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Into the Heart of Darkness
Astronomers have long known
…
01/06/10
| Description |
Astronomers have long known that the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, known as Sagittarius A* (or Sgr A* for short), is a particularly poor eater. The fuel for this black hole comes from powerful winds blown off dozens of massive young stars that are concentrated nearby. These stars are located a relatively large distance away from Sgr A*, where the gravity of the black hole is weak, and so their high-velocity winds are difficult for the black hole to capture and swallow. Scientists have previously calculated that Sgr A* should consume only about 1 percent of the fuel carried in the winds. However, it now appears that Sgr A* consumes even less than expected -- ingesting only about one percent of that one percent. Why does it consume so little? The answer may be found in a new theoretical model developed using data from a very deep exposure made by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. This model considers the flow of energy between two regions around the black hole: an inner region that is close to the so-called event horizon (the boundary beyond which even light cannot escape), and an outer region that includes the black hole's fuel source -- the young stars -- extending up to a million times farther out. Collisions between particles in the hot inner region transfer energy to particles in the cooler outer region via a process called conduction. This, in turn, provides additional outward pressure that makes nearly all of the gas in the outer region flow away from the black hole. The model appears to explain well the extended shape of hot gas detected around Sgr A* in X-rays as well as features seen in other wavelengths. This Chandra image of Sgr A* and the surrounding region is based on data from a series of observations lasting a total of about one million seconds, or almost two weeks. Such a deep observation has given scientists an unprecedented view of the supernova remnant near Sgr A* (known as Sgr A East) and the lobes of hot gas extending for a dozen light years on either side of the black hole. These lobes provide evidence for powerful eruptions occurring several times over the last ten thousand years. The image also contains several mysterious X-ray filaments, some of which may be huge magnetic structures interacting with streams of energetic electrons produced by rapidly spinning neutron stars. Such features are known as pulsar wind nebulas. This new model of Sgr A* was presented at the 215th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in January 2009 by Roman Shcherbakov and Robert Penna of Harvard University and Frederick K. Baganoff of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Image Credit: NASA/CXC/MIT/F. Baganoff, R. Shcherbakov et al. |
| Date |
01/06/10 |
|
A Cauldron of Stars at the G
…
| Title |
A Cauldron of Stars at the Galaxy's Center |
| Description |
This dazzling infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows hundreds of thousands of stars crowded into the swirling core of our spiral Milky Way galaxy. In visible-light pictures, this region cannot be seen at all because dust lying between Earth and the galactic center blocks our view. In this false-color picture, old and cool stars are blue, while dust features lit up by blazing hot, massive stars are shown in a reddish hue. Both bright and dark filamentary clouds can be seen, many of which harbor stellar nurseries. The plane of the Milky Way's flat disk is apparent as the main, horizontal band of clouds. The brightest white spot in the middle is the very center of the galaxy, which also marks the site of a supermassive black hole. The region pictured here is immense, with a horizontal span of 890 light-years and a vertical span of 640 light-years. Earth is located 26,000 light-years away, out in one of the Milky Way's spiral arms. Though most of the objects seen in this image are located at the galactic center, the features above and below the galactic plane tend to lie closer to Earth. Scientists are intrigued by the giant lobes of dust extending away from the plane of the galaxy. They believe the lobes may have been formed by winds from massive stars. This image is a mosaic of thousands of short exposures taken by Spitzer's Infrared Array Camera (IRAC), showing emissions from wavelengths of 3.6 microns (blue), 4.5 microns (green), 5.8 microns (orange), and 8.0 microns (red). The entire region was imaged in less than 16 hours. |
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A Cauldron of Stars at the G
…
| Title |
A Cauldron of Stars at the Galaxy's Center |
| Description |
