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USA Today
24-04-2025
- Science
- USA Today
Hubble Space Telescope's 35th anniversary: See NASA's new out-of-this-world images
Hubble Space Telescope's 35th anniversary: See NASA's new out-of-this-world images The Hubble Space Telescope, launched 35 years ago, has blown our minds with its striking images of far-away galaxies, black holes and planets including Jupiter and Mars. Show Caption Hide Caption Hubble snaps photo of dusty Magellanic cloud in Tarantula nebula New image from the Hubble Space Telescope peers into a dusty region of space - home to some of the largest stars know to man. During its 35 years of orbiting the Earth, the Hubble Space Telescope has transmitted endless streams of magnificent images, confirmed the existence of "dark matter," and helped track a vagabond black hole moving through the Milky Way. To celebrate the Hubble telescope's 35th anniversary, NASA released some striking new images on Wednesday, including a bold rendition of Mars and a stunning photo of a moth-shaped nebula with a white dwarf star in the middle. Built by Lockheed Martin in Sunnyvale, California, the Hubble Space Telescope was launched on the space shuttle Discovery from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 24, 1990. Since it orbits above the Earth, it can capture better cosmic images than telescopes on the ground. Hubble has made more than 1.6 million observations over the course of its lifetime, NASA says. And Hubble's discoveries have spawned more than 21,000 peer-reviewed science papers. The James Webb Space Telescope, which orbits the sun, has captured much space news attention, but it certainly hasn't put Hubble out of business. What is the Hubble Space Telescope? The Hubble telescope was designed to be the first space-based observatory, which could be serviced and upgraded while it remained in orbit. It was named after Edwin Hubble, the astronomer who showed that other galaxies existed beyond our own and came up with a classification scheme distinguishing galaxies by shape. About the same size as a school bus, the Hubble telescope uses three types of instruments to capture images across the universe: Cameras: Hubble has two cameras – the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), which is primarily used for visible-light imaging, according to NASA. The Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) views infrared and ultraviolet wavelengths for higher resolution, deeper images. The ACS was repaired and the WFC3 was installed during a May 2009 servicing mission involving five spacewalks by astronauts from the space shuttle Atlantis. Hubble has two cameras – the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), which is primarily used for visible-light imaging, according to NASA. The Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) views infrared and ultraviolet wavelengths for higher resolution, deeper images. The ACS was repaired and the WFC3 was installed during a May 2009 servicing mission involving five spacewalks by astronauts from the space shuttle Atlantis. Spectrographs: The Cosmic Origins Spectrograph is the most sensitive ultraviolet spectrograph ever, capturing light and breaking it down to assess temperature, density, chemical composition, and velocity of objects, such as stars and quasars. The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph, also repaired in 2009, captures many forms of light, including ultraviolet to near-infrared light. The Cosmic Origins Spectrograph is the most sensitive ultraviolet spectrograph ever, capturing light and breaking it down to assess temperature, density, chemical composition, and velocity of objects, such as stars and quasars. The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph, also repaired in 2009, captures many forms of light, including ultraviolet to near-infrared light. Interferometers: The telescope has three Fine Guidance Sensors used to target and measure the relative positions and brightness of stars. Mike Snider is a reporter on USA TODAY's Trending team. You can follow him on Threads, Bluesky, X and email him at mikegsnider & @ & @mikesnider & msnider@ What's everyone talking about? Sign up for our trending newsletter to get the latest news of the day
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
NASA just shared a space optical illusion 20 years in the making
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Believe it or not, we've seen a few optical illusions in space over the year. Well, we haven't seen them – the Hubble telescope has. NASA has been sharing photographs depicting unusual phenomena among the stars for a while now, but today's example might be the most impressive yet. In a post titled 'Hubble Sees a Spiral and a Star' on its website, NASA describes how the photo features a sparkling spiral galaxy paired with a prominent star, both in the constellation Virgo. But since the star is in an entirely different galaxy, their proximity is an illusion. Like all the best optical illusions, it's a bit of a head-scratcher. And it turns out the image represents two decades of space observation. "This image combines data from two of Hubble's instruments: the Advanced Camera for Surveys, installed in 2002 and still in operation today, and the older Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2, which was in use from 1993 to 2009," explains NASA. "The data used here were taken more than 20 years apart for two different observing programs — a real testament to Hubble's long scientific lifetime!" From a galaxy that looks like penguin to these breathtaking full moons, it turns out the world of outer space is a celestial treasure trove of illusions. Need convincing? Check out these 4 reality-defying optical illusions in space.
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Gorgeous Hubble telescope image was 20 years in the making: Space photo of the day
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. This Hubble Space Telescope image shows a spiral galaxy and a bright star, both in the constellation Virgo. The two celestial bodies appear to be close to one another but in actuality, they are far apart. This stunning image by the Hubble Space Telescope contains an optical illusion. The spiral galaxy, referred to by astronomers as NGC 4900, appears to be sharing space with a brilliant star, which stands out due to its prominent diffraction spikes, is in our own galaxy, the Milky Way, and is 7,109 light-years from Earth. The galaxy, on the other hand, is about 45 million light years away. The star and galaxy are not the only details separated in this image. It is also the product of two different Hubble Space Telescope instruments from two different eras of its use 20 years apart, NASA wrote in a statement accompanying the image. The data was recorded by both the Advanced Camera for Surveys, which was installed in 2002 and is still in operation, and the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2, which was added in 1993 and removed in 2009. The data was collected for two different observing programs. Both were focused on better understanding the demise of massive stars, but in one, the study was aimed at the sites of past supernovas (like NGC 4900) to estimate the masses of the stars that exploded and learn more about how the powerful events interact with their surroundings. The other program provided the foundation for studying future supernovae by collecting images of more than 150 nearby galaxies. When supernova in one of these galaxies is detected, researchers can refer to the baseline images. Identifying details in pre-explosion images can help inform the how, when and why supernovas occur. You can read more about supernovas and the affect they had on Earth, possibly triggering two mass extinctions in our past. Or see a Hubble Space Telescope image of a rare supernova explosion. You can also see another stunning image taken by Hubble, this one of a spiral starbust galaxy.
