Images: Stunning images from Hubble Telescope's 25 years in orbit
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - One of NASA's crowning glories, the Hubble Space Telescope, marks its 25th anniversary this week.
With 1 million-plus observations, including those of some of the farthest and oldest galaxies ever beheld by humanity, no man-made satellite has touched as many minds or hearts as Hubble.
NASA is celebrating Friday's anniversary with ceremonies this week at the Smithsonian Institution and Newseum in Washington.
"Hubble has become part of our culture - very much," said NASA's science mission chief, John Grunsfeld, a former astronaut who flew on the final three Hubble repair missions.
Giant Mosaic of the Crab NebulaThis mosaic image, one of the largest ever taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope of the Crab Nebula, is a six-light-year-wide expanding remnant of a star's supernova explosion.
Light and Shadow in the Carina NebulPreviously unseen details of a mysterious, complex structure within the Carina Nebula (NGC 3372) are revealed by this image obtained by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. The picture is a montage assembled from four different April 1999 telescope pointings with Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2, which used six different color filters.
Cat's Eye Hubble RemiStaring across interstellar space, the alluring Cat's Eye Nebula lies 3,000 light-years from Earth. The Cat's Eye (NGC 6543) represents a brief, yet glorious, phase in the life of a sun-like star. This nebula's dying central star may have produced the simple, outer pattern of dusty concentric shells by shrugging off outer layers.
Lonely GalaxyAstronomers have long puzzled over why a small, nearby, isolated galaxy is pumping out new stars faster than any galaxy in our local neighborhood. Now NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has helped astronomers solve the mystery of the loner starburst galaxy, called NGC 1569.
The Butterfly NebulThe bright clusters and nebulae of planet Earth's night sky are often named for flowers or insects. Though its wingspan covers over 3 light-years, NGC 6302 is no exception. With an estimated surface temperature of about 250,000 degrees C, the dying central star of this particular planetary nebula has become exceptionally hot.
Omega Centauri -- NASA's Hubble Space Telescope snapped this panoramic view of a colorful assortment of 100,000 stars residing in the crowded core of a giant star cluster. This is one of the first images taken by the new Wide Field Camera 3 that was installed aboard Hubble in May 2009 during Servicing Mission 4.
Eskimo Nebula -- This stellar relic, first spied by William Herschel in 1787, is nicknamed the Eskimo Nebula (NGC 2392) because, when viewed through ground-based telescopes, it resembles a face surrounded by a fur parka. In this Hubble telescope image, the 'parka' is really a disk of material embellished with a ring of comet-shaped objects.
The Eagle Nebula -- Appearing like a winged fairy-tale creature poised on a pedestal, this object is actually a billowing tower of cold gas and dust rising in the Eagle Nebula. The soaring pillar is 9.5 light-years, or about 57 trillion miles, high, about twice the distance from our Sun to the nearest star.
Runaway Star -- A heavy runaway star is rushing away from a nearby stellar nursery at more than 250,000 miles an hour, a speed at which one could travel to the our moon and back in two hours. This is the most extreme case of a very massive star that has been kicked out of its home by a group of even heftier siblings.
A Galactic Spectacle -- A beautiful new image of two colliding galaxies has been released by NASA's Great Observatories.
Hubble's LagoonLike brush strokes on a canvas, ridges of color seem to flow across the Lagoon Nebula, a canvas nearly 3 light-years wide. The colors map emission from ionized gas in the nebula were recorded by the Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys. Also known as M8, the nebula is a star-forming region in the constellation Sagittarius.
Seeing RedThis image by the Hubble Space Telescope shows a dramatic view of the spiral galaxy M51, dubbed the Whirlpool Galaxy. Seen in near-infrared light, most of the starlight has been removed, revealing the Whirlpool's skeletal dust structure. This new image is the sharpest view of the dense dust in M51. The narrow lanes of dust revealed by Hubble reflec
Cosmic PearlsTwo decades ago, astronomers spotted one of the brightest exploding stars in more than 400 years. Since that first sighting, the doomed star, called Supernova 1987A, has continued to fascinate astronomers with its spectacular light show. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope is one of many observatories that has been monitoring the aftermath.
First Supernova Companion Star FoundIn 2004, an international team of astronomers had, for the first time, observed a stellar "survivor" emerge from a double star system involving an exploded supernova. Supernovae are some of the most significant sources of chemical elements in the universe, and they are at the heart of our understanding of the evolution of galaxies.
Preview of a Forthcoming SupernovaNASA's Hubble Telescope captured an image of Eta Carinae. This image consists of ultraviolet and visible light images from the High Resolution Channel of Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys. The field of view is approximately 30 arcseconds across.
