Very Best of the Hubble Telescope
Welcome back!
Some things are worth revisiting. The Hubble — science at its best and the world’s first space-based optical telescope — has returned some of the most stunning images ever captured by science.
The Sombrero Galaxy — called M104 — 28 million light years from Earth,
has 800 billion suns and is 50,000 light years across.
Sending pictures and data back to scientists since it began operating April 25, 1990, the Hubble launched from space shuttle Discovery (STS-31) for a 20 year mission. Its First image was May 20, 1990 — Star Cluster NGC 3532. The observations have provided the deepest views of the cosmos in visible, ultraviolet, and near-infrared light.
Hubble’s longest exposures are like a core sample of the universe, recording galaxies at many different distances, extending from 1 billion to over 10 billion light-years away.
The Ant Nebula (Mz3) — a cloud of dust and gas that lies within our galaxy between 3,000 and 6,000 light years from Earth — resembles an ant when observed using ground-based telescopes.
Each day the telescope transmits enough data — 3 to 4 gigabytes — to fill six CD-ROMs. Hubble’s digital archive delivers 10 to 20 gigabytes of data a day to astronomers world-wide.
At 370 miles (600 kilometers) above Earth, its nearly circular orbit takes it once around the planet every 97 minutes at 17,500 mph (28,000 kph).
About the size of a bus, the Hubble is 43.5 feet (13.2 meters) long, has a maximum diameter of 14 feet (4.2 meters), and weighs 24,500 pounds (11,110 kilos).
Nebula NGC 2392 — 5,000 light years from Earth — is called Eskimo because it looks like a face surrounded by a furry hood. The hood is actually a ring of comet-shaped objects flying away from a dying star.
In an average orbit, the Hubble uses about the same amount of energy as 30 household light bulbs. It’s powered by two 25 foot solar panels with 6 nickel-hydrogen (NiH) batteries for storage, with a top capacity Equal to 20 car batteries.
NASA named the telescope after American astronomer Edwin Powell Hubble (1889 to 1953), who is renowned for determining that there are other galaxies in the Universe beyond the Milky Way, and for observing that the universe is expanding at a constant rate which provided the foundation for the Big Bang theory — the explosive birth of our universe.
Hourglass Nebula — 8,000 light years away — appears pinched in the middle
due to weaker winds at its center which shape it this way.
Hubble has captured vivid views of newly forming stars inside the Orion nebula. Stars form when a cloud of interstellar gas collapses under the force of its own gravity. Because the cloud is spinning slowly, it leaves behind a dark disk of orbiting debris that may well form a planetary system.
Planets are born in the spinning disks of debris left behind as stars form. The matter in these disks gradually collects into ever larger lumps that ultimately become planet-sized.
The Cat’s Eye Nebula: Dying Star Creates Fantasy-like Sculpture of Gas and Dust.
Glowing in vibrant colors, planetary nebulae, such as this one — Cat’s Eye Nebula — represent the death of dying stars. These nebulae are gas clouds forced outward by a dying star. According to NASA, “Hubble’s keen ‘eye’ disclosed that planetary nebulas are like snowflakes: no two are like.”
Now and then, one of the galaxies drifting through the universe will collide with another. This pair of crashing galaxies is called “The Antennae” because of the long streamers of stars thrown off early in the collision.
Collisions like these last hundreds of millions of years and were probably much more common in the early universe, when galaxies were much closer together.
Light Echoes From Red Supergiant Star V838 Monocerotis. Named because it reminded astronomers of the Van Gogh painting, Starry Night is a halo of light
around a star in the Milky Way.
How Hubble Works
In order to take images of distant, faint objects, Hubble must be extremely steady and accurate. The telescope is able to lock onto a target without deviating more than 7/1000th of an arcsecond — the width of a human hair seen at a distance of 1 mile. Pointing the Hubble Space Telescope and locking onto distant celestial targets is like holding a laser light steady on a dime that’s 200 miles (322 kilometers) away.
Hubble works on the same principle as the first reflecting telescope built in the 1600’s by Isaac Newton. Light enters the telescope and strikes a concave primary mirror, which acts like a lens to focus the light. The bigger the mirror, the better the image.
In Hubble, light from the primary mirror is reflected to a smaller secondary mirror in front of the primary mirror, then back through a hole in the primary to instruments clustered behind the focal plane (where the image is in focus).
Hubble’s solar arrays collect sunlight which is converted into electricity. Rechargeable batteries supply back-up power when Hubble is in Earth’s shadow.
Steerable antennas send scientific data to communications satellites for relay to ground systems.
Reaction wheels point Hubble to any spot in the sky. Fine guidance sensors keep Hubble locked onto its target
The Trifid Nebula — 9,000 light years from Earth
The End and Future
When Hubble’s important mission comes to a close, the telescope’s ultimate retirement will not signal the end of our unrivaled view of the universe, but will mark a new beginning — and even more amazing discoveries and images from space, for Hubble has a successor.
