Out of this world: Nasa releases incredible images of outer space

The compilation gives examples of images from different missions and telescopes being combined to better understand the science of the universe

Helix Nebula is a phase when a star like the Sun runs out of fuel, it expands and its outer layers puff off, and then the core of the star shrinks. All photos: Nasa

This Cartwheel Galaxy resembles a bull's eye, which is appropriate because its appearance is partly due to a smaller galaxy that passed through the middle of this object.

On February 24, 1987, observers in the southern hemisphere saw a new object in a nearby galaxy called the Large Magellanic Cloud. This was one of the brightest supernova explosions in centuries and soon became known as Supernova 1987A.

Messier 82, or M82, is a galaxy that is oriented edge-on to Earth. This gives astronomers an interesting view of what happens as this galaxy undergoes bursts of star formations.

Galaxy clusters are the largest objects in the universe held together by gravity. They contain enormous amounts of superheated gas, with temperatures of tens of millions of degrees, which glow brightly in X-rays and can be observed across millions of light years between galaxies.

What will be the next star in our Milky Way galaxy to explode as a supernova? Astronomers aren't certain, but one candidate is in Eta Carinae, a volatile system containing two massive stars that closely orbit each other.

Nasa has released a set of images that reveal the full beauty of the universe.

The images from different missions and telescopes, including the Chandra X-ray Observatory, were combined to better understand the science of the universe.

"Various types of objects are shown (galaxies, supernova remnants, stars, planetary nebulas), but together they demonstrate the possibilities when data from across the electromagnetic spectrum are assembled," it said on its website.

Chandra X-ray Observatory is a telescope specially designed to detect X-ray emission from very hot regions of the Universe. It was launched aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia on July 23, 1999.

The series of images feature the galaxy Messier 82, the galaxy cluster Abell 2744, the supernova remnant 1987A, the binary star system Eta Carinae, the Cartwheel galaxy, and the planetary nebula Helix Nebula