Top 10 Most Expensive Pens in the World

10. CREW 60TH White Gold Tebaldi fountain pens

Price: $43,000
TIBALDI Pens CREW 60TH are a landmark in pen making history with Bentley, the automobile giant creating its own handcrafted pen sets in association with the worlds best Italian luxury designer pen maker, Tebaldi.
These expensive Tebaldi for Bentley pens have a two-tone 18-carat yellow gold nib covered in rhodium and ruthenium. The pens barrel has the fine finish identical to Bentleys dashboard. This finish was first used in Bentleys earliest car with a technique called engine tuning. The pens cap and upper and lower barrel parts are knurled for a good grip while writing for the executive. You can see the level of ink through the transparent window of the Tebaldi for Bentley pens. A handmade tie shaped clip on the pen marks Tebaldis signature.
The Tebaldi for Bentley Crewe 60th white gold fountain pen collection is a limited edition of 40 solid white gold fountain pens 

 

9. Gaia High Luxury Omas Fountain Pens

Price: $43,000
Gaia high Luxury fountain pens and roller ball pens by Omas are a glimpse into the dark and deep recesses of the earth. The impenetrable inner core of the earth has inspired wonder, curiosity and interest in man since creation. A miscellany of precious materials such as the white and yellow 18K gold, the Onyx, the Crystal rock, the hematite and the vegetal resin has been utilized into the making of this mystic model by Omas.
Gaia High Luxury fountain pens and roller ball pens are a presentation in the celebration of Jules Vernes futuristic vision of the world. It also commemorates the one hundredth death anniversary. Depicting geographical wonders of the world, the pen absolutely differs from pens that reflect the classic essence of history. The dark grey colour of the metal that it is made of, symbolizes the trip to the dark interior of the earth. The body of the pen from top to toe features the engraved images of gigantic spiders, carnivorous plants, and water beasts. The blend of fear and wonder in the engraving of these horrors makes this particular model different from a range of pen collections. 

 

8. MARTE Omas Fountain Pen

Price: $43,000
Omas Fountain Pen MARTE is part of the Viaggi dellUomo, Travel of Man, Masterpieces collection of custom design fountain pens, roller ball pens and pen sets. The Marte (Italian for Mars) is actually a map of Mars made from classic rose gold to represent the pink-red hue of the planet. Deserts, mountains and craters all feature on the barrel of this pen and four rubies mark the landing points of the Russian and American probes. The cap is encrusted with 2K of small diamonds reminiscent of the polar ice caps and the clip details astronomer Tycho Brahes Mural Quadrant. Even the rose gold nib is engraved with a representation of the Greek God Mars! There are just 30 of these fountain pens in circulation, so they are perfect for the pen collector to add to his expensive pen collections, or for the executive who enjoys writing with designer pens. 

 

7. Visconti The Forbidden City H.R.H. Fountain Pen

Price: $50,500.00
The Visconti brand is known for best quality, style and creativity. This distinguished Visconti pen is the Forbidden City H.R.H. Limited Edition fountain Pen. Made of black resin, 18K gold and diamonds and boasting of Power Filler innovative filling system invented by Visconti, it is sold for $50,500.00.

6. Visconti Alchemy H.R.H. Fountain Pens

Price: $ 57,000
The beautifully handcrafted Alchemy HRH by Visconti is part of the HRH collection of handmade fountain pens and roller ball pens from this fine pen maker. This luxury pen, unlike other fountain pens, has two nibs, two ink reservoirs and is trimmed with two different metals exquisite gold and silver vermeil. Both nibs are of the best 18K gold and come in different sizes to suit every writing style. Even those used to writing with roller ball pens will love using the Alchemy.
The body is made from a classic, rich, red resin and the gold and silver trim is decorated with expensive 4K diamonds and rubies. One cap has gold trim, the other silver, and these trims interlace to create a cosmic map with alchemic symbols stunning!

5. Visconti Ripple H.R.H. Fountain Pen

Price: $ 57,000
One of the most remarkable Visconti pens is Ripple H.R.H. Limited Edition fountain pen. Made of 18K white gold and diamonds and with two-tone 18K gold nib, it costs $57,000.00. It has double reservoir filling system and is sold in two variations white gold and black.

