Cheers to Hubble fans. After more than a month of closed cameras, now the Hubble Space Telescope is back taking photos of the cosmos for show.
Quoting from the Space page, the iconic space observatory resumed science operations Saturday (July 17) after weeks of slumber as NASA engineers scrambled to fix computer errors. The work paid off with this photo, which shows the first two new images from Hubble since its computer woes began.
“I am delighted to see that Hubble is returning to the universe, once again capturing the kinds of images that have fascinated and inspired us for decades,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement.
“This is a moment to celebrate the success of a team that is truly dedicated to the mission.” NASA and the European Space Agency launched the Hubble Space Telescope in April 1990.
The black-and-white image shows a different view of the galaxy. On the left is an object called ARP-MADORE2115-273, which is actually two different galaxies trapped in an intergalactic tango. It is about 297 million light years from Earth.
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“Astronomers previously thought this was a ‘collision ring’ system due to the merging of two galaxies. The new Hubble observations suggest that the ongoing interactions between galaxies are much more complex, leaving behind a rich network of stars and dusty gas.” wrote NASA in the description of the image.
A second view from Hubble (on the right side of the image) shows ARP-MADORE0002-503, a large spiral galaxy located about 490 million light-years from Earth. If you thought this was just another spiral galaxy like our Milky Way, think again.
“The arm extends to a radius of 163,000 light-years, making it three times the area of our Milky Way Galaxy, while most disk galaxies have an even number of spiral arms, this one has three.” wrote NASA.
The new views from Hubble are just two images from a series of test photos as NASA and the European Space Agency work to reboot the space telescope.
Hubble went offline on June 13 after its main payload computer went offline, sending the observatory into protective “safe mode” in which all science was stopped.
After weeks of troubleshooting, engineers traced the fault to a skewed circuit between the Hubble Power Control Unit and the payload computer and managed to reactivate the observatory by switching to a backup computer.
Since then, Hubble scientists and engineers have taken test images of Jupiter’s galaxies, globular clusters, and auroras.
“I admit I experienced some nervous moments during the Hubble shutdown, but I also believe in NASA’s incredible engineers and technicians,” astronomer Julianne Dalcanton of the University of Washington in Seattle, who led the program that captured the new photos, said in a statement. .
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“Everyone is so grateful, and we’re excited to get back to science!” he said
Editor : Good Fit
Writer : Aris N
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