An Ode to the Fading Eye of the Hubble Telescope
Wed, Nov 26, 2008
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The legendary Hubble Space Telescope is set to be decommissioned in 2010. While the new telescope on the station, set to launch only a year later, will be far more advanced, many astronomy fanatics will always remember the Hubble as a source of great joy, and sometimes, frustration. In tribute, here are the top ten shots taken, or contributed to, by the Hubble Telescope.
10. Shot on May 11, 2002, this anomaly, called the Cone Nebula, is a seven light-year long pillar residing in a violent nebula where many new stars are being born.
9. This shot of the Cat’s Eye Nebula shows a super-hot region of gas radiating X-rays. The large amount of chemicals in the gas are believed to come from the central star.
8. This photo was released on Hubble’s 15th anniversary. The Whirlpool Galaxy contains a major interesting feature: a companion galaxy at the end of one of the arms.
7. This image of the Eskimo Nebula was taken shortly after the Hubble underwent repairs in 1999. The nebula is the result of a dying star.
6. This photo is of an area known as the Omega or Swan Nebula. The waves of ultraviolet radiation are a result of massive young stars located just out of the picture.
5. On April 1, 1995, Hubble took this photo of the Eagle Nebula. The columns are formed by cool hydrogen gas and dust where new stars are born.
4. Although it looks as if two massive objects are colliding, the opposite is actually true. Called the Ant Nebula, the effect is caused by the massive emissions of a dying star in the center.
3. An object we take for granted, the Sun, still has the ability to dazzle us when seen from a different perspective. Here, huge arcs of gas are visible on the surface.
Image: TRACE project, NASA
2. This photo of the Sombrero Galaxy was taken in 2003. As seen from Earth, the galaxy is nearly edge-on. The dark edge is comprised on star material within the spiral structure.
1. This image, taken February 8, 2004, is of a distant star named V838 Monocerotis. Although it looks like a painting, this image highlights how beautiful and amazing the galaxy around us really is.
Credits as shown on images. Last image attributed to NASA, Hubble Heritage Team.
Sources:
1. Hubblesite
2. Hubble Heritage Image Gallery
3. NASA Multimedia Image Gallery
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4 Trackbacks For This Post
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Ode ao Hubble | Coió Online Says:
November 27th, 2008 at 10:19 pm[...] sempre lembrarão do velho Hubble como uma fonte de alegria e, algumas vezes, frustração. Aqui as 10 melhores imagens já captadas pelo Hubble e que deram às pessoas uma visão mais detalhada do [...]
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links for 2008-11-27 | hxf148 Says:
November 27th, 2008 at 11:10 pm[...] An Ode to the Fading Eye of the Hubble Telescope | Environmental Graffiti [...]
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Mammoth Stars | MetaFilter Says:
November 28th, 2008 at 1:52 pm[...] 27, 2008 3:19 PM Subscribe WR 25 And Tr16-244: Previously Unseen Mammoth Stars Get The Hubble Treatment. posted by homunculus (8 comments total) 3 users marked this as a favorite "Defiant [...]
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Hubble 2010′dan gözlerini kapatacakken.. | ve de ki! Says:
November 28th, 2008 at 4:28 pm[...] ad?n veren kitaba da ad?n? veren) 2010 y?l?nda kapat?lacak (Mission 4 hakk?nda bilgi). ?urada bir seçme yap?lm??, Hubble’?n çekti?i [...]
November 26th, 2008 at 10:29 pm
I have just sent this article to a good friend of mine with a note questioning why the Hubble Telescope cannot be kept going. I wonder if someone, somewhere can explain why this amazing piece of astronomical equipment has to be consigned to the dustbin like some worn out, disposable item.
They still have the old telescopes going on planet Earth so why not in orbit?
November 27th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
its amazing how technology can bring out the true beauty of life, its a shame such great technology is being taken down, its a relief that more advanced technology is taking its place in 2 years time
November 27th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
I don’t think photo 3 is hubble-related. APOD lists it as a TRACE project image:
http://www.sai.msu.su/apod/ap020508.html
And they have their own telescope.
http://trace.lmsal.com/Project/Instrument/insrument.htm
By the way, it’s hard not to think of this as blogspam when you don’t link back to any of the original images.
November 27th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
It’s really a shame to see the mistakes in this post. I’ve worked on Hubble since 1992, and I’d like to correct a couple.
First, HST is NOT being decommissioned in 2010. After 1 final servicing mission, currently scheduled for May, 2009, the spacecraft will be used for observations as long as it continues to be operable.
