Category Archives: Hubble Telescope

BGR

Hubble just delivered one of the most gorgeous space photos ever BGR The past few weeks have been jam-packed with stunning imagery from Saturn, delivered courtesy of the Cassini spacecraft. Now, almost as if to say Hey, remember me?, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has grabbed our attention with what is almost ... Bright star upstages galaxy in new Hubble telescope photoMashable Hubble Space Telescope Looks at NGC 5917 | Astronomy | Sci ...Sci-News.com James Webb Space Telescope will soon leave NASA Goddard for next phase of testingBaltimore Sun Space.com -The TeCake -Tech2 (blog) all 11 news articles »

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Hubble just delivered one of the most gorgeous space photos ever - BGR

NASA finally unfurled the James Webb Space Telescope! The JWST has been undergoing acoustic and vibration testing for months, but its been fully opened because now its time for the next phase of testing. That will take place at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX. There, mission techs and scientists will test and calibrate the telescopes instruments. The James Webb Space Telescope is the scientific successor to the Hubble telescope. Behold here the completely opened telescope mirror in all its glossy, high-tech beauty:

Bears a certain resemblance to an extremely sciencey daffodil. Image: NASA

While the JWST has yet to launch, theres no turning back for Cassini: its flyby of Titan early this week altered its orbit in a way that means it cant avoid crashing into Saturn this September. Starting April 26th, the spacecraft is scheduled to make a series of 22 dives between Saturns rings and its surface. Then its mission will end for good as Cassini crashes into Saturn. Were sending it to dive into Saturn because scientists believe that environment would immediately kill any Earthly microbes that somehow managed to live through Cassinis mission in some crevice on the orbiter. Its better that we not accidentally contaminate Enceladus with Earthly lifeforms that could cause headaches later.

With this flyby [of Titan], were committed to the Grand Finale, said Earl Maize, Cassini project manager at JPL, in a statement. The spacecraft is now on a ballistic path, so that even if we were to forgo future small course adjustments using thrusters, we would still enter Saturns atmosphere on Sept. 15 no matter what.

And then theres the bricks.

Youve probably heard of rebar, those steel rods we use to reinforce concrete. You may also have heard of fiber-reinforced concrete. Its cool stuff; we use it for bridges and other applications where extreme bending forces will be applied to the concrete, because the fibers make the concrete less likely to crack under the combined tension and compression. Some scientists figured out that by taking soil samples like Martian regolith, putting them in a mold and applying an amount of force equivalent to beating the daylights out of them with a ten-pound sledgehammer, they were able to produce rammed-earth (rammed-regolith?) bricks that held up better than fibercrete.

How? The iron oxide in the regolith fuses under the hammering, forming a mesh-like network of iron oxide fibers throughout the brick. Like fibercrete and rebar all in one. So, Mars colonists could make these bricks to construct homes and other facilities out of in situ materials without having to ship massive amounts of building materials from Earth.

Now read: The 25 Best Hubble Space Telescope Images

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This Week in Space: Cassini, the James Webb Space Telescope, and Bricks - ExtremeTech

Twenty-seven years after it launched into orbit, the Hubble Space Telescope continues to snap spectacular views of the cosmos. The aging space observatory, which launched into low Earth orbit on April 24, 1990, kicked off this year's birthday celebration with somedazzling new views of a pair of spiral galaxies.

NASA released the photos Thursday (April 20), just a few days before the anniversary. The images show NGC 4302 and NGC 4298, two neighboring pinwheel galaxies that have similar structures yet look completely different. NGC 4298 is clearly a spiral galaxy like the Milky Way, but NGC 4302 looks more like a glowing bar of stars. Because we see NGC 4302 edge-on, its spiral shape is not apparent.

In celebration of the 27th anniversary of the launch of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope on April 24, 1990, astronomers used the legendary telescope to take a portrait of a stunning pair of spiral galaxies. The edge-on galaxy is called NGC 4302, and the tilted galaxy is named NGC 4298.

