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The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, in collaboration with several other ground- and space-based telescopes, has captured a galaxy being ripped apart by a galaxy cluster's gravitational field and harsh environment. The finding sheds light on the mysterious process by which gas-rich spiral-shaped galaxies might evolve into gas-poor irregular- or elliptical-shaped galaxies over billions of years.
Hubble has delivered an unrivalled napshot of the nearby barred spiral galaxy NGC 1672. This remarkable image provides a high-definition view of the galaxy's large bar, its fields of star-forming clouds and its dark bands of interstellar dust.
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope celebrates its 17th birthday with one of the largest panoramic images ever taken. The violent stellar fireworks of the Carina Nebula.
New Hubble observations of the massive globular cluster NGC 2808 provide vidence that it has three generations of stars instead of one as current theories predict.
An international team of astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has discovered a ghostly ring of dark matter formed long ago during a colossal collision between two galaxy clusters. This is the first time that dark matter has been found with a distribution that differs substantially from the distribution of ordinary matter.
Have you ever wondered why some telescopes are launched into space while others are built on remote mountain tops? What is actually the best for astronomy? Here we provide a ringside view of the fight for the elusive photons from deep space - is it a battle of the telescope giants?
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has uncovered magnificent sections of the Veil Nebula - the shattered remains of a supernova that exploded some 5-10,000 years ago. The new Hubble images provide beautiful views of the delicate, wispy structure resulting from this cosmic explosion.
By scrutinising the Hubble Ultra Deep field - the deepest image of the sky ever made - the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and the NASA Spitzer Space Telescope have joined forces to discover nine of the smallest, faintest, most compact galaxies ever observed in the distant Universe.
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured a spectacular image of NGC 3603, a giant nebula hosting one of the most prominent massive young clusters in the Milky Way. This is a splendid location for continued studies of stellar birth in star forming regions.
We live in a Universe of unimaginable scale and almost incomprehensible beauty. How is the light from the Universe transformed into the images that have inspired generations by making the Universe come to life?
The galaxy Messier 74 lies at a distance of over 30 million light years. In this latest image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope the enormous swirls of this stunning spiral galaxy arc across space, adorned with glowing pink regions of hydrogen gas and lit by the pale blue light of millions of newly formed stars.
Using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have found the first clear evidence of high altitude haze or clouds in the atmosphere of an extrasolar planet. This discovery reveals a deeper understanding of the class of giant planets that astronomers call hot Jupiters.
In this new Hubblecast episode, Dr. J guides us through the first chapter of Eyes on the Skies, the International Astronomical Union's official movie celebrating the telescope on its 400th anniversary in 2009.
It has been 400 years since Galileo Galilei first walked out into a field and trained his telescope upon the heavens. To celebrate this extraordinary anniversary, a special series of Hubblecast podcasts is devoted to the telescope ? the historical development, the scientific importance, the technological breakthroughs, and also the people behind this ground-breaking invention, their triumphs and their failures.
In this first chapter of the Special Edition of Hubblecast, Dr. J takes you on a whirl-wind tour of the invention of the telescope as you meet inventors from Hans Lipperhey to Galileo Galilei to Christiaan Huygens. Who invented the telescope? What was it first used for? How did early telescopes evolve? Sit back and enjoy the view!
In this new Hubblecast episode, Dr. J guides us through the second chapter of Eyes on the Skies, the International Astronomical Union's official movie celebrating the telescope on its 400th anniversary in 2009.
In their quest for ever-fainter objects and finer detail, astronomers have always demanded bigger telescopes. Scientific vision, technical nerve and personal perseverance led to the giant observatories of the early 20th century. Located on remote peaks and protected beneath majestic domes, these awe-inspiring instruments have revealed an expanding and evolving Universe, populated by a stunning variety of galaxies and nuclear powered stars that produced the elements in our bodies. A few decades ago the five metre Hale Telescope on Palomar Mountain seemed to be the ultimate telescope. But was it?
In this new Hubblecast episode, Dr. J guides us through the third chapter of Eyes on the Skies, the International Astronomical Union's official movie celebrating the telescope on its 400th anniversary in 2009.
Progress in telescopic astronomy would have come to a grinding halt in the second half of the twentieth century if it weren't for the digital revolution. Powerful computers have enabled a wealth of new technologies that have resulted in the construction of giant telescopes, perched on high mountaintops with monolithic or segmented mirrors as large as swimming pools. Astronomers have even devised clever ways of undoing the distorting effects of atmospheric turbulence and of combining individual telescope mirrors into virtual behemoths with unsurpassed eyesight. The optical wizardry of 21st century telescope building has ushered in a completely new era of ground-based astronomical discovery.
In this new Hubblecast episode, Dr. J guides us through the fourth chapter of Eyes on the Skies, the International Astronomical Union's movie celebrating the telescope on its 400th anniversary in 2009.
