The Orion Nebula (Messier 42) Galactic starburst region NGC 3603 The Flame Nebula (NGC 2024) The Horsehead Nebula. The pair of galaxies NGC 1531/2, spinning in a galactic waltz. A rare triple merger of galaxies, dubbed 'The Bird' The radio galaxy Centaurus A (NGC 5128). The Sombrero Galaxy (Messier 104) Color composite image of Centaurus A, revealing lobes and jets emanating from the active galaxy’s central black hole. A 360-degree panorama of the Milky Way as seen from Earth, from ESO's GigaGalaxy Zoom project. A 360-degree panorama of the night sky above the Paranal platform, complete with the arched Milky Way. Editor's note: This is currently reporter Lisa Grossman's computer desktop background.

The European Southern Observatory is a veritable factory of mind-blowing space photos, and now they've compiled their top 100 images ever all in one place.

Some of these have already appeared on Wired Science (and spent weeks as this reporter's desktop background), but many are new to us. ESO comprises a constellation of telescopes high in the mountains of Chile, including the Very Large Telescope (actually four separate telescopes working together), VISTA, APEX, the La Silla Paranal Observatory, and ALMA, so there were a lot of images to choose from. Some of the most striking are of the telescopes themselves – the scenery in the Chilean desert is as stunning as its skies are clear.

And some lucky astronomy buff will get to go there. ESO just announced a contest they're calling "Hidden Treasures" for the best images dug out of their archives. Once you've chosen an image (or several!) you can process or enhance it any way you want, aside from painting directly on the image.

"The goal is to dig a dataset out of the ESO science archive, process the raw frames and assemble them into a stunning color or greyscale image," the website explains. "Can you compete with the best astrophotography specialists?"

The grand prize: an all expenses paid trip to the VLT on Cerro Paranal in Chile, where the winner will get to participate in VLT observations. I'm already jealous.

For inspiration, here are some of our favorites from ESO's top 100.

Images: ESO

Via Universe Today

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