Second, the new telescope, James Webb Space Telescope (or JWST, which I am now working on) will not be “on the station,” nor will it launch in 2011. It is currently (and somewhat optimistically) scheduled for launch in 2013, and it will be placed at a LaGrange point, L2, orbiting the sun … not the Earth as Hubble and the station currently are.
Finally, picture 3, as lovely as it is, was not taken by Hubble. HST can not observe the sun, as the light would dazzle (and even damage) the sensitive detectors. Indeed, HST can’t even look at the Earth for the same reason!
November 27th, 2008 at 6:12 pm
Thanks for putting together this collection.
Two small corrections:
1. Hubble is NOT being decommissioned in 2010! During a shuttle visit scheduled for spring 2009, astronauts will install a new camera and a new spectrograph, as well as repair two of the existing instruments, making Hubble more powerful than ever. We hope it will continue operating for at least 5 years after that.
2. Photo 3 of the Sun, while spectacular, was not taken with Hubble. We never even point within 50 degrees of the Sun!
Howard Bond
Space Telescope Science Institute
November 27th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
I’m surprised to see this on an eco blog. Surely you lot believe that there is nothing that justifies the cost of the fossil fuels used to launch the Hubble telescope into space and manufacture it?
November 27th, 2008 at 9:57 pm
These photos are well worth the cost.
November 27th, 2008 at 10:46 pm
cool!! i can’t wait for the next orbital telescope. i think i was reading somthing about it over at http://www.newsnowbroadcast.com
November 27th, 2008 at 11:12 pm
Fantastic, We will never see the likes again, “Old Hubble breaking down?”, Sod the $$$$’s cost, It’s the only thing that’s ever been put into space that wee mortals can relate to after Voyager 1 & 2 for all the billions of dollars spent. Since Hubble was put into space, ‘We were blind’ (Get up there and fix it)
November 28th, 2008 at 12:43 am
No deep field?
November 28th, 2008 at 12:50 am
Long livith The Hubble Telescope’s memory and all the amazing and wonderful things we have been able to see through it
November 28th, 2008 at 12:51 am
Absolutely stunning, excellent post!
November 28th, 2008 at 1:15 am
take note that this is not the real colors of those galaxies but rather.. an enhancement.
November 28th, 2008 at 1:37 am
What about the Hubble Deep Feild photo? Surely that would come in at #1?
November 28th, 2008 at 6:00 am
previous posts are true…really nice pictures though. if the thing is up there lets take some pictures until we cannot. it only makes sense. if the data from the satellite start to degrade, i don’t think people would not want[double negative] to see them…
November 28th, 2008 at 6:24 am
Aaron is a freelance writer and novelist living in Aloha, Oregon. He has a degree in Computer Graphics, a minor in English and Environmental Geology. His hobbies include snowboarding, stone carving, using google image search, working on cars, skipping important facts, hiking, attributing incorrect sources and camping. You may view his blog at http://failblog.org/
November 28th, 2008 at 8:25 am
Anything non-religious that raises the consciousness of the individual’s mind is appropriate for any eco site… or any site, actually. When one sees the incredible beauty of Universe, and realizes the planet Earth’s relationship to it, then they are faced with our behavior towards it and may seek to change the way we treat it. I have friends who had their first taste of eco-consciousness as a result of seeing incredible images from Hubble.
November 28th, 2008 at 9:35 am
@edward I absolutely believe that the fossil fuels consumed are worth the scientific and artistic value of the HST and our currently limited forays into space. In this instance, it is not wasteful or negligible use of energy
November 28th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
@Buddy
We’re delighted someone who has worked on the Hubble commented, it’s always good to have insider info, so thanks for letting us know the Hubble will be with us for a while yet. And your kind clarifications.
@Howard
Thank you, too.
@Edward
The idea of Environmental Graffiti is to highlight the best bits of our world, and beyond, so people love it a little bit more. We couldn’t possibly ignore amazing images produced by NASA, the Hubble or any of the other agencies. Agreed about the costs, but then if we disregarded everything that used fossil fuels we wouldn’t have much to write about, eh?
Note from EG eds:
All these images are free for anyone to view via Hubble image gallery, APOD or NASA. Links to sites were listed in number format originally at the end of the article, as all sources are on our articles. They are now highlighted in full so readers can be assured there’s no blogspamming going on and everyone can induldge in more amazing images that people like Buddy and Howard work hard to help capture.
Enjoy!
November 28th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
My observation is that environmentalists make the mistake of assuming nature has intrinsic value. Therefore any cost-benefit analysis is completely arbitrary. Therefore for them it is usually assumed that nothing is worth the cost.
November 28th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
These are photoshopped. I have seen these on many wallpaper sites! I know some of the guys who made the pics!