Observing the Universe through the eyepiece of a telescope is one thing, but recording the observations for posterity is something quite different. Originally astronomers used pen and paper to draw what they saw, but the human eye is a lousy detector and our brain can play tricks on us. Astrophotography, first explored in the mid-nineteenth century, has proved to be a powerful, objective way of recording telescopic images with the advantage that long exposures revealed much more than the eye could ever see. But the true revolution arrived with electronic detectors and digital image processing.
In this new Hubblecast episode, Dr. J guides us through the fifth chapter of Eyes on the Skies, the International Astronomical Union's movie celebrating the telescope on its 400th anniversary in 2009.
The Universe is a black void, with a scattering of stars, nebulae and galaxies – or so it appears to observers using visible light. But if we include other forms of radiation invisible to us, the picture changes completely: clouds of interstellar hydrogen gas, emitting radio waves; stellar nurseries, glowing in the infrared; explosive outbursts of gamma rays and the all-sky background hiss of the Big Bang, diluted by almost fourteen billion years of cosmic expansion. So how do astronomers learn about the unseen Universe? By building telescopes and detectors that can see the invisible. Watch this Hubblecast episode and find out more.
In this new Hubblecast episode, Dr. J guides us through the sixth chapter of Eyes on the Skies, the International Astronomical Union's movie celebrating the telescope on its 400th anniversary in 2009.
There's no better place for a telescope than space itself. Above the Earth's atmosphere observations are no longer hampered by air turbulence, so telescopic images of distant stars and galaxies are razor-sharp. Unlike a ground-based telescope, an instrument in Earth orbit can operate twenty-four hours a day and reach every part of the sky. Observing from space also makes it possible to study types of radiation that are otherwise absorbed by the atmosphere. Little wonder that the Hubble Space Telescope has made so many contributions to astronomy. And Hubble is not alone — more than 100 space observatories have been launched since the 1960s.Watch this Hubblecast episode and find out more.
In this new Hubblecast Special episode, Dr. J guides us through the seventh chapter of Eyes on the Skies, the International Astronomical Union's movie celebrating the telescope's 400th anniversary in 2009.
The telescope has been mankind's window on the Universe for four hundred years. It has provided scientists with unprecedented views of planets, stars and galaxies from our cosmic doorstep to the very depths of space and time. But despite their incredible performance, even the newest and most powerful telescopes leave room for improvement. Astronomers always want to venture beyond their current horizons. In this final chapter we take a look at things to come — the revolutionary ground-based telescopes and space observatories of the future. One thing is certain: there is much left to discover.
For nineteen years, NASA/ESA' s Hubble Space Telescope has made some of the most dramatic discoveries in the history of astronomy but it has also helped scientists learn more about our own Solar System. From its vantage point 600 km above the Earth, Hubble has studied every planet in our Solar System except Mercury where light from the Sun would damage its instruments. Hubble has captured the impact of a comet on Jupiter, immense storms on Neptune and even tiny dwarf planets at the edge of our Solar System. The veteran telescope keeps a watchful eye on our solar backyard.
In January and March 2009, researchers using Hubble took advantage of a rare opportunity to record Saturn when its rings are edge-on, resulting in a unique movie featuring both of the giant planet's poles. Saturn is only in this position every 15 years or so and this favourable orientation has allowed a sustained study of the two beautiful and dynamic aurorae, Saturn's own northern and southern lights.
Throughout its 20-year career, while moving at a staggering 28 000 kilometres per hour, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has made more than 930 000 observations and snapped over 570 000 images of 30 000 celestial objects. It has made more than 110 000 trips around our planet while collecting more than 45 terabytes of data, enough information to fill nearly 5800 DVD movies. Astronomers using Hubble data have published more than 8700 scientific papers, making it one of the most productive scientific instruments ever built. Join Dr J as he reviews the life of this prized observatory and presents it the Cosmic Lifetime Achievement Award for the scientific and artistic gifts it has given us.
When Hubble was launched in 1990, every astronomer knew it had an opportunity to make profound breakthroughs in science. A few realised its potential as a tool for inspiring people with awe for the Universe. But could anyone have predicted how deeply Hubble would become embedded in popular culture?
What makes a scientific discovery really important? It's partly down to how much scientists use the discovery in subsequent work -- but it’s also partly down to what inspires their imagination. In this episode, the Hubblecast talks to some leading astronomers about their favourite Hubble discovery. Meanwhile, our presenter, Dr J, struggles to make up his mind.
For centuries, scientists imagined objects so heavy and dense that their gravity might be strong enough to pull anything in - including light. They would be, quite literally, a black hole in space.
But it’s only in the past few decades that astronomers have conclusively proved their existence.
Today, Hubble lets scientists measure the effects of black holes, make images of their surroundings and glean fascinating insights into the evolution of our cosmos.
