The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Launched on December 25 last year, it is currently the world’s most powerful space telescope, located about 1.6 million kilometers from Earth. The space telescope is expected to be fully operational this summer. NASA wants to say that the JWST is designed to be 100 times more powerful than the Hubble Space Telescope and is Hubble’s scientific successor to show the universe at wavelengths not designed for Hubble. But just because James Webb launched it into space doesn’t mean the existing Hubble telescope will disappear immediately. It’s still working on scanning the universe, and it’s also sent in vivid images of recently captured galaxies crashing into it. It is possible that Hubble, which has received the world’s attention by changing our view of the universe, but suffers from so-called ‘electronic osteoarthritis’, will coexist with JWST until the end of the 2020s. We also look at the future story of Hubble, which is expected to crash around 2040. The Hubble Telescope is still showing off its presence through a photograph of ‘Galaxy Collision’ released last week. In addition, 30 best photos of space taken over the past 30 years since launch in 1990 are also introduced.
(Above) “I’m not dead”… Vivid ‘Clash of galaxies’ transmission
(Bottom) Hubble’s telescope, the mystery of the universe that has been shown for over 30 years’
Hubble Takes ‘Intergalactic Head-on Collision’ photo ahead of full-scale observations with the James Webb Telescope
A head-on collision between galaxies has been captured in a new image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. This collision formed a gigantic cosmic triangle (pictured) that sparkles with the formation of stars in deep space.
In this new photo released by NASA on the 22nd (local time), the Hubble team said, “A pair of colliding galaxies known as Arp 143 share gas and dust, resulting in a ‘star birth tsunami’. It shows the depiction arranged in a so-called ‘cosmic triangle’ that expands to ”.
A Hubble team official said of the photo: “Two galaxies in this system collide head-on, fanning a triangular-shaped stellar explosion. The two galaxies are the star-producing distorted spiral galaxy ‘NGC 2445’ (right) and the less luminous companion galaxy ‘NGC 2444’.”
“The star formation wave from this collision is very rare because of the triangular-shaped star formation shown in the photo,” the official added.
“One of the reasons for this shape is that galaxies are still very close to each other),” said Julianne Dalcanton, who works at the University of Washington and New York’s Center for Computational Space Physics Platyron Research on the Hubble team. “NGC 2444 is still gravitationally different. It’s because we’re holding onto the galaxy,” he explained.
“NGC 2444 could also have an invisible hot gas halo that could help pull NGC 2445’s gas out of the core,” Dalcanton said. “So they’re not yet completely free from each other, and their unusual interactions are distorting the circular rings into these triangles.”
Further complicating the collision is NGC 2444’s tendency to attract gas strands from other galaxies, creating ‘streamers’ of young blue stars linking the two galaxies. Streamer stars were created between 50 and 100 million years ago, but as galaxies continue to separate from each other, they will be trapped in space.
Astronomers say, “In the heart of NGC 2445, another young star is forming, which is only 1 to 2 million years old. “NGC 2444, on the other hand, is filled only with older stars and has lost gas before impact.”
“These collisions provide a fantastic sandbox for understanding galaxies interacting with star formation,” added Elena Savi, a scientist at the Space Telescope Science Laboratory in Baltimore.
Another young star is forming at the heart of ‘NGC 2445’, only 1 to 2 million years old. Meanwhile, the astronomers said that “NGC 2444 is filled only with older stars and lost gas before impact.”
“These collisions provide a fantastic sandbox for understanding galaxies that form and interact with stars,” added Elena Savi, a scientist at the Space Telescope Science Laboratory in Baltimore in a statement.
30 of Hubble’s best photos of all time
But this Hubble photo is only a small fraction of the many wonderful photos that have opened our eyes to the universe. Space.com selected and presented 60 of the best space photos ever taken by Hubble last month. Among them, 30 notable cosmic photos that clearly prove the existence of Hubble are introduced.
The Hubble Space Telescope is a large astronomical observatory launched into low Earth orbit 559 km above Earth on April 24, 1990, and has since provided us with a variety of awe-inspiring images.
Superbuble
In this Hubble Space Telescope image, a strange gas cloud and a strange ‘superbubble’ dominate the field of view. Known as N44, this nebula or gas cloud is located in a nearby galaxy called the Large Magellanic Cloud.
