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Before Galileo turned his telescope to the skies in 1610, all that we knew of the universe we knew because we could see it with our naked eyes. Little did we know what wonders they hid from us. Galileo’s work sparked a revolution in science and astronomy, and while he may have made vast improvements on the telescope of his day, NASA’s 24,000 lb. space telescope has collected over 100 terabytes of data since its launch in 1990. A large number of these images have been curated to the Hubble’s Flickr stream. They give us an exciting glimpse into what those of Galileo’s time were missing, and what we, too, could miss if we don’t pay attention.
Source: Flickr
Huge clouds of matter – known today as the Homunculus Nebula – consist of byproducts from the binary star system Eta Carinae, which experienced a supernova impostor event in 1843. This is the closest star system to Earth which could experience true supernova status in the near future. (The near future in space-time could still mean a million years from now.)
Source: Flickr
Asian observers recorded this supernova remnant nearly 1,000 years ago, in 1054.The Crab Nebula, as it’s known, is all that’s left of the fantastic stellar explosion.
Source: Flickr
This is the dwarf galaxy NGC 4214, alive with baby stars and a haze of glowing hydrogen gas produced during star birth.
Source: Flickr
Just 15 million light years away from the constellation Hydra is the spiral galaxy M83, also glowing with new star formations. It is also known as the Southern Pinwheel.
Source: Flickr
This one is actually a composite image; the Hubble gets a little help from the Large Binocular Telescope on the ground in Arizona, which supplies the infrared data.
Source: Flickr
Young, blue-colored stars clustered in the dark pathways of the giant elliptical galaxy known as Centaurus A. In the center is a supermassive black hole, not visible here.
Source: Flickr
It may seem obvious why these particular planetary nebulae are named the Cat’s Eye Nebula, but it’s actually more akin to a shell, a tree, or an onion. NASA states of this formation, “Observations suggest the star ejected its mass in a series of pulses at 1,500-year intervals. These convulsions created dust shells, each of which contain as much mass as all of the planets in our solar system combined (still only one percent of the Sun’s mass). These concentric shells make a layered, onion-skin structure around the dying star. The view from Hubble is like seeing an onion cut in half, where each skin layer is discernible.”
Source: Flickr
The iconic Horsehead Nebula may be one of the more readily recognizable images taken from the Hubble; it has been included in astronomy books in some form since its discovery over a century ago.
Source: Flickr
Another famous star nursery, the Carina Nebula is shown here with its three-light-year-tall pillars and jets of gasses emanating from the young stars.
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