A New View of the Tarantula Nebula
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has produced an incredibly detailed image of a pair of overlapping galaxies called NGC 3314. While the two galaxies look as if they are in the midst of a collision, this is in fact a trick of perspective: the two are in chance alignment from our vantage point.
A Cosmic Holiday Ornament, Hubble-Style'Tis the season for holiday decorating and tree-trimming. Not to be left out, astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have photographed a festive-looking nearby planetary nebula called NGC 5189. The intricate structure of this bright gaseous nebula resembles a glass-blown holiday ornament with a glowing ribbon entwined.
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope provides us this week with a spectacular image of the bright star-forming ring that surrounds the heart of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1097.
LL Ori and the Orion NebulaThis esthetic close-up of cosmic clouds and stellar winds features LL Orionis, interacting with the Orion Nebula flow. Adrift in Orion's stellar nursery and still in its formative years, variable star LL Orionis produces a wind more energetic than the wind from our own middle-aged Sun.
Whirlpool Galaxy M51 (NGC 5194)Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)N. Scoville (Caltech)
Light Echoes from V838 MonWhat caused this outburst of V838 Mon? For reasons unknown, star V838 Mon's outer surface suddenly greatly expanded with the result that it became the brightest star in the entire Milky Way Galaxy in January 2002. Then, just as suddenly, it faded. A stellar flash like this had never been seen before.
Hubble Sees a Horsehead of a Different ColorAstronomers have used NASA's Hubble Space Telescope to photograph the iconic Horsehead Nebula in a new, infrared light to mark the 23rd anniversary of the famous observatory's launch aboard the space shuttle Discovery on April 24, 1990.
To celebrate its 24th year in orbit, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has released this beautiful new image of part of NGC 2174, also known as the Monkey Head Nebula.
Taking centre stage in this new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image is a galaxy known as NGC 3081, set against an assortment of glittering galaxies in the distance.
With its helical appearance resembling a snail's shell, this reflection nebula seems to spiral out from a luminous central star in this new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image.
The bright streak of glowing gas and stars in this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image is known as PGC 51017, or SBSG 1415+437. It is type of galaxy known as a blue compact dwarf.
NGC 7714 is a spiral galaxy 100 million light-years from Earth - a relatively close neighbour in cosmic terms.
Hubble's Messier 5
This new Hubble image shows a peculiar galaxy known as NGC 660, located around 45 million light-years away from us.
This stunning new Hubble image shows a small part of the Large Magellanic Cloud, one of the closest galaxies to our own.
This new Hubble image is centred on NGC 5793, a spiral galaxy over 150 million light-years away in the constellation of Libra.
This new Hubble image shows NGC 1566, a beautiful galaxy located approximately 40 million light-years away in the constellation of Dorado (The Dolphinfish).
The subject of this new Hubble image is NGC 5474, a dwarf galaxy located 21 million light-years away in the constellation of Ursa Major (The Great Bear).
This view, captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, shows a nearby spiral galaxy known as NGC 1433.
This new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows a variety of intriguing cosmic phenomena. Surrounded by bright stars, towards the upper middle of the frame we see a small young stellar object (YSO) known as SSTC2D J033038.2+303212.
This new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows a beautiful spiral galaxy known as PGC 54493, located in the constellation of Serpens (The Serpent).
The brightly glowing plumes seen in this image are reminiscent of an underwater scene, with turquoise-tinted currents and nebulous strands reaching out into the surroundings. However, this is no ocean. This image actually shows part of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a small nearby galaxy that orbits our galaxy, the Milky Way, and appears as a blurred blob in our skies.
This new image from Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 showcases NGC 1501, a complex planetary nebula located in the large but faint constellation of Camelopardalis (The Giraffe).
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope observes some of the most beautiful galaxies in our skies - spirals sparkling with bright stellar nurseries (heic1403), violent duos ripping gas and stars away from one another as they tangle together (heic1311), and ethereal irregular galaxies that hang like flocks of birds suspended in the blackness of space (heic1114, heic1207).
The subject of this image is NGC 6861, a galaxy discovered in 1826 by the Scottish astronomer James Dunlop.
This Picture of the Week shows Arp 230, also known as IC 51, observed by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.
This is NGC 7814, also known as the "Little Sombrero". Its larger namesake the Sombrero Galaxy is another stunning example of an edge-on galaxy.
Some cosmic objects move a little further than others - take the subject of this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image, a globular cluster of stars known as Palomar 12. Although it currently lies on the outskirts of the Milky Way's halo, Palomar 12 was not born here.
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