Latest news with #HubbleDeepField
Time of India
07-07-2025
- Science
- Time of India
Earth's largest camera will sweep the sky like never before
The LSST Camera A top a mountain in Chile, where the days are dry and nights are clear, a team of scientists and engineers is preparing for one of the most important astronomical missions in recent times. Among them is Kshitija Kelkar , whose life has taken an interesting turn. Twenty years ago in Pune, the city she's originally from, Kelkar sent a photo of a lunar eclipse she had taken with a digital camera to Sky and Telescope , a popular astronomy magazine. The publication accepted the photo and released it on its website under 'Photo of the Week'. Inspired, Kelkar would turn astronomy into a career, and after degrees from Fergusson College, Pune University, University of Nottingham and doctoral work on how galaxies transform in their clusters, she arrived in Chile on a grant to use telescopes for her research. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Providers are furious: Internet access without a subscription! Techno Mag Learn More Undo Today, years after that photo she took on a tiny camera, she's an observing specialist at the Vera C Rubin Observatory, looking at the sky through the largest digital camera ever assembled. On June 23, that camera released a set of photos that stunned astronomers. Caught in unprecedented detail were galaxy clusters, distant stars and nebulae. In one photo, the camera — the size of a car with a resolution of 3.2 gigapixels — snapped a nebula around 4,000 light years away. The Rubin observatory could even save Earth. In May, within just 10 hours, it found 2,104 previously undetected asteroids. Since its telescope takes images in quick succession, it's able to catch moving objects from the crowd of stars in the background that tend to stay in place. If even one space rock is headed our way, chances are first alerts would come from Rubin. Humanity does have other powerful telescopes. There's James Webb , for instance, 1.5 million kilometres away from Earth with its own very dark sky. But it's mainly for zooming into specific targets. There's James Webb's predecessor, Hubble, currently in orbit over 500km above Earth. In 1995, it took Hubble nearly a week of long exposure to generate the now-famous Hubble Deep Field image, which showed about 3,000 very distant galaxies. The Rubin Observatory, during its first test run in April, generated an image that revealed 10 million galaxies, in a matter of hours. Part of the reason why it could do that is its very mission. Unlike James Webb and Hubble, which take in small parts of the sky, Rubin is a survey telescope, which means it shows the entire big picture, not specific objects. An image it takes covers a swathe of sky equivalent to 40 full moons — Webb's cameras show a size lesser than a full moon. A single photo from Rubin is so large, one would need 400 ultra-HD TV screens to see it in its full glory. Large is ideal, given Rubin's purpose. Its primary optical instrument, named Simonyi Survey Telescope, is set to embark on a 10-year project called the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), to map the visible sky in extraordinary detail. The telescope is more than 300 tonnes of steel and glass, which is regularly cleaned using CO 2 . Over the next decade, this telescope and the giant LSST camera will take photos of the southern hemisphere sky, every 3-4 nights, to create the largest time-lapse film of the Universe ever made. Why time-lapse? Imagine you're on the terrace of your building with a camera pointed at your neighbourhood. Time-lapse would reveal the windows that opened, the lights that came on, the cars and curtains that moved and the doors that opened. Rubin observatory will do that to the Universe, find new objects and previously unknown interactions between them. 'We're going to be continuously taking 30-second images all night in different filters,' said Kelkar. 'And since we'll be observing the night sky every 30 seconds, in two back-to-back images of 15 seconds each, we'll catch any object that has changed its position or brightness.' These objects may be stars, asteroids, unnamed comets and even potential sources of gravitational waves. This is where Kelkar said it would be unfair to compare Earth's telescopes — they're meant to complement each other, not compete. Scientists, amateur astronomers and space enthusiasts the world over can sink their teeth into this data. 'People once thought the Earth was at the centre of the system. But then someone came along and said 'no, it's the Sun'. Similarly, we may find something absolutely mind-boggling, even evidence of life elsewhere,' Arvind Paranjpye, director of Nehru Planetarium in Mumbai, said. Kelkar has been at Rubin for over a year, living in the town of La Serena — a twohour drive away. Her commute to work is through scenic valleys and along the 'El Camino de las Estrellas', or the 'Route to the Stars', because of the number of astronomical observatories along the way. The route also needs light discipline, which means those driving there after dark cannot really use full-beam headlights. 