![]() Oesch (University of California Santa Cruz) R. The faintest galaxies are one ten-billionth the brightness of what the human eye can see. The new full-color eXtreme Deep Field image is even more sensitive than the Hubble Deep Field and contains about 5,500 galaxies, even within its smaller field of view. The result was ground-breaking, so astronomers did it again ( Hubble Ultra Deep Field ) and again ( eXtreme Deep Field ), each time using longer exposure times and upgraded instruments. This image is only 1/30th the size of the full moon, and yet it revealed 3,000 galaxies, several hundred of which had never been seen before. By using a long exposure, just like a traditional camera on Earth, astronomers were able to see what was hiding in the dark. And then, it left the shutter open for ten days, collecting all the light from a seemingly empty part of space. The telescope pointed its camera to a part of the sky that appeared practically empty to all previous observations. One such image was the Hubble Deep Field. Unexpected DiscoveriesĪstronomy is a science of many surprises, and putting a telescope in space only revealed more. Hubble discovered Pluto’s four small moons: Nix, Hydra, Styx, and Kerberos. Without the space telescope, we never would’ve gotten to see this bizzare object and the mission would’ve ended much sooner. And it was a good thing it did: Hubble discovered four of Pluto’s moons, and the mission scientists used these data to avoid a collision.Īfter capturing gorgeous images of Pluto, New Horizons then flew past the duck-shaped Kuiper Belt Object Arrokoth, another object discovered by Hubble. ![]() ![]() Hubble took images of the Pluto system from the early 1990s to 2010 in order to prepare for the flyby of New Horizons. Image credit: NASA/ESA, The Hubble Key Project Team, and The High-Z Supernova Search Team.Ĭloser to home, Hubble was also instrumental in the New Horizons mission. Hubble Space Telescope image of supernova 1994D (lower left) in galaxy NGC 4526. Image credit: Jeffrey Newman (University of California Berkeley) and NASA/ESA. A NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope (HST) view of the spiral galaxy NGC 4603, the most distant galaxy in which Cepheid variables have been found. This completely changed the field of cosmology and led to the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics. Moreover, this same high resolution allowed for even more distant supernovae observations that showed the universe’s expansion is accelerating. Hubble’s large mirror helped detect Cepheid variable stars at farther distances, and the expansion and age of the universe was confirmed. Astronomers use the frequency of this pattern to determine how far away a galaxy is. To do this, astronomers measure the changing brightness of Cepheid variable stars, stars that have a varying brightness that follows a regular shape, but the frequency of the pattern is dependent on the actual luminosity of the star. ![]() Hubble’s main science objective was to determine the size and age of the universe. Beckwith (STScI), and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA). A Hubble image of the Whirlpool Galaxy, featuring pink star-forming regions and brilliant blue strands of star clusters. New data received from Hubble constantly challenges our preconceived notions about the universe. Hubble images demonstrate that science can be more than a mixture of numbers and buggy code it can also be spiral galaxies that show where new stars are being formed and remind us that the mystery of galaxy formation is still unsolved. Images like these highlight the spectacular beauty of our universe and are often a great tool to encourage interest in science. If you have ever seen an image of a spiral galaxy as a desktop background, textbook cover, or in the background of an inspirational quote, the chances are high that it was taken by Hubble. With over 1.4 million observations, providing data for more than 16,000 peer-reviewed scientific papers, Hubble has exceeded expectations. Orbiting the earth, this telescope has changed the way astronomers and the public alike view the universe. To celebrate International Astronomy Day (May 7), we are highlighting this post from ScIU’s archives! It was originally published by Jennifer Sieben in April 2020 and has been lightly edited to reflect current events.Īpril 24th, 2020 was the 30th anniversary of the launch of perhaps the most famous telescope: the Hubble Space Telescope.
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