Latest news with #EagleNebula
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Space photo of the week: Record-breaking James Webb telescope image captures 1,678 galaxy groups at once
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. What it is: Thousands of galaxy groups from the early universe Where it is: 12 billion light-years away in the constellation Sextans When it was shared: April 29, 2025 Why it's so special: Sitting across a part of the night sky that looks away from the Milky Way and into the distant universe, the constellation Leo, the lion, is known to astronomers as the realm of the galaxies. But when the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) peered next to the lion, it revealed astounding new details. In the tiny constellation Sextans, JWST detected groups of galaxies up to 12 billion light-years away. The universe is 13.8 billion years old, so these galaxies date back to the universe's early years. Just as gravity causes moons to orbit planets, planets to orbit stars and stars to orbit the centers of their galaxies, galaxies themselves orbit each other to create gravitationally bound groups, according to NASA. This largest-ever sample of 1,678 galaxy groups is helping astronomers figure out what the early universe was like and how it has changed over the past 12 billion years. Related: Scientists spot a 'dark nebula' being torn apart by rowdy infant stars — offering clues about our own solar system's past Galaxies that existed in the early universe had irregular shapes and formed lots of stars, while galaxies that formed later appear more symmetrical and structured, with elliptical and spiral galaxies — like our Milky Way. "Like humans, galaxies come together and make families,' Ghassem Gozaliasl, a researcher in astronomy at Aalto University, head of the galaxy groups detection team and lead author of a study on the findings accepted for publication in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics, said in a statement. "Groups and clusters are really important because within them galaxies can interact and merge together, resulting in the transformation of galaxy structure and morphology.' In these galaxies, astronomers can also study dark matter, supermassive black holes and the gas between galaxies. RELATED STORIES —Space photo of the week: Iconic 'Eagle Nebula' gets a major glow-up on Hubble's 35th anniversary —James Webb telescope reveals truth about 'impossible' black hole thought to be feeding at 40 times the theoretical limit —42 jaw-dropping James Webb Space Telescope images NASA has a long history of turning its space telescopes to face the universe at large to take "deep field" images. The first was the Hubble Deep Field in 1995, which included about 3,000 distant galaxies. According to NASA, the installation of a new camera in 2002 enabled the even more impressive Hubble Ultra Deep Field in 2004, which revealed almost 10,000 galaxies, some existing when the universe was just 800 million years old. That was followed by the Hubble eXtreme Deep Field, which uncovered 5,500 galaxies up to 13.2 billion light-years away. However, it didn't take long after its launch for JWST to better its optical forerunner, in 2022 delivering its first deep field of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 as it appeared 4.6 billion years ago — one of the deepest, sharpest infrared images of the distant universe to date. JWST followed that up with a deep-field image of Pandora's Cluster in February 2023. For more sublime space images, check out our Space Photo of the Week archives.
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
5 dazzling interstellar images to celebrate Hubble's 35th birthday
This week, the famed NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope turns 35 years-young. Launched on April 24 1990, the space telescope fundamentally changed our understanding of the universe. In its over three decades of service, Hubble has taken over 1.6 million observations, traveled 13.4 billion light-years, and roughly 21,000 peer-reviewed scientific papers have been published back home on Earth about its discoveries. Hubble also snapped the first space-based images of an asteroid breaking, the first confirmation that the Andromeda Galaxy will collide with our Milky Way Galaxy, and many more famous firsts. In celebration of its big birthday, gaze at five recent images taken by the famed telescope. An earlier image of the Eagle Nebula–aka called Messier 16–was included as part of Hubble's 15th anniversary celebration in 2005. This year, Hubble is using new image processing techniques to show this star factory in a new light. According to the European Space Agency (ESA), a pillar of cold gas and dust 9.5 light-years tall is unfurling along the length of the new image. The dust and gas pillar is only one part of the Eagle Nebula, whose name is inspired by its appearance. Dark clouds shape the nebula's shining edge, and look like a majestic eagle spreading its wings. It is roughly 7,000 light-years away from Earth near the famous Pillars