Dr.Junichi Watanabe (Director of Public Relations Center national Astronomical Observatory of Japan) gives explanations on his chosen images for the Space Poem Chain Gallery.

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Flames of the Universe as captured by ESO's(European Southern Observatory ) VISTA telescope
This image, from ESO's(European Southern Observatory ) VISTA telescope in Chile, shows NGC 2024 in the constellation of Orion. The VISTA (Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy) is a 4-m class wide-field survey telescope. The image was created from VISTA images taken through J, H and Ks filters in the near-infrared part of the spectrum. NGC 2024 is known as the Flame Nebula from its shape. The near-infrared part of the spectrum penetrates the atmosphere very well and makes it possible to observe the details at the center of the nebula, which is thick with gases and dusts. The image also shows NGC2023 (in the bottom center), and the Horsehead Nebula (on the bottom right).

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NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope captures the heart of the Lagoon Nebula
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image reveals the heart of the Lagoon Nebula (M8) in the constellation of Sagittarius (the Archer). The close-up image of the lagoon-shaped dust lane, from which the nebula takes its name, reveals a strange pattern of warped gas that resembles paint swirling on the surface of water. Within this giant nebula that stretches across 100 light years, new stars are being born even now.

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NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope touches Supernova 1987A
The remains left by supernova 1987A when it exploded in 1987 in the Large Magellanic Cloud. A shock wave unleashed by the stellar blast is slamming into a ring of matter emitted from the star approximately 20,000 years ago, before it exploded, heating up the ring and making it glow.

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Star formation region R2 in the constellation of Monoceros (the Unicorn) as captured by ESO's (European Southern Observatory ) VISTA survey telescope
An image of the star formation region Monoceros R2 as captured by the 4 meter class VISTA survey infrared telescope at ESO’s Paranal Observatory in Chile. This dark nebula is located some 2700 light-years away from the earth. The high penetration of the infrared waves has revealed that the center region of the nebula, almost unseen by visible light waves, is shining due to newly born high-mass stars.

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Spiral galaxy M81 and its halo from NAOJ’s Subaru Telescope
This image shows spiral galaxy M81 and its halo, 12 million light years away from earth, as captured by the Subaru Prime Focus Camera. The galaxy, which is located in Ursa Major, is popular with amateur astronomers. The Subaru Prime Focus Camera works excellently to catch the faint, almost invisible, structure of the halo surrounding the galaxy, as well as the galaxy's beautiful spirals. The observation has led to a new finding, that stars in the halo contain more heavy metals than the halo inside the galaxy.

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NGC1365, Barred Spiral Galaxy, from ESO’s 8m Class VLT Telescope in Chile
NGC1365 lies in the Fornax cluster of galaxies, about 60 million light-years from Earth. You can discern a barred structure stretching from east to west, with arms extending from the north and south ends. This image was created by combining several different near-infrared wavelength images.

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The Cat's Paw Nebula
This image shows an infrared view of the star forming region called the Cat’s Paw Nebula (NGC 6334) in Scorpius, taken by ESO's 4.1m class VISTA telescope in Chili. The NGC 6334 is about 5500 light-years from Earth　The characteristics shape of the nebula, which resembles the pawprint of a cosmic cat, is thought to be the result of an explosion of stars or strong solar winds. In the visible wavelength image of the nebula, brilliant clouds of hydrogen gas are visible, but the infrared image reveals the world behind those clouds.

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Introducing Comet Hartley 2
Comet Hartley 2 can be seen in glorious detail in this image from NASA's EPOXI mission. It was taken as the spacecraft flew by around 6:59 a.m. PDT (9:59 a.m. EDT), from a distance of about 700 kilometers (435 miles). The comet's nucleus, or main body, is approximately 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) long and .4 kilometers (.25 miles) at the "neck," or most narrow portion. Jets can be seen streaming out of the nucleus.
The mission's Medium-Resolution Instrument was used to capture this view. The sun is to the right.

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Atoms-for-Peace
The strange nebula NGC7352, which is in the constellation Aquarius, as captured by a 2.2-metre telescope at ESO's La Silla Observatory in Chile. In this nebula, called Arp226 or "Atoms-for-Peace," two galaxies are colliding with each other. You can see the arms of stars emerging from the cotton candy shape of the center due to the tidal force of the collision.

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Beautiful Nebula Captured by Hubble Telescope
This image shows HD44179 in the Monoceros constellation, and its surrounding nebulas. Scientists believe that the two fixed stars in the center region each rotate once every 10 months and one of them is dying and emitting gas and debris intermittently. The emitted gas forms debris, reflecting the red light from stars. Thousands of years from now the core of the nebula will be naked and the nebula will shine even more brilliantly.

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Full of Stars
NGC 290 in the Small Magellanic Cloud as captured by the Hubble Telescope. You can see a myriad of stars shining in different colors, like jewels. The nebula, approximately 200 thousand light years away from the earth, is newly born, and its size is approximately 65 light years across.