4. Omas Phoenix Platinum Fountain Pen Luxury Limited Edition with Diamonds

Price: $60,000
With overwhelming price tag of $60,000, this truncated cone shaped pen is a true embodiment of fact and fancy. Made with 950 platinum and yellow Enamel, with considerable length and diameter, 18K gold rhodiated engraving nib.

3. La Modernista Diamonds Caran dAche

Price: $265,000
La Modernista Diamonds was made by the Swiss company Caran dAche in 1999 in homage to Antonio Gaudi (1852-1926), the most famous of Modernist architects. This amazing fountain pen was sold in Harrods, London, for $265,000, becoming the most expensive pen in GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS in 2001. La Modernista Diamonds is made of rhodium-coated solid silver components. It boasts of an 18-carat rhodium-coated gold nib and is set with a total of 5,072 Wessel ton diamonds weighing in at 20-carats, as well as and 96 rubies totalling 32-carats. The pen was hand-made by master jeweler Robert Perron and it took him six months to complete this true masterpiece of writing instruments.

2. Mystery Masterpiece Mont Blanc and Van Cleef & Arpels Limited Edition

Price: $730,000
To commemorate the centenary of these two renowned brands, Montblanc and Van Cleef & Arpels have collaborated on this fine, limited editions Mystery Masterpiece. Three individual editions, each set with either rubies, sapphires, or emeralds, will be crafted. Using the Mystery Setting technique for the gemstones, these intricate writing instruments are set to stun with their extravagant design, and equally-extravagant price: at US$730,000 each, they are truly a fitting homage to a century of each brands respective history.

1. Aurora Diamante fountain pen

Price: $1,470,600
The Aurora Diamante is the most expensive writing instrument till date. Only one is for sale per year. The Aurora Diamante contains over 30 carats of De Beerss diamonds on a solid platinum barrel. It has a two-tone, rhodium-treated, 18KT solid gold nib and is personalized with a coat of arms, signature or portrait. Aurora Pens says it is the only over 30 carat pen in the world.

Top 10 Most Expensive Houses in the World 2013

10. Dracula’s Castle, Romania: $ 135 million
Maybe sounds creepy, Dracula’s Castle. But It’s actually a romanian castle. It was a museum during 1980s until the owner Archduke Dominic put the castle on sale. He offer the castle for the price of 80 million dollars. Still no one have a deal with that amount of money. Again, He want to sale 2 years ago but there’s no news about the price and the status of the ownership till now. This amazing house, castle actually, is an old building that has 57 rooms, 17 bedrooms that decorate with beautiful antique furniture. It’s located in the top of hill so the scenery must be wonderful from there.

Dracula’s Castle

9. Updown Court, Windlesham, Surrey, UK: $139 million
This large house built on 58 acre of land in the Windlesham neighborhood. This amazing house has 103 rooms with lot of facility needed for a rich person. You can find private cinemas in the north part of the house and bowling alley as well for the sake of recreation. You can also find horse barn, squash and tennis courts in case you need some sport. There’s a marble drive away as well that your limousine will wait for you every morning, it’s large enough for 8 limousines.

Updown Court, Windlesham, Surrey

8. “The Manor”, Los Angeles, US: $150 million
Built in 1991 with French Chateau Style, this house is 4248 square meters of building with a total of 4.6 hectares of land in total. It’s the biggest house in Los Angeles that privately owned. The main house is located at the end of the long road and well protected with security system. In the house you can find a private cinema, bowling alley, tennis courts, 2 swimming pools for your recreation and you can also find luxurious beauty salon in the attic and spa. If you like jewelry you can put it save on the humidity controlled silver warehouse that available in the house. There are several garden on this house, the 18th century styled garden, roof garden and orange garden. If you have a lot of cars, don’t worry about that. As this house is large enough to park up to 100 cars.

