3,400light-years away.. The Hubble Telescope captures a distinctive image of the small “Dumbbell” Nebula
This week, NASA celebrates the thirty-fourth anniversary of the launch of the Hubble Telescope.
Dumbbell Nebula
“NASA” published, on the official page of the Hubble Telescope on Facebook, a new image of the small “Dumbbell” nebula, which is located about 3,400 light-years away, and stands in the “Perseus” constellation.
The US space agency explained that the Perseus constellation “got its nickname from its shape, which is a two-lobed structure of glowing colored gases that resembles a balloon that has been compressed around the middle waist.”
The Little Dumbbell Nebula formed when lobes of gas expanded from a dying star in the center, and the burning ultraviolet radiation is what causes the surrounding gas to glow.
NASA said: “The legendary Hubble mission continues to provide pioneering science, and remains the most scientifically productive astrophysics mission in the agency’s history.”
“For more than three decades, Hubble has changed the way we understand our universe, teaching us more about everything from the planets in our solar system to galaxies billions of light-years away,” she added.
Spiral galaxy NGC 2146 Spiral galaxy
The US Space Agency published a picture of the spiral galaxy "NGC 2146", which is 70 million light-years away from Earth.
NASA said on the official Facebook page of the Hubble Telescope that the galaxy has an interesting feature, as one of its spiral arms appears front and center, appearing curled up in front of the bright heart of the galaxy.
The US space agency added that the gravitational force required to twist that spiral arm of the galaxy out of its natural shape is enormous, pointing out that most likely, there is a neighboring galaxy that is disturbing NGC 2146 because of its gravity and distorting the orbits of many of its stars.
NASA indicated that this interaction is also likely to contribute to the high rate of star formation that occurs in this scene recorded by the Hubble Telescope. The gravitational disturbance also compresses clouds of hydrogen-rich gas and dust, leading to the birth of stars.
Messier 94 galaxy
The Hubble Space Telescope captured a distinctive image of a spiral galaxy called Messier 94.
The US Space Agency explained that part of the spiral galaxy appears in this image, including an excerpt of the starburst ring on the right, noting that new stars are forming at a high rate inside this bright ring.
NASA indicated that the Messier 94 galaxy is located 16 million light-years away, adding that it belongs to the catalog of cosmic objects, and this is the ideal time of year to discover it.
Source: websites