cataloged as NGC 206 is nestled within the dusty arms of the neighboring Andromeda galaxy along with the galaxy's pinkish star-forming regions. Also known as M31, the spiral galaxy is a mere 2.5 million light-years away. NGC 206 is found right of center in this sharp and detailed close-up of the southwestern extent of Andromeda's disk. The bright, blue stars of NGC 206 indicate its youth. In fact, its youngest massive stars are less than 10 million years old. Much larger than the open or galactic clusters of young stars in the diskNGC 206 spans about 4,000 light-years. That's comparable in size to the giant stellar nurseries NGC 604 in nearby spiral M33 and the Tarantula Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud.

 

https://www.deviantart.com/oldhobophotos/art/Views-957728345

 

Portrait of NGC 3628
Image Credit: Image Credit & Copyright: Mike Selby & Mark Hanson

Explanation: Sharp telescopic views of NGC 3628 show a puffy galactic disk divided by dark dust lanes. Of course, this portrait of the magnificent, edge-on spiral galaxy puts some astronomers in mind of its popular moniker, the Hamburger Galaxy. It also reveals a small galaxy nearby (below), likely a satellite of NGC 3628, and a very faint but extensive tidal tail. The drawn out tail stretches for about 300,000 light-years, even beyond the left edge of the frame. NGC 3628 shares its neighborhood in the local universe with two other large spirals M65 and M66 in a grouping otherwise known as the Leo Triplet. Gravitational interactions with its cosmic neighbors are likely responsible for creating the tidal tail, as well as the extended flare and warp of this spiral's disk. The tantalizing island universe itself is about 100,000 light-years across and 35 million light-years away in the northern springtime constellation Leo.

 

https://www.deviantart.com/redmphotography/art/St-Andrews-945171789

 

https://www.deviantart.com/red-draken/art/Queen-Savra-530987914

 

https://www.deviantart.com/mjagiellicz/art/Abandoned-surgical-hospital-376310281

 

https://www.deviantart.com/la-esmeralda-stock/art/276-474823849