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Importance of Hubble space telescope: Dazzling images of outer space, far away galaxies and nebulae

By Vishal S
|
Google Oneindia News

New Delhi, Oct 31: The Hubble Space Telescope took space exploration to a new level altogether. Since its launch into low Earth orbit in 1990, Hubble telescope has been sending images of galaxies, stars and nebulae which are millions of Light Years away. It has significantly broadened our understanding of the universe.

Without images sent by Hubble, we may not have known about many unique galactic events which are beyond imagination. Dazzling images sent by Hubble of the collision of galaxies, supernova explosions, stars is various stages of their life cycle etc. We know so much more about the Universe than before, but that only makes it more clear that there is a lot we do not know.

What can be said about the vastness of the Universe when Hubble sends images of galaxies millions of Light Years away. Light Year is not a measure of time but of distance, a light-year is the distance travelled by light in one year.

Suppose if we are looking at the image of a galaxy which is a million light-years away, then it means that what we are looking at is a million-year-old photo. Light took that long to reach us. For example, the Hubble captured the image of a supernova explosion which took place 5 million light-years away means that we are looking at something which occurred 5 million years ago.

100 million light-years away star's image shows its state 100 million years ago. To know what is happening right now, we will have to wait for 100 million years more because that is the time light takes to reach us from there. This is how vast the Universe is and what we know, see are infinitesimally minuscule fraction of the Universe, the vastness of which is incomprehensible.

Dazzling images captured by Hubble Space telescope:

Red Spider Nebula

Red Spider Nebula

The Red Spider Nebula might look like a cosmic arachnid, but it's actually the cast-off outer layers of a dying Sun-like star. The hot star's powerful stellar winds create waves in the expelled gas. (Images and text courtesy - Twitter/@NASAHubble)

IC 4653 galaxy

IC 4653 galaxy

IC 4653 is a galaxy just over 80 million light-years away. That may sound like quite a distance, but it's not far on a cosmic scale. At these kinds of distances, the types and structures of the objects we see are similar to those nearby. (Images and text courtesy - Twitter/@NASAHubble)

The Ghost Head Nebula

The Ghost Head Nebula

Nicknamed "The Ghost Head Nebula," NGC 2080 is a star-forming region in a nearby galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud. The nebula's two bright "eyes" are blobs of hydrogen and oxygen that glow with the energy from massive, newborn stars. (Images and text courtesy - Twitter/@NASAHubble)

Galaxy NGC 4380

Galaxy NGC 4380

Galaxy NGC 4380 looks like a special effect straight out of a science fiction or fantasy film, swirling like a gaping portal to another dimension. In the grand scheme of things, though, the galaxy is actually quite ordinary. (Images and text courtesy - Twitter/@NASAHubble)

Saturn Nebula

Saturn Nebula

As a Sun-like star nears the end of its life, it can produce a psychedelic work of art in space. The glowing clouds of the Saturn Nebula are the cast-off outer layers of a dying star about 1,400 light-years from Earth. (Images and text courtesy - Twitter/@NASAHubble)

NGC 3717

NGC 3717

Seeing the profile of galaxy NGC 3717 can provide a vivid sense of its three-dimensional shape. Spiral galaxies are mostly thin disks, but they have bright, spherical, star-filled centers that extend above and below.

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Medusa merger or NGC 4194

Medusa merger or NGC 4194

The Medusa merger (aka NGC 4194) was not always one entity, but two. About 130 million light-years away, an early galaxy consumed a smaller gas-rich system, throwing out streams of stars and dust into space.(Images and text courtesy - Twitter/@NASAHubble)

NGC 1850

NGC 1850

Wrapped in the gaseous remains of supernova explosions, NGC 1850 is a double star cluster in a neighboring galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud. A huge collection of stars near the center is accompanied by a smaller group (lower right). (Images and text courtesy - Twitter/@NASAHubble)

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