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"Stephan's Quintet"
Stephan's Quintet, one of the compact galaxy groups in the constellation Pegasus, as captured by the Hubble Telescope. The closely spaced galaxies affect each other so strongly that stars are violently generated inside them and some of their star clusters are stretched almost like arms by the ebb and flow of gravitational forces. The galaxy at the upper left is not actually a member of the quintet, because it is approximately 40 million light years distant from the earth while the others are approximately 200 to 300 million light years distant from the earth.

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"The Horsehead Nebula"
A dark nebula in the constellation of Orion was captured by ESO’s 8m Class VLT Telescope in Chile. It is known as the Horsehead Nebula because of its shape. In the background there is a bright diffuse nebula illuminated by young stars, but because of the relatively dense gas and dust clouds that prevent light from passing through, the Nebula's shape seems to float up out of the darkness like a silhouette.

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"A Leonids meteor shower on November 19, 2001"
A Leonids meteor shower on November 19, 2001, photographed from Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. More than 1000 shooting stars appeared in a single hour, emerging radially from the Leonids. The photo was synthesized from three different 10 minute-exposure photos.

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"Bubble in dark space"
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope　has captured SNR 0509-67.5, a supernova remnant in the Large Magellanic Cloud. It is located 160 thousands light years away from the earth. Matter blown away by the Supernova explosion is expanding at a speed of more than five thousand kilometers per second, drawing interstellar matter in along the way. The almost invisible shadow on the bubble's surface may be caused by the density distribution of the interstellar matter or the supernova remnant itself.

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"Stars Over the Subaru Telescope"
Haloing the Subaru Telescope on the summit of Hawaii's Mauna Kea, this time-exposure photo captures the trails of the stars across the night sky. A panoply of digital imaging techniques were used to create this work from the data of a three-hour exposure.

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"The Sun Seen in Ultraviolet Light"
This image, taken by the U.S. satellite Solar Dynamics Observatory, combines data from three wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet light, providing a view of the sun’s structure that is normally invisible. The light portions show active regions with strong magnetic fields and high temperatures. The purplish filament stretching across the image is lower-temperature gases suspended in the magnetic field of the solar surface.

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"Lagoon Nebula"
This image of the central part of M8 (the Lagoon Nebula) was taken in the infrared by the 4.1-meter Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) operated by the European Southern Observatory in Chile. The Lagoon Nebula, located 4,000-5,000 light years away in the constellation of Sagittarius, appears as a red cloud in the visible spectrum due to emissions of hydrogen gas. This composite image provides a better view of the interior structure by using three infrared wavelengths-shown as shades of visible light-to peer into the clouds of gas.

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"An Unusual Spiral Galaxy"
This picture of the spiral galaxy NGC 3621 was captured through the 2.2-meter telescope at the European Southern Observatory in Chile. Located 22 million light years away in the constellation of Hydra, NGC 3621 is an extremely rare example of a galaxy that lacks a central bulge. Astronomers believe that galaxies form a central bulge as they grow through collisions and mergers with other galaxies.

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"A Rose in the Universe"
NASA's Wide-field Infrared Explorer (WISE) space telescope took this picture of the Rosette nebula within the constellation of Monoceros. This diffuse nebula (known by astronomers as an H II region) is located 4,500-5,000 light years away. A cluster of newly formed stars in the center emits light and stellar wind, pushing away the surrounding hydrogen gas and making it glow. This composite image was created by assigning different shades, ranging from blue to red, to infrared light with wavelengths from 3 to 22 microns.

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"By the Blue Light of Newly Born Stars"
The reflection nebula M78, in the constellation of Orion, is captured here by the Wide Field Imager camera on the 2.2-m telescope of the European Southern Observatory in Chile. Located 1,350 light years away, it is famous in Japan as the birthplace of the superhero Ultraman. A thick band of dust obscures the nebula, which is lit up by the blue light of newly born stars. The color image was created by combining exposures taken with four different filters.

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"A Black Hole"
This is the active galaxy Centaurus A, well known as a strong source of radio emissions. For this image, data in visible light taken by the Wide Field Imager (WFI) on the 2.2-m telescope located at the European Southern Observatory in Chile were combined with submillimeter-wavelength data, shown in orange, and x-ray data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory, shown in blue. The jets emerging from the black hole at the core of the galaxy can be easily seen.

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"A Galaxy 46 Million Light Years Away"
This image, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, shows the core of the spiral galaxy HGC2841, a large galaxy located 46 million light years away in the constellation of Ursa Major. Dark dust lanes can be seen following the spiral pattern. There are very few star formation regions, pictured in pinkish color, indicating that very few new stars are being born.

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"The Milky Way"
This 360-degree panorama was taken from the platform of the 8-m Very Large Telescope (VLT) at the European Southern Observatory in Chile. It is a composite of 37 different images, showing the Milky Way as seen from the southern hemisphere, the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, and the zodiacal light. It is clear that the Milky Way is bright enough to cast shadows.

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