[ad_1]
The US space agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has released stunning pictures of various nebulae, star clusters, etc.
These images were taken by NASA and the Hubble Heritage Team. Launched in 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope transformed fundamental understanding of the universe, from determining the atmospheric composition of planets around other stars to discovering dark energy.
A giant cluster of 3,000 stars, Westerlund 2 lies in a noisy stellar breeding ground called Gum 29. The Hubble Space Telescope penetrated the dusty veil covering the stellar nursery by observing near-infrared light, giving astronomers a clear view of the nebula and the dense concentration of stars in the central cluster. The cluster measures between 6 and 13 light-years across.
This image of Caldwell 69 includes ultraviolet, visible and infrared observations taken by Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 in 2019 and 2020. The Butterfly Nebula is a stunning bipolar planetary nebula located in the constellation Scorpius. It is named for its resemblance to a butterfly, with its “wings” extending more than three light-years
Eye in the Sky This photo from the Hubble Space Telescope shows NGC 4826 – a spiral galaxy located 17 million light-years away in the constellation of Coma Berenices. This galaxy is often referred to as the “Black Eye” or “Evil Eye” galaxy because of the dark band of dust extending on one side of its bright nucleus.
Like a fireworks display, a young, glowing cluster of stars resembles an air explosion. The cluster of massive, hot stars called NGC 3603 is surrounded by clouds of interstellar gas and dust – the raw material for the formation of new stars. This environment is not as peaceful as it looks.
Ultraviolet radiation and violent stellar winds have blown a giant cavity in the gas and dust that surrounds the cluster, providing a clear view of the cluster. Most of the stars in the cluster were born at about the same time, but differ in size, mass, temperature, and color.
This composite image is a seamless blend of ultra-sharp Hubble Space Telescope images combined with a wide view from the Mosaic Camera on the National Science Foundation’s 0.9-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory near Tucson, Arizona. Astronomers at the Space Telescope Science Institute combined these images into a mosaic. The mosaic was then blended with a wider picture taken by the Mosaic Camera.
[ad_2]
