Deep Sky Postcards

Nebulas and galaxies from the Hubble and James Webb space telescopes, ready to print and send.

The pictures are from the Deep Sky Gallery: NASA releases, in the public domain, with each team credited on the back as NASA asks (NGC 2623 is an ESA/Hubble picture, shared under CC BY 4.0). Each picture fills the whole front, so the edges of the wider ones are trimmed; the dark skies use a good deal of ink. “Print postcard” makes real postcards: the picture on one side and a postcard back on the other, with what the picture shows and room for a message, an address and a stamp.

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The Crab Nebula by James Webb Space Telescope — The Crab Nebula James Webb Space Telescope, 2023 NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Tea Temim (Princeton University); image processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI) The remains of an exploded star in infrared: red-orange filaments of sulfur gas, yellow-white and green ridges of dust, a milky glow, and at the centre the bright, fast-spinning neutron star. Public domain, via NASA

The Sombrero Galaxy (M104) by James Webb Space Telescope — The Sombrero Galaxy (M104) James Webb Space Telescope, 2024 NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Hubble Heritage Project (STScI, AURA) A spiral galaxy seen almost edge-on, in mid-infrared light: Webb sees past the glow of its central bulge of stars to a smooth inner disk, inside the clumpy dust of the outer ring. Public domain, via NASA

NGC 346 by James Webb Space Telescope — NGC 346 James Webb Space Telescope, 2024 NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Olivia C. Jones (UK ATC), Guido De Marchi (ESTEC), Margaret Meixner (USRA), Antonella Nota (ESA) A massive cluster of young stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud, a small galaxy next to ours. In infrared, Webb sees through the clouds of gas to more of the cluster’s structure. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Arp 142, the Penguin and the Egg by James Webb Space Telescope — Arp 142, the Penguin and the Egg James Webb Space Telescope, 2024 NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI The Penguin and the Egg, two galaxies in the middle of an encounter, in near-infrared light. A faint bridge of stars, gas and dust joins the pair, and many more distant galaxies shine behind them. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

NGC 695 by Hubble Space Telescope — NGC 695 Hubble Space Telescope, 2008 NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration, and A. Evans (University of Virginia, Charlottesville/NRAO/Stony Brook University) A disturbed spiral galaxy, seen face-on, with loosely wound arms and knots of new stars tangled in dust and gas. NASA likens it to a revolving tornado. A small companion galaxy, just outside the picture, is tugging at it. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

NGC 2392, the Lion Nebula by James Webb Space Telescope — NGC 2392, the Lion Nebula James Webb Space Telescope, 2026 NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; image processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI) The glowing remains of a dying, Sun-like star, first spotted by William Herschel in 1787. Webb's team calls it the Lion Nebula: the white dwarf at the centre is the lion's nose, a bubble of hot gas and dust makes the face, and a shell of dust with comet-like tufts makes the mane. Public domain, via NASA

NGC 2623 by Hubble Space Telescope — NGC 2623 Hubble Space Telescope, 2017 ESA/Hubble & NASA Two galaxies that collided and are merging into one, leaving sweeping tails of stars, gas and dust about 50,000 light-years from end to end. The bright blue patches are clusters of newborn stars. NASA notes that the Milky Way may one day look like this, after it meets the Andromeda Galaxy. CC BY 4.0, via NASA

M66 (NGC 3627) by Hubble Space Telescope — M66 (NGC 3627) Hubble Space Telescope, 2024 NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Janice Lee (STScI), Thomas Williams (Oxford), PHANGS Team Hubble's view for the PHANGS survey of nearby galaxies: dark brown lanes of dust follow the spiral arms, young stars shine blue and purple, and older stars give the centre a yellow glow. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The jet of M87 by Hubble Space Telescope — The jet of M87 Hubble Space Telescope, 2000 NASA and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) A jet of subatomic particles, shot out at nearly the speed of light by the black hole at the heart of the giant galaxy M87, seen here by Hubble in ultraviolet, blue, green and infrared light. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

NGC 5793 by Hubble Space Telescope — NGC 5793 Hubble Space Telescope, 2014 NASA, ESA, and E. Perlman (Florida Institute of Technology) A spiral galaxy with a striking dust lane and an unusually bright centre. It's a Seyfert galaxy: the light at its heart is thought to come from a supermassive black hole pulling in gas and dust. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Cat's Paw Nebula (NGC 6334) by James Webb Space Telescope — The Cat's Paw Nebula (NGC 6334) James Webb Space Telescope, 2025 NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI A close look at one "toe bean" of a huge star-forming cloud, made for Webb's third anniversary. Massive young stars are carving away the gas and dust around them; their light makes the blue glow. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Lagoon Nebula by Hubble Space Telescope — The Lagoon Nebula Hubble Space Telescope, 2018 NASA, ESA, and STScI The heart of a vast stellar nursery, photographed for Hubble's 28th anniversary. The young giant star Herschel 36, about 200,000 times brighter than the Sun, is blasting out radiation and winds that carve ridges and caves in the gas and dust. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Hickson Compact Group 87 by Hubble Space Telescope — Hickson Compact Group 87 Hubble Space Telescope, 1999 The Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI/NASA) Four galaxies bound together by gravity, slowly circling one another over hundreds of millions of years. Visitors to the Hubble Heritage website chose it for Hubble to photograph. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Helix Nebula (NGC 7293) by Hubble Space Telescope — The Helix Nebula (NGC 7293) Hubble Space Telescope, 2004 NASA, ESA, C.R. O'Dell (Vanderbilt University), M. Meixner and P. McCullough (STScI) The gas thrown off by a dying star. The picture joins Hubble's close-up detail with a wider view from the 4-metre telescope at Cerro Tololo, Chile. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

M74 (NGC 628) by Hubble Space Telescope — M74 (NGC 628) Hubble Space Telescope, 2024 NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Janice Lee (STScI), Thomas Williams (Oxford), PHANGS Team A spiral galaxy seen face-on, in Hubble's view for the PHANGS survey. Dust lanes wind along the arms, and the pink knots are regions where hot young stars light up hydrogen gas. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons