Tag: Hubble Space Telescope

Hubble Space Telescope tells a starry ‘tail’ of 12 mingling galaxies

NeRD

The Hubble Space Telescope has stepped on the tails of 12 interacting galaxies and found them to be studded with the shining diamonds of young star clusters  —scientists compare the phenomena to cosmic “strings of pearls.” When spiral galaxies interact, either through direct collision or close encounter, their spiral arms unravel. The gravitational force that a galaxy wields is vast, so when two galaxies become close, the gravitational tides that are raised tug on those spiral arms, pulling them out to form long “tails” that can stretch for many tens…

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Hubble Spots a Galaxy Shrouded by Stars

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2 min read Hubble Spots a Galaxy Shrouded by Stars This Hubble image shows irregular galaxy, ESO 245-5, located some of 15 million light-years from Earth. ESA/Hubble & NASA, M. Messa This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows a densely packed field of stars laid upon a background of dust, gas, and light from more distant celestial objects. There are so many stars in this image’s field of view that it may be a little tricky to discern that you are in fact looking at a galaxy. Known as ESO…

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NASA’s Hubble Traces ‘String of Pearls’ Star Clusters in Galaxy Collisions

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3 min read NASA’s Hubble Traces ‘String of Pearls’ Star Clusters in Galaxy Collisions Galaxy AM 1054-325 has been distorted into an S-shape from a normal pancake-like spiral shape by the gravitational pull of a neighboring galaxy, seen in this NASA Hubble Space Telescope image. A consequence of this is that newborn clusters of stars form along a stretched-out tidal tail for thousands of light-years, resembling a string of pearls. They form when knots of gas gravitationally collapse to create about 1 million newborn stars per cluster. NASA, ESA, STScI,…

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Hubble Views a Dim but Distinct Galaxy

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2 min read Hubble Views a Dim but Distinct Galaxy Both visible and ultraviolet wavelengths of light comprise this Hubble Space Telescope image of the spiral galaxy UGC 11105. ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. J. Foley (UC Santa Cruz) This image of the softly luminous spiral galaxy UGC 11105 is from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. It lies about 110 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Hercules. Astronomers have different ways of quantifying how bright celestial objects are. Apparent magnitude is one of those methods. It describes how bright an…

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Hubble Observes a Galactic Distortion

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1 min read Hubble Observes a Galactic Distortion The galaxy NGC 5427 shines in this new NASA Hubble Space Telescope image. NASA, ESA, and R. Foley (University of California – Santa Cruz); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America) The galaxy NGC 5427 shines in this new NASA Hubble Space Telescope image. It’s part of the galaxy pair Arp 271, and its companion NGC 5426 is located below this galaxy and outside of this image’s frame. However, the effects of the pair’s gravitational attraction is visible in the galactic distortion…

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Hubble Spies a Spinning Spiral

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2 min read Hubble Spies a Spinning Spiral This new NASA Hubble Space Telescope image features the face-on spiral and Seyfert galaxy, ESO 420-G013. NASA/ESA/A. Evans (University of Virginia)/Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America) Looking like a baseball lobbed into the depths of the universe, ESO 420-G013 is a face-on spiral galaxy and a Seyfert galaxy. Dark lanes of dust are visible against the background glow of the galaxy’s many stars.  About 10 percent of all the galaxies in the universe are thought to be Seyfert galaxies. They are…

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NASA’s Webb Depicts Staggering Structure in 19 Nearby Spiral Galaxies

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6 Min Read NASA’s Webb Depicts Staggering Structure in 19 Nearby Spiral Galaxies Webb’s set of 19 PHANGS images of face-on spiral galaxies. Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Janice Lee (STScI), Thomas Williams (Oxford), and the PHANGS team It’s oh-so-easy to be absolutely mesmerized by these spiral galaxies. Follow their clearly defined arms, which are brimming with stars, to their centers, where there may be old star clusters and – sometimes – active supermassive black holes. Only NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope can deliver highly detailed scenes of nearby galaxies…

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Hubble Studies a Sparkling Galaxy Pair

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1 min read Hubble Studies a Sparkling Galaxy Pair This new NASA Hubble Space Telescope image features a pair of interacting galaxies called, NGC 5410 and UGC 8932/PGC 49896. NASA/ESA/D. Bowen (Princeton University)/Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America) A pair of small, interacting galaxies shine in this new NASA Hubble Space Telescope image. The larger of the two galaxies is named NGC 5410 and was discovered in 1787 by British astronomer William Herschel. It spans 80,000 light-years across and has a bright white bar of stars at its center.…

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NASA’s Hubble Finds Water Vapor in Small Exoplanet’s Atmosphere

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5 min read NASA’s Hubble Finds Water Vapor in Small Exoplanet’s Atmosphere This is an artist’s concept of the exoplanet GJ 9827d, the smallest exoplanet where water vapor has been detected in the atmosphere. The planet could be an example of potential planets with water-rich atmospheres elsewhere in our galaxy. With only about twice Earth’s diameter, the planet orbits the red dwarf star GJ 9827. Two inner planets in the system are on the left. The background stars are plotted as they would be seen to the unaided eye looking…

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This Hubble Telescope photo of a spiral galaxy will take your breath away

NeRD

Just when we think we’ve seen it all with astronomy photos, the Hubble Space Telescope takes our breath away yet again with a trip to a galaxy far, far away. I don’t know about you, but when images like this are released, it brings up not only a wave of emotions but also a few moments of pause in even the busiest day to marvel and take in the power of a space telescope and just how captivating our universe is. It doesn’t matter what we are seeing or what…

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