You may have noticed that our favorite red planet, Mars, has been a popular feature in the news recently. Not that we need any special reasons to take a closer look at Mars, but a number of coincident events have brought this about: [1] Mars has just passed through opposition, or the point in its... Continue Reading →
Every two years or so, Mars and the Earth approach each other more closely than usual. We're in no danger of colliding because both planets are kept in their orbits by the Sun's gravity. But the orbital geometry gives us an opportunity to get a closer and brighter view of our nearest neighboring planet from... Continue Reading →
August 17, 2017 was a watershed moment in the nascent field of gravitational-wave astronomy. On this date, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) detected a ripple in space-time, hereafter known as GW170817, originating near the constellation Hydra. A short while later, NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor detected a faint pulse of gamma rays in this... Continue Reading →
A Cosmic Panorama Have you ever stood on the top floor of a tall building overlooking a vast city in front of you? You probably thought, "Wow, I should take a picture of this!" only to be disappointed when your camera can’t fit the scene into the image. Now, imagine your camera's field of view... Continue Reading →
Two earlier blog posts describe what the Lagoon Nebula is, why it was a great target for Hubble's 28th anniversary, and how the color composition and visualization was accomplished. See Celebrating Hubble’s 28th Anniversary and Deep Dive into the Lagoon. This post goes a bit further behind the scenes to get an idea of how... Continue Reading →
The Hubble Space Telescope has been zipping around our planet for over 28 years providing us with unparalleled views of the farthest reaches of the universe. In celebration of this milestone, and in keeping with past tradition, we have prepared a visual feast showcasing a rich and vibrant region of the Milky Way galaxy known... Continue Reading →
The Lagoon Nebula We here at Hubble Image Central (a.k.a. the Office of Public Outreach at the Space Telescope Science Institute), along with the entire Hubble Space Telescope team, love to celebrate the anniversary of our favorite orbiting telescope's launch on April 24, 1990 by releasing a new picture. This year we're happy to present... Continue Reading →
The most common question we get asked about Hubble images is, "are the colors real?" What folks usually mean is, are these what the images would look like if we could travel in the Starship Enterprise to these cosmic landscapes? Or maybe more practically, if we could look through the Hubble Space Telescope. That would... Continue Reading →
Guest blogger Ray Villard, STScI News Director As the news director for STScI, I have Hubble pictures for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And, after 28 years of having a ringside seat to Hubble’s eagle-eye views, one is always tempted to think we’ve seen it all with this prolific space observatory. But that’s never the case... Continue Reading →