First Light
Before the Hubble Telescope began capturing amazing pictures of the universe, the telescope’s first job was to test the instruments and make sure everything worked. At right is the first image taken by Hubble, focusing on the 8.2 magnitude star (stellar) HD96755 in the cluster NGC 3532. On the left is an image of the same part of the sky taken with a terrestrial telescope. Hubble’s ‘widefield planetary camera’, unveiled on May 20, 1990, shows that Hubble’s visibility has improved compared to Earth’s observatory, where the atmosphere obscures the view. “Even if it accounts for the Hubble anomaly, the space telescope image (right) is sharper than is normally possible from ground observations,” NASA said in a statement.
Stellar sword
A fiery blue sword appears to pierce the giant cosmic heart in a stunning new picture captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. The ‘sword’ consists of twin jets of superheated, ionized gas flying into space from the opposite pole of the new star, called ‘IRAS 05491+0247’. According to Hubble’s research team, the ‘heart’ is the remaining cloud of dust and gas surrounding a protostar.
Southern Crab Nebula
The Hubble research team released an hourglass-shaped image of the Southern Crab Nebula in 2019 to mark the 29th anniversary of the Space Telescope. Unlike the Crab Nebula found in the constellation Taurus, the Southern Crab Nebula has a beautifully symmetrical structure made of uneven binary systems. One star in this system has already exploded and turned into a white dwarf.
Prawn nebula
The Hubble Space Telescope has captured a surprising sight of the Prawn Nebula floating in deep space. The Prawn Nebula (IC 4628) is an emission nebula in the constellation of Scorpio. Nebulae, clouds of interstellar gas and dust, form after massive star explosions. Stretching over 250 light-years across, IC 4628 is believed to be the cradle of a giant star from which new stars are forming.
Butterfly Nebula
In 2009, Hubble discovered the bipolar nebula ‘NGC 6302’, also known as the Butterfly Nebula or the Worm Nebula, flying towards the constellation of Scorpio using the new ‘Wide Field Camera 3’. NASA astronauts installed a new camera during a maintenance mission that year, and it was one of the first deep-space photos taken by Hubble with the new device.
Monkey Head Nebula
This dazzling deep-space image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows an entanglement of dust, gas and stars known as the Monkey Head Nebula (NGC 2174 and Sharpless Sh2-252). The Monkey Head Nebula is a region of abundant new star formation. It is located in the constellation Orion, about 6400 light-years from Earth. This Hubble 24th Anniversary photo was released on April 3, 2015.
Pillars of Creation (2020)
In 2020, Hubble scientists revisited one of the most iconic images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, and infrared images showed incredible detail. Called the ‘Pillars of Creation’ of the Eagle Nebula, this image was taken by Hubble in 1995. This iconic Hubble image, shaped like an elephant’s nose, is an incredibly monolithic star-forming region of interstellar dust and gas.
Pillars of Creation (Original)
One of the most famous Hubble images is the so-called ‘Pillars of Creation’, featuring three giant stalks of cosmic dust and gas. Officially designated Messier 16 (M16), it is part of the larger Eagle Nebula. Hubble took the original photo in 1995, and took it 20 years later with a new camera. This version of the photo was released in 2015 to commemorate Hubble’s 25th anniversary.
A ghost in space
In this Hubble telescope image released by NASA for Halloween on October 28, 2019, a spooky face with glowing eyes stares into deep space. The piercing eyes of this eerie cosmic face are the bright centers of two distant galaxies in a head-on collision, surrounded by chaotic stars from their respective galactic disks.
Einstein ring
This jaw-dropping ‘Einstein ring’ photo shows a magnified light coming from a distant place in the universe. In this image, two galaxies about 3.4 billion light-years from Earth are distorted and bend light from a much more distant galaxy. The pattern that emerges from it, already predicted by Albert Einstein in 1915 (light is distorted by gravity), shows six points of light. Two are centered and four are threaded around a ring of distorted light. However, these bright six dots are not from six galaxies, but from three galaxies. The two in the center of the ring, and the third one, are from a distant quasar and are bent so much that they appear to be four.
Sombrero Galaxy
The edge image of NGC 4594, also known as the Sombrero Galaxy, shows a glowing white core surrounded by thick dust channels. This photo, released in 2017, is one of the largest mosaics assembled from Hubble observations.
A celestial wreath
This image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2013 shows the Cepheid variable ‘RS Puppis’, which periodically brightens and darkens with a cycle of six weeks.
The Bubble Nebula
About 8,000 light-years from Earth, in the constellation Cassiopeia, is a large, round emission nebula called NGC 7635. It is also known as the ‘bubble nebula’. The Hubble team released images of the Bubble Nebula in 2016 to commemorate the telescope’s 26th anniversary.
Two spiral galaxies
On April 24, 1990, astronomers used the legendary telescope to photograph a stunning portrait of a pair of spiral galaxies to commemorate the 27th anniversary of the launch of the NASA Hubble Space Telescope. The galaxy at the edge is called ‘NGC 4302’, and the slanted galaxy is called ‘NGC 4298’.