The Manor, Los Angeles

7. “The Pinnacle”, Montana, US: $155 million
I guess this building is one of the most desirable building for the one that love ski. It’s a ski lodge as well as the largest property in the exclusive private ski and golf community “Yellowstone Club”. Is it the owner’s house? Yes It’s. It’s the house of Tim and Edra Blixseth. It’s not that big compared with other property on this list. Just 10 bedrooms available here. You can find a heated flooring system stretched throughout the house, fireplace in all bathrooms and huge wine cellar. You can also find indoor and outdoor pool as well as gym and massage room.

The Pinnacle Montana

6. Franchuk Villa, Kensington, UK: $161 million
You can find this house if you come to Belgravia area in Central London. It’s a six floors building with 20 foot ceilings, lavish equipment and more than 21,000 square ft of space to live. Currently owned by Lebanon’s developer, Musa Salem. It’s now on sale and become the most expensive house on the market now. Mr Salem was bought the house from Grosvenor Estate. The house is built in Victorian Style with many luxury amenities such as swimming pool in the basement, gym, private cinemas, news room and large garage space.

Franchuk Villa, Kensington

5. Hearst Mansion, Beverly Hills, US: $165 million
The house was built by the US newspaper tycoon, William Randolph Hearst, and became his prestigious home. This house was purchased by Leonard Ross, a lawyer and investor in 1976. This house has 6 separate residences, 3 swimming pools, 8 fireplaces, tennis court, night club and 29 bedrooms. Those facility is built in 6 hectares of area in the platinum triangle neighboorhood in Beverly Hills. You can be the neighbor of Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes and David and Victoria Beckham if you live in this house.

Hearst Mansion, Beverly Hills

4. Fairfield Pond, The Hamptons, US : $170 million
This marvelous house is the house of Ira Rennert. It’s built in 63 acres area and become the largest residential in the US. The house has 29 bedrooms, 39 bathrooms, large dining room of 91 feet long. You can find a bowling alley for your entertainment as well. You can find a $150,000 hot tub in this house as well. This beachfront home is completely for private house usage only. You can imagine this building is not a hotel, spa, resort or retreat place.

Fairfield Pond, The Hamptons

3. The Penthouse, London, UK: $200 million
This Hyde Park located apartment is the most expensive flat and apartment in the world with a price of £6,000 per sq/ft. The first main feature of this apartment is Security. You can find panic rooms, bulletproof window, Iris scanner, a tunnel to nearby of Mandarin hotel and of course it’s served 24 hours. The facilities you can find here are communal spas, squash courts and you can also find a wine tasting room here.

The Penthouse London

2. Villa Leopolda, Cote D’Azur, France: $506 million
This luxury famous villa has a total area of 29,000 square feet. It’s located in French Riviera. It’s famous for the open menicured garden and the beautiful swimming pool. The villa has 11 bedrooms and 14 bathrooms. This villa has a great scenery of beachfront in the south of France. It’s built by King Leopold from Belgia and later purchased by Edmund Safra. After the death of Edmund Safra, the house become the house of his wife, Lily Safra. This villa rumored several time to be sold to Bill Gates, Gianni Agnelli as well as undisclosed Russian tycoon.

Villa Leopolda, Cote D’Azur France

1. Antilla, Mumbai, India: $1 billion
This modern gigantic structure is called as Antilla. It’s new house of Mukesh Ambani or Reliance Industries. It’s a 27 floors building with 40,000 square feet in total land space. The building is 570 feet tall with a total of 400,000 square feet of interior space. The building has a dedicated 6 stories for car parking alone to park 168 cars collection of Ambani. Inside the house you will find nine elevators with lot of lounge and personal gym in each floor. This house is served by 600 servants. You can imagine how luxurious this house. This housewill be the world’s most expensive house for a while as It’s far moreexpensive than the second and still there’s no news there’s a person build more expensive house than Antilla.

Antilla, Mumbai India

Top 10 Most Expensive Diamonds in the World

10. The Allnatt Diamond : $ 3 Millions
This diamond is named after Major Alfred Ernest Allnatt. He was one of the holders of the diamond. The Allnatt diamond has size of 101.29 carat (20.258 g) with a cushion cut. The diamond color is rated as fancy vivid Yellow by the Gemological Institute of America. No one know precisely where the diamond was found. But some expert say that the diamond was found where the De Beers premier diamond mine now located.

