Advances in telescope technology have opened up whole new worlds and provided glimpses of distant galaxies. The Hubble Space Telescope, in particular, has provided many stunning images, including this snapshot of the Eskimo Nebula in Gemini — so called because it resembles a face fringed by a fur parka. It actually consists of a pair of elliptically shaped lobes of gas seen end-on. This image is included in The Times Space: A Photographic Guide to the Universe by Ian Ridpath (HarperCollins, £16.99).