"This starry pair offers a glimpse of what our Milky Way galaxy would look like to an outside observer," Hubble scientists said in a statement. [Celestial Photos: Hubble Space Telescope's Latest Cosmic Views]

Both of these spiral galaxies lie about 55 million light-years away, in the constellation Coma Berenices, also known as "the Wig." They're also members of the Virgo Cluster, which contains up to 2,000 galactic neighbors.

This view from the Hubble Space Telescope zeroes in on a small, random location of the sky that is filled with distant spiral galaxies. The image was taken with Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys while Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 was imaging NGC 4302 and NGC 4298. (Space telescopes can multitask, too!)

The famous astronomer William Herschel discovered both galaxies in 1784, but he originally called them "spiral nebulas" because he did not know that they were distant galaxies.

More than a century later, astronomer and cosmologist Edwin Hubble realized that these "spiral nebulas" were actually galaxies. Another century later, NASA named the Hubble Space Telescope after him.

This image shows the same two galaxies imaged with Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) in two different light channels infrared (IR) and ultraviolet/visible light (UVIS) with different color filters. Because infrared light can pierce through interstellar dust, more stars are visible in the infrared images.

The Hubble Space Telescope is a joint project between NASA and the European Space Agency. Since its launch 27 years ago, it has imaged more than 42,000 celestial objects and circled Earth nearly 148,000 times while racking up 3.8 billion "frequent-flier miles," Hubble scientists said.

Email Hanneke Weitering at hweitering@space.com or follow her @hannekescience. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.

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Spiral Galaxies Shimmer in Hubble Telescope's 27th Birthday Photos - Space.com

Since it left Earth on April 24, 1990, the Hubble telescope has delivered again and again stunning snapshots of the vast universe around us, and kept us in awe of the marvels of space. To mark the 27th anniversary of the telescopes launch, NASA has released this epic image of two galaxies captured in one frame.

The image, which was released by NASA on April 20, captures two galaxies located 55 million lightyears away from Earth in the constellation Coma Berenices, in the Virgo Cluster of close to 2,000 galaxies. The level of detail is stunning, largely because the distance between us and the galaxies is close in cosmic terms, says Zolt Levay, an image processing specialist at the Space Telescope Science Institute, the research center responsible for the Hubble. The image is a composite of several dozen exposures, stitching together images that captured different colors and portions of the featured areas.

Being able to spot two neighboring galaxies so close together is rare, says Levay, although not unprecedented. In 2015, the Hubble captured an image of two merging galaxies in one picture. The distribution of galaxies is uneven, Levay says. While most of the separation between galaxies is very very large, they do occur in groups, and they do occur relatively close to each other.

In the animation above, the galaxy on the left of the final image, NGC 4302, is known as an edge-on galaxy. It appears elongated because it is tilted at 90, so we are viewing the frisbee-shaped galaxy from the side.

The center that appears as a dark lane is dust that absorbs light, striking a contrast with the stars that run on both sides.

The other galaxy, NGC 4298, is a spiral galaxy. Its tilted at 70, and therefore appears as a flattened oval.

According to NASA, the edge-on galaxy is about 87,000 lightyears in diameter, just slightly smaller than our own Milky Way. The diameter of the spiral galaxy featured in the image is 45,000 lightyears, merely a third of the size of the Milky Ways diameter.

The Hubble observations were taken between Jan. 2 and Jan. 22.

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NASA's Hubble telescope captured two galaxies in one epic photo - Quartz

Sacramento Bee

On its birthday, Hubble telescope keeps reaching out for deep-space secrets Sacramento Bee The Hubble Space Telescope turns 27 on Thursday, marking another milestone for earth's eye on space that has brought immense amounts of new knowledge down to the home planet during its lifetime. In a post on its Facebook page, the National ... Galaxies snuggle up in Hubble 27th anniversary imageCNET Hubble team celebrates telescope's 27th birthday with a double scoop of galaxiesGeekWire Hubble celebrates 27 years with two close friendsScience Daily UPI.com -eNews Park Forest -KHOU all 13 news articles »

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On its birthday, Hubble telescope keeps reaching out for deep-space secrets - Sacramento Bee

Interested in galaxies? We have got something for you.

Images of a galaxy turning gas into newborn stars were shared online and the internet just couldn't handle itself.

