Colossal cosmic smokescreen studded with stars spotted by the Hubble telescope
The Hubble Space Telescope has captured a stunning image of a cosmic smokescreen about 5,000 light-years from Earth — one light-year is more than 9.8 million miles.
The image shows a star cluster within the rolling wall of dust and gas of the Lagoon Nebula, a giant interstellar cloud in the constellation Sagittarius.
Known as NGC 6530, the cluster contains at least 4,000 stars, making it one of the largest open star clusters discovered.
These stars are nestled in the swirling red, blue and orange gases of the nebula, one of only two star-forming nebulae faintly visible from northern latitudes.
The cluster includes at least 4,000 launches, making it one of the largest in the space
Hubble is a joint operation of NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), which launched the telescope in 1990.
First conceived in the 1940s, Hubble was initially called the Large Space Telescope.
“Since launch, Hubble has overcome its shaky beginnings to conduct countless scientific observations that have revolutionized humanity’s understanding of the universe,” NASA said in a statement. pronunciation.
“From determining the age of the universe to observing dramatic changes on celestial objects in our own solar system, Hubble has become one of humanity’s greatest scientific instruments.”
Astronomers studied NGC 6530 using Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2).
The team was looking for new examples of proplyds, a particular class of illuminated protoplanetary disks around newborn stars. The vast majority of proplyds have been found in just one region, the nearby Orion Nebula.
During the study, however, researchers marveled at a stunning smoke screen of dust and clouds dotted with bright stars.
“Hubble’s ability to observe at infrared wavelengths — especially with Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) — has made it an indispensable tool for understanding the formation of stars and the origin of exoplanetary systems,” researchers shared in a statement. pronunciation.
‘Hubble in particular was crucial for research into the proplyds around newborn stars in the Orion Nebula.’
In February, NASA shared another Hubble image of a “space triangle” where two galaxies collide, leading to a tsunami of star birth.
Collectively known as Arp 143, the duo consists of the glittering, distorted star-forming galaxy NGC 2445 and the less flashy NGC 24444.
NGC 2445 is distorted to look triangular, with a flurry of bright lights as stars quickly form from material shaken up by the collision.
US-based astronomers from the Center for Computational Astrophysics at the Flatiron Institute in New York and the University of Washington in Seattle have analyzed the images captured by the 32-year-old observatory in low Earth orbit.
They explained that the galaxies mixed up, creating the uniquely shaped star-forming firestorm, which brought thousands of stars to life.
The galaxy is awash in star birth because it is rich in gas, the fuel that makes stars, but has yet to escape the gravitational pull of partner NGC 2444, leading them into a cosmic tug of war, which appears to be NGC 2444. to win.
And in 2020, NASA and ESA announced that they have found evidence deep within Hubble’s data that suggests the formation of the first stars and galaxies occurred earlier than previously believed.
These stars are nestled in the nebula’s swirling red, blue, and orange gases, one of only two star-forming nebulae faintly visible from northern latitudes
In February, NASA shared another Hubble image of a “space triangle” where two galaxies collide, leading to a tsunami of star birth
The new findings were discovered by the Hubble Space Telescope, which astronomers used to study the first generation of stars, known as Population III stars, in the early universe.
The team examined the early Universe from about 500 million to a billion years after the Big Bang by studying the cluster MACS J0416, nearly four billion light-years from Earth, and its parallel field to the Hubble.
Rachana Bhatawdekar of the ESA and the leader of the study said: “We found no evidence for these first generation Population III stars in this cosmic time interval.”
This conclusion means that these stars and the first galaxies are much older, as Hubble was unable to identify them.
If you enjoyed this story…
Hubble detects changes in the degree of expansion that cannot be explained by current physics
Also reveals NASA first pictures taken by the Hubble Space Telescope after coming back online
And NASA’s Hubble telescope spotlights oldest star ever detected – shone 12.9 BILLION years ago
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope is still operating and has made more than 1.5 million observations since the mission began in 1990
The Hubble telescope was launched on April 24, 1990 via the space shuttle Discovery from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
It is named after the famous astronomer Edwin Hubble who was born in Missouri in 1889.
He is perhaps best known for discovering that the universe is expanding and the rate at which it is expanding – now the Hubble constant.
The Hubble telescope is named after the famous astronomer Edwin Hubble who was born in Missouri in 1889 (pictured)
Hubble has made more than 1.5 million observations since its mission began in 1990 and contributed to the publication of some 18,000 scientific papers.
It orbits Earth at a speed of about 17,000 mph (27,300 km/h) in low Earth orbit at about 340 miles altitude.
Hubble has a pointing accuracy of 0.007 arc seconds, which is the same as being able to shine a laser beam aimed at Franklin D. Roosevelt’s head on a dime about 200 miles away.
The Hubble Telescope is named after Edwin Hubble, who was responsible for coming up with the Hubble constant and is one of the greatest astronomers of all time
The Hubble’s main mirror is 2.4 meters (7 feet, 10.5 inches) wide and a total of 13.3 meters (43.5 feet) long – the length of a full-sized school bus.
The launch and deployment of Hubble in April 1990 marked the most significant advance in astronomy since the Galileo telescope.
Thanks to five maintenance missions and more than 25 years of operation, our view of the universe and our place in it has never been the same.
#Colossal #cosmic #smokescreen #studded #stars #spotted #Hubble #telescope