NASA images: 6 astonishing photos offering glimpse of the wonders of Universe

Astronomers say the total amount of matter in the Universe is around 30 times more than what we can see with telescopes. The Universe is filled with mysterious objects that humans have yet to discover. As space agencies like NASA, ESA, ISRO strive to uncover the hidden secrets of the Universe, take a look at the top five images shared by NASA of celestial bodies in space.

NASA IMAGES

The Bubble Nebula is about 7,100 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cassiopeia. It was discovered in 1787 by British astronomer William Herschel; the star is about 4 million years old and is about 45 times more massive than our Sun.

Mercury, the closest planet to the Sun, continues to showcase extremely high temperatures. The image provides a colour base map of Mercury's surface. The image was provided by the Space Environment, Geochemistry and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft, the first to orbit the planet.⁣

⁣The view provides a significant distinction on the planet's surface to show chemical, mineralogical, and physical distinctions on Mercury’s surface.

The sparkling lights captured in the photo originate from different stars and other sources. The image captured by NASA Hubble shows a glittering star 10 times more massive than our Sun, located 6,500 light-years away.

Bright southern hemisphere star RS Puppis is swaddled in a gossamer cocoon of reflective dust.⁣

The image of supernova remnant Cassiopeia A (Cas A) appears like a shiny ornament you may find at most of the houses. The image was captured by James Webb Telescope, a power telescope of NASA that can detect the tiniest knots of sulfur, oxygen, argon and neon gas from the star.

Embedded in the gas are dust and molecules that will eventually become part of new stars and planets.

NASA's Hubble telescope captured a unique galaxy, which is located around 17 million light years away from Earth. The galaxy, located in the constellation Coma Berenices, is known as the “Evil Eye, with sweeping bands of cosmic dust”.⁣

The galaxy was discovered in 1799, astronomers know this galaxy by its peculiar internal motion. The gas in the inner and outer regions move in opposite directions, which may be due to a recent galactic merger.

The image of NGC 3603 nebula has been captured by NASA Hubble Space Telescope. The nebula is a prominent star-forming region in the Carina spiral arm of Milky Way galaxy.⁣ This nebula was first discovered by Sir John Herschel in 1834.