'We usually have our hazard lights up,' said Kelkar. At the observatory, work begins shortly before sunset. After a check of all systems, by Kelkar and the rest of the observing specialists, they open Rubin's massive dome for night operations. The observatory's placement atop the Cerro Pachón mountain puts it well above the localised turbulent layer where warm air mixes with cooler air from above, offering a clear view of the stars. Right now, trials are on as crews perform final checks before Rubin, 20 years in the making with $800 million in construction costs, formally begins its survey later in 2025. The Legacy Survey of Space and Time will be of unprecedented scale. Remember that image Rubin released of 10 million galaxies? Well, they make up just 0.05% of nearly 20 billion galaxies the observatory will have imaged when LSST ends in a decade. Rubin may see millions of distant stars ending in supernovae and into new reaches of our own Milky Way galaxy. Some 10 million alerts to scientists are expected from the observatory every night — whenever a change is detected in the series of photos it takes. Software will automatically compare new images with the stack of older ones. If an object has moved in those photos, flashed, exploded or streaked past, the software will detect the changes and dispatch an alert, all within minutes. There's no other telescope that can do these things — detect real-time changes in the immediate sky and flashes of light from distant objects, and at such scale. In just one year, Rubin observatory will have detected more asteroids than all other telescopes combined. There's more. The Simonyi Survey Telescope, set up on a special mount, is also fast. It can quickly swivel from one wide area of sky to another — within five seconds. Nothing will miss this allseeing eye. Kelkar said word has already been sent out to experts worldwide to investigate the 2,104 newly detected asteroids. 'The telescope will be a game-changer,' she added, 'because we're giving a common dataset for all kinds of science at once. We don't need specialised observations. It's one data for all.' Kelkar was in the control room at La Serena when the first images landed. 'Twenty years of people's professional lives had come down to that moment. We're about to make a 10-year movie of the night sky, with the fastest telescope and the biggest camera ever made. It's going to be fantastic,' she said. LAST WEEK ' S QUICK QUIZ Question on June 30: Challenging the belief that oxygen is produced only through photosynthesis, scientists have found polymetallic nodules deep in the ocean producing oxygen. What's this oxygen called? Answer: It's called 'dark' oxygen Earth's Largest Camera Will Sweep The Sky Like Never Before
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Hubble snaps photo of an eerie part of the universe
NASA's school-bus-sized telescope won't quit. In what's become a brilliant investment for scientists and taxpayers alike, the Hubble Space Telescope launched into space 35 years ago, and for decades has returned detailed insights into the universe. In recognition of Hubble's longevity, NASA and the European Space Agency have released several new images from the orbiting observatory, including a rich photo of the Rosette Nebula, a sprawling star-forming region of space. It's a view into a rapidly evolving, extreme cosmic realm. "The clouds are being eroded and shaped by the seething radiation from the cluster of larger stars in the center of the nebula (NGC 2440)," ESA wrote in a statement. "An embedded star seen at the tip of a dark cloud in the upper right portion of the image is launching jets of plasma that are crashing into the cold cloud around it." SEE ALSO: NASA scientist viewed first Voyager images. What he saw gave him chills. The greater Rosette Nebula is 100 light-years across, but this view zooms into an area some 4 light-years wide (a light-year is nearly 6 trillion miles). Silhouetted in the foreground are dark, dominant, V-shaped clouds of hydrogen gas. "It looks like thick smoke that has billowed out irregularly, thicker along the line from top left to bottom right, and looser on the piece that goes toward the top right," ESA explained. At the upper right tip of this shadowy feature is a conspicuous red glow, stoked by a star blasting hot gas into the cold dark cloud, which creates shockwaves. Expansive clouds of illuminated background gas appear in vivid yellow and orange. A portion of the Rosette Nebula recently viewed by the Hubble Space Telescope. Credit: NASA / ESA / STScI Some 2,500 stars are located in the greater Rosette Nebula, which is some 5,200 light-years away in our Milky Way galaxy. Nebulae are vital engines in the cosmos, as they host clouds of dust and gas that can amass together, collapse into hot protostars, and form stars — many of which will host their own planets. Hubble has captured over 1.6 million detailed observations because it orbits 320 miles above Earth, so its observations are not distorted by our planet's thick atmosphere. It also packs a nearly 8-foot-wide mirror, allowing for a high resolution of distant objects like the Rosette Nebula. "Hubble can resolve objects 1,000 times better than the human eye," NASA explained. "That's enough to see two fireflies separated by about 10 feet (3 meters) from roughly the distance between New York City and Tokyo (about 7,000 miles or 11,000 kilometers)." Perhaps its most revolutionary image was taken three decades ago, over a period of 10 days, in 1995. The Hubble Deep Field revealed a cornucopia of galaxies, including those not previously possible to see.
