Added: Mar 5, 2012
From: nabard1000
Duration: 2:26
I�m happy to bring you the 2011 Hubble Space Telescope Advent Calendar. I hope you enjoy these amazing and awe-inspiring images and the efforts of the science teams who have brought them to Earth. I feel fortunate to have been able to share photo stories with you all year, and I wish a Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it, and peace on Earth to all.A �Rose� of a Galaxy. In celebration of the 21st anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope�s deployment into space, astronomers at the Space Telescope Science Institute pointed Hubble�s eye to an especially photogenic group of interacting galaxies called Arp 273. Pictured here is the larger of the two galaxies, known as UGC 1810. It has a disk that is tidally distorted into a rose-like shape by the gravitational tidal pull of the companion galaxy below it, known as UGC 1813. A swath of blue jewels across the top is the combined light from clusters of intensely bright and hot young blue stars. These massive stars glow fiercely in ultraviolet light. A possible mini-spiral may be visible in the spiral arms of UGC 1810 to the upper right. It is noticeable how the outermost spiral arm changes character as it passes this third galaxy, from smooth with lots of old stars (reddish in color) on one side to clumpy and extremely blue on the other. UGC 1810 lies in the constellation Andromeda and is roughly 300 million light-years away from Earth. More info here. (NASA, ESA, STScI/AURA)This collection of dazzling stars is called NGC 6611, an open star cluster that formed about 5.5 million years ago and is found approximately 6500 light-years from the Earth. It is a very young cluster, containing many hot, blue stars, whose fierce ultraviolet glow make the surrounding Eagle Nebula glow brightly. The cluster and the associated nebula together are also known as Messier 16. Astronomers refer to areas like the Eagle Nebula as HII regions. Extrapolating far into the future, this HII region will eventually disperse, helped along by shockwaves from supernova explosions as the more massive young stars end their brief but brilliant lives. In this image, dark patches can also be spotted, punctuating the stellar landscape. These areas of apparent nothingness are actually very dense regions of gas and dust, which obstruct light from passing through. Many of these may be hiding the sites of the early stages of star formation, before the fledgling stars clear away their surroundings and burst into view. More info here. (ESA/Hubble & NASA) #A dying star, IC 4406, dubbed the �Retina Nebula� exhibits a high degree of symmetry; the left and right halves of the Hubble image are nearly mirror images of the other. If we could fly around IC 4406 in a starship, we would see that the gas and dust form a vast donut of material streaming outward from the dying star. From Earth, we are viewing the donut from the side. This side view allows us to see the intricate tendrils of dust that have been compared to the eye�s retina. In other planetary nebulae, like the Ring Nebula (NGC 6720), we view the donut from the top. The donut of material confines the intense radiation coming from the remnant of the dying star. Gas on the inside of the donut is ionized by light from the central star and glows. Light from oxygen atoms is rendered blue in this image; hydrogen is shown as green, and nitrogen as red. The range of color in the final image shows the differences in concentration of these three gases in the nebula. Unseen in the Hubble image is a larger zone of neutral gas that is not emitting visible light, but which can be seen by radio telescopes. One of the most interesting features of IC 4406 is the irregular lattice of dark lanes that criss-cross the center of the nebula. These lanes are about 160 astronomical units wide (1 astronomical unit is the distance between the Earth and Sun). They are located right at the boundary between the hot glowing gas that produces the visual light imaged here and the neutral gas seen with radio telescopes. We see the lanes in silhouette because they have a density of dust and gas that is a thousand times higher than the rest of the nebula. The dust lanes are like a rather open mesh veil that has been wrapped around the bright donut. The fate of these dense knots of material is unknown. Will they survive the nebula�s expansion and become dark denizens of the space between the stars or simply dissipate? More info here. (NASA and The Hubble Heritage Team, STScI/AURA) #
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Tags: hubble
Rating: 5.0' max='5' min='1' numRaters='5' rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#overall ( ratings) Views: 1680 Comments: 6
TehLiquid Says:
Apr 11, 2012 - i totally agree but how will they bring the telescope back down to earth?imagine a better hubble, able to see thrice as far and thrice as detailed, looking at the surface of a planet, i love space
zeruel95 Says:
Apr 11, 2012 - Cameron's a little gay head.
cabanj8611 Says:
Apr 11, 2012 - Your right they should launch an even better telescope hey with all the new technology that's out its a a piece of cake for nasa
aqwertgbvcxz Says:
May 22, 2012 - Whats up with the music. What were you thinking?
aqwertgbvcxz Says:
May 22, 2012 - Next time play my skin flute.
cabanj8611 Says:
Mar 28, 2012 - Great pics nasa should launch another space telescope and they would have twice the data they have now plus they can add more advance equipment on it make like an all in one telescope the Hubble is great just think two is better than one