Saturn plays an inspirational role in astronomy. The simple shape of a sphere with rings around it is the quintessential drawing of a planet. The experience of viewing Saturn and its rings through a telescope for the first time is often an awe-inducing revelation. The magnificent ring system has an allure and a grandeur that... Continue Reading →
The Hubble Space Telescope and other modern great observatories have treated us to scrapbooks full of mind-blowing, dazzling views of the universe. The mesmerized public never takes them for granted. Emotionally compelling pictures of our place in space really didn't emerge until the birth of the space program in the late 1950s. Though the early snapshots... Continue Reading →
The text and images in this article were originally published on October 2, 2003, and reflect information about M104 available at that time. HUBBLE MOSAIC OF THE MAJESTIC SOMBRERO GALAXY NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has trained its razor-sharp eye on one of the universe's most stately and photogenic galaxies, the Sombrero galaxy, Messier 104 (M104).... Continue Reading →
It was 1950 when astronomer Art Hoag published the first description of this object which has come to be named after him. Although he thought it most likely resembled a planetary nebula in some ways, he was skeptical because the size of the object and the properties of its nucleus in comparison to the rest... Continue Reading →
The text and images in this article were originally published on September 5, 2002, and reflect information about Hoag's Object available at that time. HOAG'S OBJECT: A WHEEL WITHIN A WHEEL A nearly perfect ring of hot, blue stars pinwheels about the yellow nucleus of an unusual galaxy known as Hoag's Object. This image from NASA's... Continue Reading →
The text and images in this article were originally published on August 1, 2002, and reflect information about Gomez's Hamburger available at that time. HUBBLE ASTRONOMERS FEAST ON AN INTERSTELLAR HAMBURGER Hold the pickles; hold the lettuce. Space is serving up giant hamburgers. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has snapped a photograph of a strange object... Continue Reading →
The text and images in this article were originally published on August 29, 2013, and reflect information about IRAS 20324+4057 available at that time. NASA's Hubble Sees a Cosmic Caterpillar This light-year-long knot of interstellar gas and dust resembles a caterpillar on its way to a feast. But the meat of the story is not... Continue Reading →
What Is the #DrawToLifeChallenge? The #DrawToLifeChallenge is a fun summer activity series produced by the Office of Public Outreach at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) where we invite everyone to transform our Hubble images. Whether it be in the form of a GIF, an electronically created painting, a scanned crayon creation, or an original... Continue Reading →
Approximately one billion people on Earth watched as the first human set foot on the moon 50 years ago on July 20, 1969. This will long be remembered as a crowning achievement not just of our nation, but a game-changer for human civilization. This was our first step toward becoming an extraterrestrial species that pursues... Continue Reading →