The Allnatt Diamond

9. The Moussaieff Red Diamond : $ 7 Millions
The Moussaieff Red Diamond is 5.11 carats (1.022 g) diamond with triangular brilliant cut that rated as Fancy Red in colour by the Gemologial Institute of America (GIA). Although Moussaieff is relatively small compared to other expensive diamond, this is the largest fancy red ever rated by GIA.

The Moussaieff Red diamond

8. The Heart of Eternity : $16 Millions
The Heart of Eternity is a 27.64 carats (5.528 g) diamond with a color rated as Fancy Vivid Blue by the Gemological Institue of America. This diamond is very rare class of colored diamond. It was cut by the Steinmetz group before sold to De Beers Group. The diamond itself was found in premier diamond mine in South Africa.

The Heart of Etenity diamond

7. Wittelsbach Diamond : $ 16.4 Millions
The Wittelsbach diamond (Der Blaue Wittelsbacher) is a 35.36 carats (7.11 g) blue diamond with size of 40 mm in diameter with 8.29 mm in depth and VS 2 in clarity. It was become part of both Austrian and Bavarian crown jewels, with color and clarity has been compared to the Hope Diamond (you can see below on No. 4).

Wittelsbach diamond

6. The Steinmetz Pink : $ 25 Millions
The Steinmetz Pink is 59.60 carats (11.92 grams) of diamond that rated as Vivid Pink by the Gemological Institute of America. It’s the largest known diamond that given a color as Fancy vivid pink ever. The Steinmitz Pink was displayed as part of Smithsonian’s “The Splendor of Diamons” exhibition.

The Steinmetz Pink Diamond

5. De Beers Centenary Diamond: $ 100 Millions
The De Beers Centenary Diamond were classified as D levels by the Gemological Institute of America. It’s the highest grade of a diamond that colorless and internally and externally flawless. The diamond itself is 273.85 carats (54.77 grams) in weight. This diamond is the 3rd largest diamond has been produced by De Beer’s Premier Mine.

De Beers Centenary Diamond

4. The Hope Diamond : $350 Millions
The hope diamond is 45.52 carats (9.10 grams) large diamond that now located in the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington DC. The diamond looks blue in color to the naked eye because the number of traces of boron in the crystal structure but It shine a red phosphor under ultraviolet light.

The Hope Diamond

3. The Cullinan : $ 400 Millions
The Cullinan Diamond is 3,106,75 carats (621.35 grams) diamond and is the largest rough gem quality diamond ever found in the world. After polished it become Cullinan I or Star Africa first and at 530.2 carats (106.0 grams) is the largest diamond in the world until 1985 with the Golden Jubilee of 545.67 carats (109.13 grams) from the same premier Mine.

The Cullinan Diamond

2. The Sancy Diamond : (Unestimated, Priceless)
The Sancy diamond is 55.23 carat (11.05 grams) of pale yellow diamond that once was famous as the belonging of the Great Moguls. It’s believed that the diamond is Indian origin. This is the first large diamonds to be cut with symmetrical facets. The stone is also unusual because it has no pavilion – just a pair of crowns, one on the other. This historical diamond is now kept in the French Crown Jewel collection housed at the Louvre.

The Sancy Diamond

1. Koh-I-Noor : (Unestimated, Priceless)
Koh-I-Noor means as “Mountain of Light” from Persian. It’s a 105 carat (21.6 grams) diamond that was once the largest known diamond in the world. The Koh-I-Noor was originated at Golconda in the Andhra Pradesh state of India. It was owned by various Sikh, Mughal and Persian rulers that fought each other from time to time. The stone was found to measure 36.00 × 31.90 × 13.04 mm.  The gem remains the property of the British crown and is kept in HM Tower of London and it’s a popular tourist attraction.