of Creation, which Hubble has imaged multiple times and was one of the early images sent back by the newer James Webb Space Telescope. Spiral galaxy Messier 77, also called the Squid Galaxy, sits 45 million light-years away in the constellation Cetus (The Whale). The name Squid Galaxy refers to the extended, filamentary structure curling around M77's disk-like the tentacles of a squid. Hubble previously released an image of the Squid Galaxy in 2013. This image released on April 18 incorporates the space telescope's recent observations made with different filters. It also used updated image processing techniques, which allow astronomers to see this spiral galaxy in more detail. Hubble's first observation made in infrared, optical, and ultraviolet wavelengths shows a new look at a young star cluster NGC 346. The 'star-forming factory' is home to more than 2,500 newborn stars. Some of its biggest stars are even larger than our sun and shine with an intense blue light in this image. Remnants of the births from many of the stars in the cluster glow in the sparkling pink nebula and dark clouds. NGC 346 is in the Small Magellanic Cloud. This satellite galaxy of our home Milky Way galaxy is about 200,000 light-years away in the constellation Tucana. The Small Magellanic Cloud has less elements heavier than helium than the Milky Way with conditions more similar to what existed in the earliest days of the universe. Even with a seemingly infinite amount of elbow room, sometimes galaxies stick together thanks to gravity. Arp 105 is one of these. It's an ongoing merger between elliptical galaxy NGC 3561B and spiral galaxy NGC 3561A, characterized by a long tidal tail of stars and gas that is more than 362,000 light-years long. This unique shape gives this cosmic merger its nickname: The Guitar. The long lane of dark dust coming from elliptical galaxy NGC 3561B may be feeding the bright blue star-forming area on the base of the guitar. This region known as Ambartsumian's Knot is a tidal dwarf galaxy. These are a type of star-forming system that develops from the debris in tidal arms of interacting galaxies, according to NASA. The Sombrero Galaxy is about 30 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. It boasts a softly luminous bulge and sharply outlined disc, which resemble the rounded crown and broad brim of a sombrero. Hubble has imaged this 'fan-favorite' galaxy several times in the past 20 years, including a well-known image from October 2003. This new image reveals finer detail in the galaxy's disc, as well as more background stars and galaxies. While it is packed with stars, the Sombrero Galaxy is not really a major area of star formation. However, it does surround a supermassive black hole that is more than 2,000 times bigger than the Milky Way's central black hole. For more on Hubble's 35th anniversary, you can download NASA's eBook Hubble's Beautiful Universe.
Yahoo
19-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Space picture of the day for April 18, 2025
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The Hubble Space Telescope has re-imaged the Eagle Nebula, 20 years after it did so to mark 15 years of service. This time, astronomers have used new processing techniques to draw out additional details in celebration of the telescope's upcoming 35th anniversary. A cosmic cloud of cold hydrogen gas, this towering pillar is part of the Eagle Nebula. It is here where new stars are born among the collapsing clouds. "Hot, energetic and formed in great numbers, the stars unleash an onslaught of ultraviolet light and stellar winds that sculpt the gas clouds around them. This produces fantastical shapes like the narrow pillar with blossoming head that we see here," reads a caption for the image prepared by the Hubble Space Telescope team. The thick and opaque material in the pillar is outlined by the glow of more distant gas behind it. The blue colors in the background are from ionized oxygen; the red lower down is glowing hydrogen. Orange indicates starlight peeking through the dust: bluer wavelengths are blocked by dust, leaving only the redder light to shine through. This 9.5-light-year-tall (or about 90 trillion kilometers) pillar is just a small section of the Eagle Nebula, also known as Messier 16. This tower of gas and dust is located near the iconic "Pillars of Creation" revealed by the Hubble Space Telescope in 1995 and 2015. The Eagle Nebula is one of many nebulae in the Milky Way, located about 5,700 light-years from Earth. This image is part of a series of observations being made to mark 35 years of observations for the Hubble Space Telescope. Deployed into orbit by the space shuttle Discovery in April 1990, the orbiting observatory became famous for its ability to be repaired and upgraded by astronauts, enabling stunning views of our universe like this one. You and see and read more about another Hubble Space Telescope 35th anniversary image, this one of the Sombrero Galaxy. You can also read more about the Eagle Nebula and what the same area looks like in the infrared.