In this episode of the Hubblecast, Dr J (aka Dr Joe Liske) presents the latest discovery about HD 189733b, an exoplanet that has been repeatedly studied by Hubble.
Observations taken in 2011 using Hubble and the Swift satellite showed a flare from the planet’s parent star scorching the upper atmosphere and driving it off into space.
This is the first time that clear change has been observed in an exoplanet’s atmosphere. The observations give a tantalising glimpse of changing weather on planets outside our Solar System.
In this episode of the Hubblecast, Joe Liske (aka Dr J) presents the winners of the Hidden Treasures image processing competition.
In May 2012, we asked members of the public to delve into Hubble's vast science archive to uncover pictures that had never been seen outside of the scientific community — and then to try their hand at processing the scientific data into attractive images.
In this episode of the Hubblecast, we do away with Hubble’s stunning pictures of the cosmos, and focus on one of the telescope’s most important — but least known — functions.
Like a digital camera, Hubble’s cameras produce colour images by sampling just a handful of colours and combining them together into one picture. The detail is extraordinary — but while the colours are accurate enough for the human eye, they are not good enough for some kinds of scientific work, such as the study of distant galaxies and extrasolar planets.
For much of their research, astronomers use Hubble’s spectrometers, devices that split up light into a rainbow of component colours, to reveal many of the hidden properties of the Universe. These observing methods may not produce attractive images, but they lie behind some of the most profound science that Hubble does.
In this episode, presenter Joe Liske (aka Dr J) and Hubble astronomer Bob Fosbury give a introduction to spectroscopy using Hubble, how it works, and what it’s for.
Episode 66 of the Hubblecast explores the Ring Nebula (Messier 57). Although this nebula is one of the most famous objects in our skies, more than 200 years after its discovery astronomers are still unveiling some of its secrets.
The Ring Nebula was discovered in the late 18th century, but its true shape and structure has remained unclear. Now, a team of astronomers has used the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, alongside existing ground-based data, to explore the Ring Nebula in depth. The astronomers wanted to better understand the nebula’s structure, evolution, physical conditions, and motion — and it turns out that the Ring Nebula is not actually very ring-shaped after all.
Hubblecast 66 showcases stunning new Hubble images of this beautiful object, showing the bright, colourful centre of the nebula, and the dramatically turbulent space that surrounds it.
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has observed many star clusters. As well as being scientifically interesting, these clusters produce stunning images, appearing like sparkling baubles in the sky.
This episode of the Hubblecast looks at how Hubble has studied and imaged these beautiful objects, also introducing a striking new image of Messier 15, one of the oldest globular clusters in our skies. This is the best ever image of this cluster, which contains over 100 000 stars, a planetary nebula known as Pease 1 (otherwise named PN Ku 648 or Kürster 648), and something more exotic: at its core, it is thought to host a rare type of black hole.
The newest episode of the Hubblecast showcases striking new observations of a spiral galaxy moving through the heart of a galaxy cluster named Abell 3627. This cluster is violently ripping the spiral’s entrails out into space, leaving bright blue streaks as telltale clues to this cosmic crime
This episode of the Hubblecast explores the intersection of science and art through the sound artwork of Tim Otto Roth - premiered in March 2014 at the fourth Hubble Space Telescope Conference at the Accademia dei Lincei in Rome.
Heaven’s Carousel is a huge carousel like sound installation with 36 rotating illuminated loudspeakers which is inspired by Hubble research, in particular the accelerating Universe.
In the summer of 2014 we asked the public to send us their Hubble- and astronomy-related questions, and the response was incredible! In this episode Dr J answers a selection of the questions about science related to Hubble. These range from questions about what Hubble has achieved within the Solar System, to the science it has uncovered at the very edge of the observable Universe. In this episode Dr J explains some of the key concepts, and biggest misconceptions, about the Universe we live in.
In April 2016 the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope celebrated its 26th year in orbit. More than a quarter of a century of intriguing observations and remarkable discoveries. But what is there left for Hubble, and the forthcoming James Webb Space Telescope, to do? In this second episode on the future of Hubble scientists and the director of the Space Telescope Science Institute share with us their view on Hubble’s shining future.
To many, Hubble is best known for its stunning images of celestial objects, but among astronomers it is admired for the valuable data it delivers. Hubble has helped revolutionise astronomy, including shedding light on dark matter and dark energy, lifting the veil on black holes, and peering into the dusty regions around stars to image exoplanets. This new Hubblecast is the second part of an exploration of some of Hubble’s most important discoveries throughout its history.
This video provides a look back over the 10 best images Hubble released in 2017. In total ESA/Hubble released 181 images, graphs and illustrations, as well as 55 videos, supporting press releases and announcements on www.spacetelescope.org, in 2017.