November 29th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
Fantastic pictures. The Sombrero and the Eagle Nebula are my favourites… I still struggle to comprehend how massive these things really are.
December 1st, 2008 at 4:17 am
I looked at these amazing photos with a heavy heart, knowing that I have now seen the best of the best and it’s all down hill from here.
December 1st, 2008 at 11:37 am
Spectacular! As ‘Buddy’ says, this is not the end of HST.
December 1st, 2008 at 11:49 am
Well the pictures are nice even if some of the info is wrong
December 1st, 2008 at 7:30 pm
I truly Love all the Hubble photos…But what was really awe inspiring was the deep field view pic…and I think it is one of the most important deep space photos taken by man..
December 2nd, 2008 at 12:28 am
holy crap
these images remind me of how infinite the universe, and how hard it is to comprehend. i feel small….
December 2nd, 2008 at 9:12 pm
I appreciate the corrections that were included in some of the posts. From the information I was able to gather, they were correct, but as you know, not everything you read is true. The pictures I posted were supposed to be either taken or contributed to by the HST.
Also, a big thanks to Buddy for the corrections.
I hope everyone still enjoys the phenomenal shots of outer space, as that is the original purpose of the post.
December 3rd, 2008 at 6:57 am
Those are so amazing! Things like this confirm for me that there is a God.
December 5th, 2008 at 4:55 am
omg this is soo coool
December 5th, 2008 at 4:56 am
cool
December 7th, 2008 at 10:30 am
I love these pictures, i can remember seeing them in a book for the first time when i was younger and thinking that some of the best art is right there infront of us every day!
The Editor
http://www.eventindustrynews.co.uk/
December 8th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
As the intelligentsia of the Americas stared skyward and marveled at the great heavens, their president committed unspeakable crimes against humanity for oil he never got, their banks stole the very bread from the tables of poor pregnant women in the homelands, their car companies produced trash filled with planned obsolescence and advertising gimmicks instead of transportation value, their lawyers cheated the poor for the rich blatantly and unrestricted by policing of any sort, their businessmen raped and pillaged the middle and lower classes, their corporations stole the very life blood from the peoples pensions, their courts and judges allowed the patenting of living languages for kickbacks sake and in spite of educational needs corporate profit was placed first, their schools went from first class to 34th class, goddamn! their infrastructure disintegrated, their daughters, one in four, ages 12 to 16, fell ill with STDs, their politics abounded with corruption, their uber-military failed to beat turban topped gangsters and dope dealers armed only with AK-47’s, their city parks filled with “tent cities” of the unemployed and hungry, reminiscent of the “Dirty Thirties”, their soldiers prepared for riots and insurrection, their food was declared inedible by South Koreans and no longer sold there, their automotive products were mocked and refused in the marketplaces of the world, their airliners and some military planes were built in Europe for them, not at home, out-bid by better technologies and cheaper labor, their dollar fell in value to laughable levels, their unemployment reached record highs, their illegitimate birth rate soared, their women were refused abortion even in the case of violent rape, their food was turned into fuel for cars for the uber-rich, their god, consumerism, failed them as credit card debt was called in, their mortgages were found to be illegal, unjust, and unfair agreements to enrich the bankers, their homes were foreclosed anyway, sending them to the streets, their jobs disappeared suddenly and without recompense, in spite of huge executive bonuses on closing down workplaces, their white-collared compatriots lost in life savings and pension schemes set up by the uber-rich to steal their very blood, their food supply was contaminated, and the government agency paid to prevent such disasters, let them die in the streets while it spewed out a furry of bureaucratic nonsense and stalling, their health care became more expensive than they could afford, while other countries enjoyed “Universal Health Care”, their veterans in need of rehabilitation after fighting as dirty mercenaries for the Saudi Empire and cheap oil, went homeless and were treated like unwelcome vagabonds, beaten in the streets and rejected as the “Untouchables” of the Americas, their Uber- Rich enjoyed vacations in Dubai while they were learning about “staycations” a poor persons holiday, Keep staring at the stars my savants, for a little while at least, as the view down here is not so pretty!
December 9th, 2008 at 4:48 am
Mistakes and all, still awesome pix…thanks!
December 22nd, 2008 at 2:52 pm
Keep these photoes coming, they facinate me.
I dabble in artwork Supernovas are a good starting point to give me ideas for abstract drawings.
I hope I will be around to see what they new space telescope produces.
January 29th, 2009 at 6:27 pm
If I didn’t beleive in G-d I would think these weren’t real. But, even so how could anyone think them up by themsleves? Stary Stary night…La la la la lala..
Pictures that make you feel good and looking way out there makes you want to look way deep here.