The galaxy seemed to be turning gas into newborn stars faster than it can replenish its gas supply and is churning out new stars at a prodigious rate.

The stunning new images were captured by the Hubble Space Telescope suing Hubble's wide field camera 3.

NGC 4536 is found within the Virgo constellation, 50 million light-years from Earth. The galaxy boasts several regions of intense star formation. The star formation frenzies within NGC 4536 are bolstered by an intense concentration of gas.

Astronomers aren't sure exactly how the galaxy came to possess so much gas. It's possible NGC 4536 acquired it during a galactic collision.

Stars born in starburst regions tend to burn fast and die young, consuming large amounts of gas very quickly. This makes them easy to identify. Their insatiable appetite gives off massive amounts of ultraviolet light, which excites nearby hydrogen atoms and turns nearby gas clouds into a kaleidoscope of blues and yellows.

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Hubble telescope captures stunning image of starbursts in Virgo ... - Geo News, Pakistan

Two moons - one of Saturn, the other of Jupiter - show evidence of the ingredients needed to support life, NASA said on Thursday.

The findings on Saturn's moon Enceladus were captured by the Cassini space probe, which has been orbiting Saturn for 13 years. The findings on Jupiter's moon Europa were discovered by the Hubble telescope, NASA said at a news conference in Washington.

NASA scientists said huge plumes spewing gases on the surface of Enceladus indicate the presence of hydrogen gas, which could potentially provide a chemical energy source for microbial life. The source of the plumes is hydrothermal activity on the floor of an Enceladus ocean.

According to dpa, researchers with the Cassini mission said ample hydrogen in the ocean of Enceladus means that microbes - if any exist there - could use it to obtain energy by combining the hydrogen with carbon dioxide dissolved in the water.

On Jupiter's moon Europa, the Hubble telescope observed probable plumes erupting last year, indicating what they believe is a form of chemical energy that life can feed on. These were observed at the same location where Hubble saw evidence of a plume in 2014.

The images from Europa bolster evidence that its plumes could be a real phenomenon, flaring up intermittently in the same region, NASA said.

This is the closest we've come, so far, to identifying a place with some of the ingredients needed for a habitable environment, said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate.

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NASA finds evidence of ingredients to support life on two moons - Emirates 24|7

Uranus is not just a featureless ball of bluish-green gas.

Bright auroras light up the planet's atmosphere in two newly released photos, which combine observations by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and the agency's Voyager 2 probe. (Voyager 2 flew by Uranus in 1986 as part of a "grand tour" of the solar system's outer planets that the spacecraft performed with its twin, Voyager 1.)

Uranus' auroras are driven by the same basic processes that cause auroras here on Earth, which are also known as the northern and southern lights. [Take a Video Look at the Auroras on Uranus]

"Auroras are caused by streams of charged particles like electrons that come from various origins such as solar winds, the planetary ionosphere and moon volcanism," NASA and European Space Agency (ESA) officials wrote in an image description today (April 10). (Hubble is a joint NASA/ESA mission.)

Bright auroras are clearly visible in this composite photo of Uranus, which combines two different observations made by NASAs Hubble Space Telescope (one each for the planets rings and auroras) and one image by the agencys Voyager 2 probe, which flew by Uranus in 1986.

"They become caught in powerful magnetic fields and are channeled into the upper atmosphere, where their interactions with gas particles, such as oxygen or nitrogen, set off spectacular bursts of light," they added.

This isn't the first Uranus aurora observation for Hubble; the telescope also captured them back in November 2011.

The butt of solar system jokes, Uranus is also a spectacular blue planet still hiding many scientific secrets. See how much you know:

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Uranus Quiz: How Well Do You Know the Tilted Planet?

The butt of solar system jokes, Uranus is also a spectacular blue planet still hiding many scientific secrets. See how much you know:

The newly released photos also show Uranus' ring system, which appears to circle the planet's poles. But the rings actually gird Uranus' equator, just like those of Saturn: Uranus orbits the sun on its side, with the planet's spin axis pointing nearly directly at the star. Astronomers think the gas giant was knocked off-kilter long ago by a collision with an Earth-size planet, or perhaps by a series of impacts with smaller objects.