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) which has been underway, may be launched as early as 2011. Upon that time, scientists using JWST hope to discover and understand even more about our fascinating universe.
Cone Nebula (NGC 2264): Star-Forming Pillar of Gas and Dust. This portion is 2.5 light years in length — the equivalent of 23 million return trips to the Moon
A Perfect Storm of Turbulent Gases — a small region in the Swan Nebula (M17)
5,500 light years away — has been described as ‘a bubbly ocean of hydrogen
and small amounts of oxygen, sulphur and other elements.’
The swirling cores of 2 merging galaxies called NGC 2207 and IC 2163 in the
distant Canis Major constellation — 114 million light years away.
GOODS (Chandra Deep Field – South) X-Rays Emanate From Heated Material
Falling Into Black Hole
Nucleus of Galaxy Centaurus A
Globular Cluster M22 (inset shows entire cluster)
Galaxy Cluster Abell 2218’s “Gravitational Lens”
Dark Matter Distribution in Supercluster Abell 901/902
Spiral Galaxy M100
Young Stars Sculpt Gas with Powerful Outflows in the Small Magellanic Cloud
The Sombrero Galaxy in Infrared Light
The Hodge 301 Cluster: Multiple Generations of Stars in the Tarantula Nebula
N 180B in the Large Magellanic Cloud
The Antennae Galaxies/NGC 4038-4039
Section of M51 with Progenitor Star
The Heart of the Whirlpool Galaxy
Chandra/Hubble/Spitzer X-ray/Visible/Infrared Image of M82
Circinus Galaxy Spews Gas Into Space
A Giant Hubble Mosaic of the Crab Nebula
Eagle Nebula (M16) Pillar Detail: Portion of Top
An Infrared View of Saturn
Spitzer and Hubble Create Colorful Masterpiece
Abstract Art Found in the Orion Nebula
Light and Shadow in the Carina Nebula (NGC 3372)
Giant “Twisters” in the Lagoon Nebula
Jupiter’s New Red Spot – HST ACS/HRC
Orion Nebula
Single Most Important Image Ever Taken
Very Best of Hubble Telescope
More Hubble Telescope
Hubble Watching Deep Inside the Universe
Visit the Hubble website to view a plethora of photos, download wallpapers and screensavers, view videos, and more. All photos property of Hubblesite.org
Special thanks to my friend Rick for the inspiration for this post.
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These are some of the best Hubble pictures I’ve ever seen. They are literally like some modern art masterpiece all by themselves.
Awesome pictures, I am a big astronomy buff. check out Blackholes and astro stuff blog. Another good one.
‘The most important image’ video should be top of this post. It’s a real treat.
They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder
well anybody who is not moved by these images from
deep space cannot appreciate beauty when it,s there
for all to see.
keep up the good work. thankyou.
It is unbelievable how much colour and shapes are in the space. It is like the best modern art
Thanks for the collection of these photos. I will bookmark this article, because I love the space photos very much.
This is amazing pictures, I wish one day I will travel in the galaxy, one day… Well done!
They truly are like an artwork masterpiece, Thai
Science at its best.
Thanks Jesse, will do
It is a very good video, TT. I could shuffle the order of the videos at least.
Thanks Geoff. I don’t think there’s a soul around that could deny the beauty of these images
Indeed, Susan, I was amazed by all of the magnificent colors captured by Hubble myself
You never know what may happen within your lifetime, Web. You may not be able to travel to another galaxy, but another planet or the Moon might not be out of the question.
those pictures are all awesome
Thanks Jeff, I think they’re absolutely incredible
Astounding images, makes me remember how small we are compared to the rest of the universe…
Great scintific brains discovered some thing new and un-imagenable and their followers developed the scintific instruments to catch the universal and cosmological wonders.According to Hindu scriptures GOD said he is infinite and no one can measure or size him up. One has to beleive this after seeing HIS creation. What a feast to the eyes ? Congratulations for this re-production. Only yesterday I was at Mt.Wilson Observatory, where Mr Huble and others did pioneering work..
That must have been an incredible experience to visit, MNKS
I have never seen such beautiful and wonderful images.
No artist can paint such images with his wisdom and colors.
In the coming years our universe would witness many more wonders.
Really great. Never seen so much of beauty.
Hi Deborah, absolutely astounding, thank you. Where did you read about the 2011 date for the JWST? I thought it was going to be later than that.
These are wonderful, yet scary at the same time.. Especially the second image!
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Absolutly amazing pictures from that thing. Infrared science has come an amazingly long way, literally in this case.
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Hi,
Nice collections. The Jupiter photo looks like it had a water in long long ago.
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