Koh-I-Noor diamond

Top 10 Biggest Libraries In The World

1. Washington, D.C.’s Library of Congress

Library of Congress (Photo Credit: Wikipedia)

If you’ve already watched the movie National Treasure 2, then you’ve already taken a glimpse of this magnificent library. Within the confines of this center, you’ll find all you need to answer your questions about culture, science, philosophy, history, and any other subject matter.
During the War of 1812, a huge portion of the original collection was sold. Fortunately, another 6,457 books were sold to the library by Thomas Jefferson from his very own collection. Composed of four buildings in Washington, D.C., the Library of Congress is such an impressive display of books and a grandly designed structure that it has been used in numerous movies to this date. With a vast book collection at over 30 million and written in just about any language you can think of, the Library of Congress definitely deserves all the fame. The public can visit the library, but only high ranking American officials are allowed to check out books.


2. Moscow’s Institute for Scientific Information Russian Academy of Sciences

Institute for Scientific Information Russian Academy of Sciences (Photo credit: smallritual, Flickr)

This library’s 13.5 million-book collection was established to collate any and all publications done by research facilities and Russian scholars. If you’re looking for data that are related to findings in the field of linguistics, nuclear power, and even gen biology, then this is the right place to start your search. However, you will need to be part of the selected few who are members of this institute. There are certain requirements that must be met, and you must be elected in. As of this day, there are about 500 members of varying membership levels.


3. Beijing’s National Library of China

National Library of China, Beijing (Photo by: shihwy1, Flickr)

The West doesn’t have a monopoly on libraries, for the East also has its share of the world’s largest libraries, among which is the National Library of China. Situated in Beijing and 26.3 million books in its collection, the NLC is sure to give joy to the average bibliophile. Among its hoard of books, you’ll find the world’s greatest and richest compilations of Chinese writings and ancient documents. Founded in the year 1909 and opened doors to the public three years after, the NLC also contains a lot of Qing Dynasty writings as well as a collection of literature inscribed on bones and tortoise shells.

4. Massachusetts’ Harvard University Library

Massachusetts’ Harvard University Library (Photo Credit: California Cthulhu, Flickr)

Compared to all the other universities in the world, Harvard University Library houses the most enormous private collection of books. Established in the year 1638, the Harvard library is considered as America’s oldest. John Harvard was the first to add books to this great collection, which was initially composed of just 400 books. As the years went by, the collection grew to large proportions and keeps on doing so to this day. In the year 1638, the Harvard University Library housed the United States’ most impressive collection of books, but a disastrous fire destroyed that status as it turned a considerable number of books into ashes. Today, the library has a total of over 13 million books displayed in 90 library wings, each dealing with a particular field of study.


5. Ottawa’s National Library of Canada

Ottawa’s National Library of Canada (Photo Credit: Wikipedia)

With nearly 19 million books in its collection, the National Library of Canada is also a contender for the biggest library in the world. Founded in 1953, the library was established with the goal of collecting and preserving Canada’s heritage in the form of documents, texts, pictures, and other writings related to the country’s culture and history. You can even find one of North America’s most ancient books in this library. The said book was printed by the 1^st century historian, Flavius Josephus, in the year 1470. If you’re planning to set your sights on the book, however, you’ll have to get permission and be granted with the special viewing privilege as it, along with a number of other books, is kept in safety vaults.


6. St. Petersburg’s Library of the Russian Academy of Sciences

St. Petersburg’s Library of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Photo Credit: Wikipedia)

Commissioned by the Russian Federation for the purpose of collecting the country’s books and research findings, the Library of the Russian Academy of Sciences has a collection that consists of numerous writings done by Russian writers, scientists, and a host of other significant personalities. It is the legal obligation of all writers and scientific institutions who are publishing works to donate a copy of their writings or findings to the library. This played a huge role in helping the library amass such an impressive 20 million-book collection, although the accuracy of this number isn’t guaranteed today, since a fire that happened at some point in the past destroyed a large chunk of the collection. No one can say just how many of the books were recovered or replaced and how many books were added since then.


