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Located 30 million light years from Earth, this spiral-shaped galaxy, called Messier 51, has been nicknamed "the whirlpool" for its spiral shape. Data from a host of telescopes, including Chandra (X-ray shown in purple), Hubble (visible light indicated in green), Spitzer (infrared light in red) and the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (ultraviolet in blue) have helped create this mesmerizing shot of a galaxy similar in shape to our own.

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When a massive star exploded in one of our neighboring galaxies, known as the Large Magellanic Cloud, an expanding debris field with the catchy name of SNR 0519-69.0 was left in its wake. In this image, you can actually see the edge of the detonation in red surrounding the multimillion-degree gas captured in blue by the Chandra X-ray observatory.

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This jaw-dropping image shows the remains of a supernova explosion witnessed by Chinese astronomers almost 2,000 years ago. Thanks to advances in technology, modern telescopes can observe these remnants in light that would otherwise remain invisible to the human eye.

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We also saw the 100 millionth image of the Sun taken at NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory on January 19, 2015. The image's darker regions are areas of less dense gas known as coronal holes, where solar material is moving away from the Sun.

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NASA also released this remarkable bird's-eye panorama of part of the Andromeda galaxy last week. This is clearest image ever taken of our galactic next-door neighbor.

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NASA's 'International Year of Light'