HUBBLE OPENS YOUR EYES.Above the blurring effects of the atmosphere, the Hubble Space Telescope Hubble Space Telescope (HST), the first large optical orbiting observatory. Built from 1978 to 1990 at a cost of $1.5 billion, the HST (named for astronomer E. P. Hubble) was expected to provide the clearest view yet obtained of the universe. takes sharp, spectacular pictures. Since 1993, the telescope has sent home thousands of pictures of faraway objects. Here are some of the amazing a·maze v. a·mazed, a·maz·ing, a·maz·es v.tr. 1. To affect with great wonder; astonish. See Synonyms at surprise. 2. Obsolete To bewilder; perplex. v.intr. images captured by Hubble. The Hubble Space Telescope was placed in orbit around Earth by a space-shuttle crew. NASA NASA: see National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA in full National Aeronautics and Space Administration Independent U.S. is designing a new space telescope to give an even better view of the wonders of space. The space telescope brings strange things into view. Galaxies Far Away Our galaxy, the Milky Way Milky Way, the galaxy of which the sun and solar system are a part, seen as a broad band of light arching across the night sky from horizon to horizon; if not blocked by the horizon, it would be seen as a circle around the entire sky. , is made up of more than 100 billion stars, including our sun. And the universe is made up of countless galaxies. To see the farthest galaxies Hubble could detect, scientists pointed the telescope at a small area of dark sky. With no bright stars to wash out the galaxies' light, Hubble found a beautiful array of distant galaxies. In the photograph, the bright object that seems to shoot off rays is a dim star in the Milky Way. The other objects are galaxies. Some are so far away that their light traveled more than ten billion years before it reached Hubble. When Galaxies Crash The two galaxies shown below have crashed into each other. (The left part of the picture shows the whole galactic ga·lac·tic adj. 1. Relating to milk. 2. Promoting the flow of milk. galactic 1. pertaining to milk. 2. galactagogue. wreck, with a green line marking the area that Hubble focused one) The stars are spaced so far apart that chances are no two stars will collide. As the galaxies pass through each other, they are tearing at each other with their powerful gravitational grav·i·ta·tion n. 1. Physics a. The natural phenomenon of attraction between physical objects with mass or energy. b. The act or process of moving under the influence of this attraction. 2. pulls. At the same time, clouds of gas and dust--much bigger than any star--are plowing into one another with so much force that they are forming new stars. In this picture, you can see the clusters of hot young stars, which look blue. "Twisters" in Space In our own galaxy, a bright star (shown here in red) burns in the heart of a giant cloud of gas and dust called the Lagoon Nebula Lagoon Nebula, bright, diffuse nebula in the southern constellation Sagittarius; cataloged as M8 or NGC 6526. It is visible to the naked eye and has an angular area larger than that of the full moon. . Hubble shows that parts of the cloud are twisted. Each tornado shape is huge--a beam of light would rake six months to travel the length of any one "tornado." Now scientists wonder what movements of hot and cold gases created these beautiful shapes. |
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