7. Frankfurt’s German National Library

Frankfurt’s German National Library (Photo Credit: sethschoen, Flickr)

Housing a collection that consists of approximately 18.5 million books, the German National Library in Frankfurt has done a satisfactory job of painstakingly accumulating every German publication and work, which was the intention behind the library’s founding. The library collects not only works done by the Germans, but also any publication related to the nation. Examples of such works include propaganda from the countries mixed up in the world war. Perhaps one of the most unique features of this library is the branch that displays all the German music records as well as the publications that deal solely with music.


8. Kiev’s Vernadsky National Scientific Library of Ukraine

Add caption

Kiev’s Vernadsky National Scientific Library of Ukraine (Photo Credit: Wikipedia)

With a collection of writings, manuscripts, and books reaching more than 13 million, the Vernadsky National Scientific Library in Kiev is the country’s hub of information. The library was founded in 1918, and a lot of its collection can trace back their roots to the 18^th and 19^th centuries. Apart from the collections of the country’s presidents, the library also houses Ukraine’s scientific archives, scientific works, and cultural compositions and manuscripts. Every year, the library acquires over half a million documents and works.


9. New York Public Library

New York Public Library (Photo Credit: Austin_YeahBaby, Flickr)

Another library worth mentioning is the New York Public Library, which has about 11 million books to its name. Aimed at bringing history and information closer to the general public, the library has plenty of branches scattered throughout New York where people can check out books as they wish. However, there are also branches that are solely for research and where check outs aren’t allowed. Much of the library’s funding over the years was from private individuals and rich philanthropists.


10. London’s British Library

London’s British Library (Photo Credit: Wikipedia)

When it comes to the number of items in its collection, the British Library is unparalleled. It has over 150 million items, a lot of which are works circulated in the United Kingdom. The library also has scores of items from other countries and has books written in a multitude of languages. You will also discover that these works can be found in formats ranging from stone inscriptions to digital publications. The growth rate of the British Library is 3 million pieces per year.

Top 10 Most Bizarre Galaxies In The Universe

10. Hoag’s Object

Hoag’s Object almost looks like two distinct galaxies, with its bright yellow cluster of stars at the center and a blue ring of stars separated from the cluster by a large void of space. But no, this is one galaxy, much the same way Saturn is one planet and not a planet with a ring-shaped planet around it.
When tasked with solving the problem of how Hoag’s object was formed, science came up with a resounding “what?” In the end, they just labeled it as a type of ring galaxy and moved on. Want an example of another galaxy of this type? Look just inside the top end of the ring. There’s one off in the distance, which is bizarre, since these kinds of galaxies are pretty rare.

09. Arp 87

ADVERTISEMENT

Arp 87 is what you get when two galaxies enter into a steel cage match—and only one leaves. Galactic collisions are actually pretty common and sometimes result in a lot of near misses, like what is going on here.
These two galaxies almost ran into one another a few billion years ago and gravity has strung out material between the two as they moved apart. It’s likely that they’ll sweep back toward one another in a series of near misses until they eventually merge into one big galaxy. For now, they remain tethered together by a thin stream of stars, gas, and dust particles, like enormous intergalactic bolas, which can only mean one thing: space Incas.

08. Antennae Galaxies

Here, we have another pair of galaxies devouring one another, but much farther along in the process. The only way you can tell there used to be two galaxies here is by the yellow clusters of stars at either end—these used to be the galactic centers. Now one giant, amorphous blob, these galaxies are slowly chugging toward a state of equilibrium that with result in the new galaxy’s final shape.
Most of the currently existing star clusters in this galactic pair will part ways before the new galaxy is totally formed—only the largest clusters will survive the merger. Perhaps the most interesting thing we can learn from observing this process is what will happen when the Milky Way inevitably merges with the nearby Andromeda galaxy, which is headed in our direction. Don’t worry, though: It won’t be for a few billion years.

07. Sombrero Galaxy

The Sombrero Galaxy, unsurprisingly, bears a striking resemblance to the hat of the same name. It has a large bulge in the center where some imaginary cosmic giant’s head might go and a broad, sweeping “brim.”
When we look at the bulge a bit closer, you can see that it’s actually made up of several different clusters of stars, rather than just one big one. The brim is pretty strange, too: Its intricate detail is another one of those things about space that makes science scratch its head. We’re not sure how rings like this were able to form. It’s also highly likely that the heart of the Sombrero Galaxy harbors a massive black hole.