Tarantula Nebula
This Hubble infrared image shows the cosmos known as the bizarre crawling ‘tarantula nebula’. The region is filled with star clusters, glowing gas, and thick, dark dust. It was released on January 9, 2014.
Horsehead Nebula
Taken and released to commemorate the 23rd anniversary of the Hubble Telescope, this new Hubble image shows part of the sky in the constellation Orion. Rising like a giant seahorse amid swirling waves of dust and gas is the Horsehead Nebula, also known as Barnard 33. It was released on April 19, 2013.
NGC 2936
This image shows two galaxies interacting. ‘NGC 2936’ was once a standard spiral galaxy, and NGC 2937 is a smaller elliptical galaxy that closely resembles a penguin’s egg guard. The photo was published on June 20, 2013.
Sharpless 2-106
‘Sharpless 2-106’, a bipolar star forming region, looks like a heavenly ‘snow angel’ soaring into the sky in this stunning Hubble Space Telescope view. The nebula’s outstretched wings record contrasting traces of heat and motion against a cooler medium. In this image, two very hot gas lobes, glowing blue, extend outward from the central star. This hot gas makes these angel wings. Rings of dust and gas orbiting the star act like a band, tightening the expanding nebula and retracting in an hourglass shape. This photo was released on December 15, 2011.
The Necklace Nebula
The Necklace Nebula is located 15,000 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius. This composite image was taken by Hubble Space Telescope’s Wide Field Camera 3 on July 2, 2011.
Bipolar Planetary Nebula PN Hb 12
This image shows an example of a ‘bipolar planetary nebula’. Known as Hubble 12 and cataloged as ‘PN G111.8-02.8’, this object is in the constellation Cassiopeia. The nebula’s striking shape, reminiscent of a butterfly or hourglass, was formed as a sun-like star expired and expelled an outer layer into the surrounding space. In the case of a bipolar nebula, this material flows towards the poles of the aging star, forming a unique double protrusion structure.
Comet21/Borisov
The Hubble Space Telescope photographed the interplanetary object ‘Comet 21/Borisov’ on October 12, 2019.
Sprinkle of stars
On December 20, 2021, the Hubble Space Telescope team released pictures taken by the iconic observatory as it looked into the southern sky’s constellation of Dorado. Astronomers refer to this cluster as ‘NGC 1755’. According to ESA officials, this open cluster (散開星團, Open clusteropen cluster) “resembles a little bit of salt pinched with two fingers on a black tablecloth.”
Comet ISON
Imaged on April 10, 2013, Comet Ison is 386 million miles (621.2 million km) from the Sun, slightly closer than Jupiter’s orbit, and 394 million miles (634.8 million km) from Earth. there was.
An asteroid with six tails
Dubbed ‘P/2013 P5’, it is the first multi-tailed object to be discovered in the asteroid belt. The tail appears to be waving between the first image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope on September 10, 2013 and the second observation on September 23, 2013.
An asteroid breakup
This series of photos shows the shattering of asteroid ‘P/2013 R3’ as observed by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2013. This is the first photograph of such a celestial body breaking up in this way. It was released on March 6, 2014.
Centaurus A
The image, taken by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, shows “Centaurus Galaxy A” in unprecedented detail, according to ESA. This photo is a composite photo showing the characteristics of the visible, ultraviolet, and near-infrared spectrum.
The Whirlpool Galaxy
The so-called ‘spiral galaxy M51’, the ‘vortex galaxy’, shows a new shape when observed with near-infrared rays. With most of the starlight removed, this image clearly shows the galaxy’s dust structure.
Ghost of Cassiopeia
In this eerie image captured by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2018, the ‘Phantom of Cassiopeia’, a cloud of slowly eroding gas and dust, forms a faint haze. Known as ‘IC 63’, the ghostly nebula lies about 550 light-years from Earth. The star emits hydrogen-alpha radiation and reflects the cold blue light of nearby powerful star Cassiopeia. The nebula is about 0.31 light-years high and 0.23 light-years wide.
NGC 1022
Barred spiral galaxy ‘NGC 1022’ shows off dark and red dust tendrils in this Hubble Space Telescope image released by NASA in January 2020. While most bar spiral galaxies have a distinct star bar at the center, the bar inside NGC 1022 is a little more difficult to distinguish. To find the faint features, you need to find the swirling arms at either end. Hubble took this picture of NGC 1022 as part of a study of the black hole at the center of most (if not all) spiral galaxies like this one.