May 1, 2024

Hubble Space Telescope delivers holiday sparkle in new image

Images from the Hubble Space Telescope can deliver New Year cheer with science. One such case is a brand-new image from the 32-year old observatory, published on Dec. 1. Here, the Hubble Space Telescope sees the ultimate colors of the holiday, as intense blue-white stars shine against dirty swaths shaded red.These stars lie outside the Milky Way, in a spot of sky situated within a neighboring galaxy called the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). As the name recommends, it appears like a round smudge in the southern sky. In reality, this celestial smear is an irregularly-shaped, little satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. It lies approximately 150,000 light years (opens in new tab) away from Earth. However despite this distance, Hubble has the ability to construct wonderful details.Related: The finest Hubble Space Telescope pictures of all time!This image is the complete view of the open star cluster BSDL 2757 in the dwarf galaxy Large Magellanic Cloud near our own Milky Way as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope. (Image credit: NASA, ESA, and L. Bianchi (Johns Hopkins University); Processing: G. Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)) Take for circumstances, the flashing stars Hubble can see there. They come from a particular region within LMC, called BSDL 2757. It is an open cluster, a group of stars loosely held together by their shared gravity. Astronomers like to study star clusters because they hold info about how stars– one of the most standard systems of the cosmos– pertained to exist. Because the hundreds of stars within one cluster likely share the very same origin (opens in new tab), open clusters are particularly intriguing. That is to say, they developed from the same molecular cloud of star things. The blue, orange and green colors seen here are optical light, according to Hubble Space Telescope officials in the image description (opens in new tab) published last week. Dozens of intense stars shine in these tones against what looks like a rust-colored canvas. However the red areas are not optical light. Rather, they represent information that Hubble gathered in infrared wavelengths of light. These are just beyond what human eyes can see. Their value is that they display sources of heat. In this case, the red represents interstellar dust wafting around outdoors cluster. Astronomers are studying open cluster BSDL 2757 to investigate stellar evolution. ” The scientists studied growing, early-stage stars that are still collecting mass from the clouds that envelop them,” NASA authorities compose in the Hubble image description. ” As gas and dust spirals towards a budding, young star, it releases ultraviolet light. By examining how this light engages with dust, astronomers can better comprehend the dusts homes in various environments.” Hubbles successor is the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST or Webb). The observatory launched Christmas Day last year, and its group released its first main science information this past summertime. JWST is specifically created to study the universes infrared wavelengths, and can provide scientists more information on the product that appears here as the red backdrop.Follow Doris Elin Urrutia on Twitter @salazar_elin. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or on Facebook.

Here, the Hubble Space Telescope sees the essential colors of the vacation season, as intense blue-white stars shine versus dirty swaths shaded red.These stars are situated outside the Milky Way, in a spot of sky situated within a close-by galaxy called the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). In spite of this distance, Hubble is able to make out great details.Related: The finest Hubble Space Telescope images of all time!This image is the complete view of the open star cluster BSDL 2757 in the dwarf galaxy Large Magellanic Cloud near our own Milky Way as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope. (Image credit: NASA, ESA, and L. Bianchi (Johns Hopkins University); Processing: G. Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)) Take for instance, the flashing stars Hubble can see there. Astronomers like to study star clusters since they hold info about how stars– the most basic systems of the universes– come to exist. Open clusters are especially intriguing since the hundreds of stars within one cluster most likely share the very same origin (opens in brand-new tab).