Inside, we see a ton of young stars inside a nebula. ↑ There is just so much going on in this image that it’s hard to pin down just one thing to discuss. Nota (ESA/STScI)/Westerlund 2 Science Team Researchers call this type of image a fingerprint because the light spreads out enough for them to understand what chemicals make up the star. ↑ Front and center in this March 2016 Hubble image is a star named IRAS 12196-6300, which lies 2,300 light-years from Earth. Fingerprinting The Stars ESA/Hubble & NASA, Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt Besides having two pairs of binary stars, the system is notable because it has a large region known as the Chamaeleon Complex, an area that gives birth to brand new stars. The unique bright spot in its center consists of two stars shining through rings of dust, which actually hide two other stars in this quadruple star system. ↑ The star system DI Cha was imaged by Hubble in October 2015. Di Cha Shines Through A Smoke Ring ESA/Hubble & NASA, Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt Hubble released this incredibly detailed picture back in 2015, though if you were to look at it with an ordinary backyard telescope it would appear like a giant bubble. Though it seems incredibly close in this image, it actually lies about 40 million light-years away in the constellation of Leo, and it was discovered back in 1784 by William Herschel. ↑ Known scientifically as NGC 3521, this flocculent spiral galaxy appears woolly because of how stars shine through its dusty clouds. Smartt (Queen’s University Belfast) Acknowledgement: Robert Gendler The Bubble Galaxy ESA/Hubble & NASA and S. Researchers refer to these sort of outbursts as ‘ impostor supernovae‘ because they appear like normal supernovae but they do not kill off the star. This image in particular, which was released in 2012, is one of the most detailed. However, it wasn’t until Hubble came that researchers were able to fully check out the clouds of matter, dubbed the Homunculus Nebula, thrown off by it. Since the 1800s, astronomers with less powerful telescopes have been watching the system’s outbursts. It has two stars in it and one of them is huge and unstable. This colorful image was released in August 2015. “The region is filled with intense winds from hot stars, churning funnels of gas, and energetic star formation, all embedded within an intricate haze of gas and pitch-dark dust,” NASA notes. ↑ The Lagoon Nebula churns with a series of crazy, huge storms. A Churning View Of Sagittarius NASA, ESA, J. Few other space images have received as much fame and adoration as this one. This re-released version of the original adds more detail by including near-infrared light, which helps expose the various stars behind the pillars. Inside, you see three cold columns of gas illuminated by stars in the Eagle Nebula. ↑ Taken in 1995, the ‘Pillars of Creation’ is one of Hubble’s most notable images. The Pillars Of Creation NASA/ESA/STScI/AURA/J. Each of these jets, which travel at nearly the speed of light, stretch for thousands of light-years as two galactic nuclei blend together. ↑ Though there isn’t an actual picture of a supermassive black hole (yet), this image possibly captures two of them swirling together and shooting off jets of particles into the universe. This unique object formed as two galaxies in the Andromeda constellation passed through one another. ↑ Released on Hubble’s 21st anniversary, a pair of galaxies swirl together to form Arp 273. A Rose Made Of Galaxies NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) With time marching on, let’s not worry about what will happen to everyone’s favorite space telescope and, instead, take a look at some of the most amazing pictures it’s given us over the years. Once gone, at least we know we’ll have the gold-encrusted James Webb Space Telescope to keep the images flowing in. In a few short years, Hubble’s technology will become fully outdated and NASA will let it drift to a fiery death in the atmosphere, like some crazed band of space Vikings. But here’s some sad news: despite all of these wonderful things, Hubble is getting older. Not only do these images, which look more like paintings at first glance, allow researchers to study distant worlds, galaxies and nebulae, they have captured the minds of the general public, getting us genuinely excited about space exploration. ↑ The Hubble Space Telescope has continuously unleashed a stream of jaw-dropping intergalactic imagery since it launched on April 24, 1990.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |