Past exam of the options I course of the University of Oxford / 2011 / E / 1

An open cover of a topological space is a collection of open subsets whose union is the whole space. A compact space is one for which every open cover admits a finite subcover. The subspace topology on $A\subseteq Y$ consists of sets $A\cap O$ with $O$ open in $Y$.

Let $\{U_j\}$ cover $f(X)$ by relatively open sets, and write $U_j=f(X)\cap O_j$ with $O_j$ open in $Y$. By continuity, $\{f^{-1}(O_j)\}$ is an open cover of $X$. A finite subcollection covers $X$ by compactness, and its corresponding $U_j$ cover $f(X)$. Thus a continuous image of a compact space is compact.

For an image that is not closed, take $X$ to be a singleton and $Y=\{0,1\}$ with the indiscrete topology. Send the sole point to $0$. This map is continuous and $X$ is compact, while $f(X)=\{0\}$ is not closed in $Y$, whose only closed sets are $\varnothing$ and $Y$. A Hausdorff hypothesis on the target would exclude this example.