Nature Photos of the Week

July 18, 2007

 

Deep Space!

After correcting an initial problem with the lens when the Hubble Space Telescope was first launched in 1990, the floating astro-observatory began to relay back to Earth incredible snapshots of the "final frontier" it was pursuing. Recently, astronauts selected the top photographs taken by Hubble in its 16-year journey, so far. They illustrate that our universe is not only deeply strange, but also almost impossibly beautiful.

 

The Sombrero Galaxy - 28 million light years from Earth - was voted best picture taken
by the Hubble telescope. The dimensions of the galaxy, officially called M104, are as
spectacular as its appearance. It has 800 billion suns and is 50,000 light years across.

 

The Cat's Eye Nebula (NGC 6543) is a planetary nubula in the constellation of Draco. Structurally, it is one of the most complex nebulae known, with high-resolution observations revealing remarkable structures such as knots, jets and sinewy arc-like features. It was discovered by Willieam Herschel in 1786. Modern studies reveal several mysteries. The intricacy of the structure may be caused in part by material ejected from a binary central star, but as yet, there is no direct evidence that the central star has a companion.

 

The Hourglass Nebula, 8,000 light years away, has a pinched-in-the-middle
look because the winds that shape it are weaker at the centre.

 

Nebula NGC 2392 is called Eskimo because it looks like a face
 surrounded by a furry hood. The hood is, in fact, a ring of comet-shaped objects
flying away from a dying star. Eskimo is 5,000 light years from Earth.

 

The Cone Nebula. The part pictured here is 2.5 light years in
length (the equivalent of 23 million return trips to the Moon).

 

The Ant Nebula, a cloud of dust and gas whose technical name is Mz3, resembles
 an ant when observed using ground-based telescopes. The nebula lies within our
galaxy between 3,000 and 6,000 light years from Earth.

 

The Perfect Storm, a small region in the Swan Nebula, 5,500 light years away, described as 'a bubbly ocean of hydrogen and small amounts of oxygen, sulphur and other elements.' It is located in the rich starfields of the Sagittarius area of the Milky Way. The cloud of interstellar matter, of which the nebula is a part, is roughly 40 light-years in diameter. The total mass of the Swan Nebula is an estimated 800 solar masses. A cluster of 35 stars lies embedded in the nebulosity and it is these hot, young stars' radiation that excites the gases in the nebula causing it to shine.