Uranus is the third-largest planet in the solar system, with a diameter about four times that of Earth. Uranus lies about 19 times farther from the sun than our planet does, and it takes 84 Earth years to complete one orbit.

The Hubble telescope launched on April 24, 1990, aboard the space shuttle Discovery and was deployed a day later. The space telescope is still going strong, as is Voyager 2; the spacecraft, which launched in 1977, is currently about 12.8 billion miles (20.6 billion kilometers) from Earth and is expected to pop free into interstellar space soon. Voyager 1 entered interstellar space in August 2012 and is also still sending data home to its handlers.

Follow Mike Wall on Twitter@michaeldwallandGoogle+.Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebookor Google+. Originally published onSpace.com.

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Auroras on Uranus Dazzle in New Hubble Telescope Views - Space.com

Theres more evidence that plumes of water are erupting from underneath the crust of Jupiters moon Europa. NASA announced the findings today at a press conference, at the same time that the agency also announced new clues that Saturns moon Enceladus may have the right conditions for life.

A possible plume was spotted in 2016 by NASAs Hubble Space Telescope, which is currently in orbit around Earth. At the time, the telescope imaged what looked like a 62-mile-high water plume in ultraviolet light. A similar watery eruption on Europa has been observed before. In 2014, Hubble saw a potential plume that reached 30 miles high, and it was spewing from the same spot as the one in 2016. That means these plumes may be consistently erupting from one region.

NASA isnt saying that these are actual plumes just yet, but if they do exist theyre probably coming from the vast saltwater ocean that is thought to lurk underneath Europas surface. These plumes also seem to be coming from a particularly warm region on the moon, where there are cracks in the icy crust. Its possible that the water being vented from the sea floor underneath this spot is warming the crust. Or maybe the plume materials are falling back to the surface, changing the crust in such a way so that it stays warm.

Either way, this site on Europa could serve as a great place to visit, and NASA is currently making a spacecraft to do just that. The Europa Clipper mission, which is supposed to launch in the 2020s, involves sending a vehicle to the ocean moon that will periodically fly by the world and collect crucial data. Europa Clipper will also be equipped with an ultraviolet imager like Hubble, but the images it takes will be thousands of times closer. And more refined instruments will be able to figure out what the particles surrounding Europa are made of.

If there are plumes on Europa, as we now strongly suspect, with the Europa Clipper we will be ready for them, Jim Green, NASAs director of planetary science, said in a statement.

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NASA's Hubble telescope spots potential water plumes on Europa ... - The Verge

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Images taken from the NASA and European Space Agency (ESA) spacecrafts of Voyager2 and the Hubble Space Telescope show beautiful white auroras hovering over Uranus.

Auroras occur on the chillingly blue seventh planet farthest from the sun in the sam fashion as they do here on Earth.

Auroras here and on Uranus form when atmospheric molecules and energetic particles collide to create light.

A statement from the ESA and NASA adds: They become caught in powerful magnetic fields and are channeled into the upper atmosphere, where their interactions with gas particles, such as oxygen or nitrogen, set off spectacular bursts of light.

ESA/Hubble & NASA, L. Lamy/Observatoire de Paris

However, auroras on Earth typically stick to regions near to the north and south poles.

But as the statement explains: By watching the auroras over time, they collected the first direct evidence that these powerful shimmering regions rotate with the planet.

GETTY

Uranus sits about 19 times farther from the Sun that Earth does and is the third larges planet in the solar system behind Saturn and Jupiter.

Auroras were also spotted on Jupiter, aptly named the King of the Solar System due to it being the far biggest planet in our galactic neighbourhood, last year but the auroras there are unique.

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Aurora lights reflect in lagoon, Jokulsarlon, Iceland

On Jupiter the rapid rotating magnetic field collides with energetic particles from both solar winds blasting against the planet at a million miles per hour and particles released from volcanic eruptions on one of its moons, Io.

However, it is unclear how the aurora on Jupiter is affected by solar flares, which Nasa is hoping to shed light on through its historic Juno mission.

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Hubble Telescope takes stunning images of white auroras on Uranus - Express.co.uk