06. Centaurus A

To the untrained eye, it might be difficult to distinguish Centaurus A as anything remarkable, but when you take a closer look, there’s something peculiar going on here. Centaurus A is large by galaxy standards, and large galaxies often come in one of two flavors: spiral and elliptical. But when astronomers took a look at this galaxy using radio imaging to peer through the veil of dust, they revealed a spiral hidden underneath. This is quite odd, since galaxies are generally one or the other. It is the only elliptical galaxy we’ve ever found that has spiral arms. The theory is that Centaurus A absorbed a spiral galaxy some millions of years ago, but such mergers don’t often—or ever, really—leave the spiral arms intact, so we have no clue what is happening here.

05. The Southern Pinwheel

Located in the Hydra constellation, the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy, also known as M83, is one of the brightest galaxies in our night sky. We discovered it about 250 years ago, but it was considered a gas cloud until we were able to give it a much closer look. The vibrant colors in this enormous whirlpool of pink and purple are this galaxy’s most distinct feature, apart from the frequent supernova explosions observed by astronomers. There are currently eight active supernovas that we’ve observed in the galaxy and remnants of hundreds more. The pink color is a direct result of the new stars forming in the system, which release an immense amount of UV energy. That energy is absorbed by the surrounding dust and gas, turning it pink. Definitively calling it the prettiest galaxy is probably a bit subjective, but it does look like a giant space flower, so judge for yourself.

04. NGC 474

NGC 474 looks less like a galaxy and more like one of those weird, bioluminescent fish you find on the abyssal plain of the ocean. Astronomers aren’t entirely sure what is causing the discharge of so much energy from the otherwise boring-looking galaxy, but there are two prevailing theories. First, the shells could be the remnants of smaller galaxies absorbed by NGC 474. They could also be a result of tidal interactions with the galaxy behind it, seeing as they are in the process of colliding with one another. Because of these bizarre outer shells, we’ve learned that most known galaxies have irregular halos around them as a result of collisions with other galaxies in the “recent” (on a cosmic scale) past.

03. NGC 660

NGC 660 is a rare type of galaxy called a polar ring galaxy. How rare are they? We’ve only discovered about a dozen of them to date, and we’ve taken a single image containing roughly 10,000 galaxies. These galaxies have rings, stars, dust, debris, and other galaxy stuff in an orbit almost perpendicular to the galaxy’s disk plain. Where’d this material come from? It was most likely siphoned from a galaxy that passed nearby long ago, proving once and for all that the universe operates just like The Road Warrior. The ring is farther across than the galactic disk, and astronomers are observing it closely to watch how dark matter’s gravitational pull affects the disk in an effort to learn more about dark matter itself.

02. The Porpoise Galaxy

One look at the Porpoise Galaxy, or NGC 2936, will tell you exactly where the name comes from. It looks just like a dolphin, though some say it looks more like a penguin protecting an egg. In reality, this is a system of two galaxies: The “dolphin” is actually part of NG 2936, while the “egg” is called Arp 142.
The dolphin portion used to be a spiral galaxy similar to the Milky Way, but the immense gravitational forces of the denser galaxy below has contorted its shape significantly. The dolphin’s “eye” is what used to be the spiral galaxy’s core. This galaxy is also within the Hydra constellation, and within a billion years or so, the pair will merge into one. For now, we’ll just enjoy the galactic equivalent of a clown making balloon animals.

01. The Black Eye Galaxy

Is it possible for a galaxy to look evil? Because this one may very well be where those horrible alien creatures in The Avengers came from. The Black Eye Galaxy (also called M64 or the Sleeping Beauty Galaxy) is rife with creation, as the reddish color indicates. Red means an abundance of hydrogen, which means stars are being formed.
Strangely, the stars and gas in the reddish portion of the galaxy are all rotating in one direction, while the immense cloud of gas and dust surrounding it rotates the other way. While this is really bizarre, it’s explained in the same manner as most galaxy irregularities—it’s most likely the result of two galaxies merging together.