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Hubble Space Telescope Is 35: Don't Miss These 4 Dazzling Anniversary Images
The most famous telescope in history has reached a major milestone -- it's 35 years old. The Hubble Space Telescope launched on a grand scientific adventure to study the cosmos on April 24, 1990. NASA and the European Space Agency are pulling out all the stops for the telescope's 35th anniversary with the reveal of four stunning new space images. The celebratory views include Mars, two nebulas and a galaxy. The variety of targets shows off Hubble's versatility and ability to see not only into deep space, but also into our own solar system. NASA dropped a host of superlatives with words like "transformative," "evocative," "engaging" and "accessible" in its anniversary release statement. It's all true. Hubble's discoveries have been covered in over 22,000 papers, but its influence reaches far beyond science journals. It has shaped the public's view of our universe through groundbreaking images like the Pillars of Creation and the Hubble Deep Field. Check out the anniversary images. Earth may be humanity's favorite planet, but Mars is a close second. Hubble turned its gaze on the red planet at the end of 2024. The crisp views highlight the planet's northern polar cap at the beginning of the Martian spring. Gauzy clouds make Mars look like a frosty marble. A white dwarf star lingers at the center of planetary nebula NGC 2899. This is one of the cosmic objects you can let your imagination run wild with. It resembles a misshapen butterfly or a moth in flight. ESA suggested the pinched middle looks like a half-eaten doughnut. Gas and dust give the nebula its unique look. All this beauty traces to the tumultuous death of its central star. Hubble's look at the Rosette Nebula focuses on a small part of a much larger formation. The nebula is a place of active star formation. "Dark clouds of hydrogen gas laced with dust are silhouetted across the image," ESA said. "The clouds are being eroded and shaped by the seething radiation from the cluster of larger stars in the center of the nebula." NGC 5335 is a barred spiral galaxy like our Milky Way. Hubble's image shows the distinctive bar across the middle of NGC 5335. "The bar channels gas inwards toward the galactic center, fueling star formation," said ESA. "Such bars are dynamic in galaxies and may come and go over two-billion-year intervals." Hubble orbits Earth. Space is a tough place to live. The telescope's designers planned to get 15 years of use out of it, but Hubble handily outlasted that goal. Hubble's longevity hasn't been easy. The telescope has weathered an array of technical problems over the years. NASA dispatched five space shuttle servicing missions to Hubble, with the last in 2009. There are no more space shuttles in operation, so the Hubble team handles all fixes from afar. That has meant some big changes to Hubble's operations, particularly with the gyroscopes that help point it in the right direction. The Hubble team has had to get creative, but they've kept the aging observatory up and running and delivering fresh science and imagery. Every Hubble anniversary feels like a triumph for the elderly space telescope. It may have a few more anniversaries left in it. NASA hopes it will continue operations into the 2030s. Long live Hubble.