This dazzling infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows hundreds of thousands of stars crowded into the swirling core of our spiral Milky Way galaxy. In visible-light pictures, this region cannot be seen at all because dust lying between Earth and the galactic center blocks our view. In this false-color picture, old and cool stars are blue, while dust features lit up by blazing hot, massive stars are shown in a reddish hue. Both bright and dark filamentary clouds can be seen, many of which harbor stellar nurseries. The plane of the Milky Way's flat disk is apparent as the main, horizontal band of clouds. The brightest white spot in the middle is the very center of the galaxy, which also marks the site of a supermassive black hole. The region pictured here is immense, with a horizontal span of 890 light-years and a vertical span of 640 light-years. Earth is located 26,000 light-years away, out in one of the Milky Way's spiral arms. Though most of the objects seen in this image are located at the galactic center, the features above and below the galactic plane tend to lie closer to Earth. Scientists are intrigued by the giant lobes of dust extending away from the plane of the galaxy. They believe the lobes may have been formed by winds from massive stars. This image is a mosaic of thousands of short exposures taken by Spitzer's Infrared Array Camera (IRAC), showing emissions from wavelengths of 3.6 microns (blue), 4.5 microns (green), 5.8 microns (orange), and 8.0 microns (red). The entire region was imaged in less than 16 hours. |
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Where Galactic Snakes Live
| Title |
Where Galactic Snakes Live |
| Description |
This infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows what astronomers are referring to as a "snake" (upper left) and its surrounding stormy environment. The sinuous object is actually the core of a thick, sooty cloud large enough to swallow dozens of solar systems. In fact, astronomers say the "snake's belly" may be harboring beastly stars in the process of forming. The galactic creepy crawler to the right of the snake is another thick cloud core, in which additional burgeoning massive stars might be lurking. The colorful regions below the two cloud cores are less dense cloud material, in which dust has been heated by starlight and glows with infrared light. Yellow and orange dots throughout the image are monstrous developing stars, the red star on the "belly" of the snake is 20 to 50 times as massive as our sun. The blue dots are foreground stars. The red ball at the bottom left is a "supernova remnant," the remains of massive star that died in a fiery blast. Astronomers speculate that radiation and winds from the star before it died, in addition to a shock wave created when it exploded, might have played a role in creating the snake. Spitzer was able to spot the two black cloud cores using its heat-seeking infrared vision. The objects are hiding in the dusty plane of our Milky Way galaxy, invisible to optical telescopes. Because their heat, or infrared light, can sneak through the dust, they first showed up in infrared images from past missions. The cloud cores are so thick with dust that if you were to somehow transport yourself into the middle of them, you would see nothing but black, not even a star in the sky. Now, that's spooky! Spitzer's new view of the region provides the best look yet at the massive embryonic stars hiding inside the snake. Astronomers say these observations will ultimately help them better understand how massive stars form. By studying the clustering and range of masses of the stellar embryos, they hope to determine if the stars were born in the same way that our low-mass sun was formed -- out of a collapsing cloud of gas and dust -- or by another mechanism in which the environment plays a larger role. The snake is located about 11,000 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius. This false-color image is a composite of infrared data taken by Spitzer's infrared array camera and multiband imaging photometer. Blue represents 3.6-micron light, green shows light of 8 microns, and red is 24-micron light. |
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Where Galactic Snakes Live (
…
| Title |
Where Galactic Snakes Live (Artistically Enhanced) |
| Description |
This infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows what astronomers are referring to as a "snake" (upper left) and its surrounding stormy environment. The sinuous object is actually the core of a thick, sooty cloud large enough to swallow dozens of solar systems. In fact, astronomers say the "snake's belly" may be harboring beastly stars in the process of forming. The galactic creepy crawler to the right of the snake is another thick cloud core, in which additional burgeoning massive stars might be lurking. The colorful regions below the two cloud cores are less dense cloud material, in which dust has been heated by starlight and glows with infrared light. Yellow and orange dots throughout the image are monstrous developing stars, the red star on the "belly" of the snake is 20 to 50 times as massive as our sun. The blue dots are foreground stars. The red ball at the bottom left is a "supernova remnant," the remains of massive star that died in a fiery blast. Astronomers speculate that radiation and winds from the star before it died, in addition to a shock wave created when it exploded, might have played a role in creating the snake. Spitzer was able to spot the two black cloud cores using its heat-seeking infrared vision. The objects are hiding in the dusty plane of our Milky Way galaxy, invisible to optical telescopes. Because their heat, or infrared light, can sneak through the dust, they first showed up in infrared images from past missions. The cloud cores are so thick with dust that if you were to somehow transport yourself into the middle of them, you would see nothing but black, not even a star in the sky. Now, that's spooky! Spitzer's new view of the region provides the best look yet at the massive embryonic stars hiding inside the snake. Astronomers say these observations will ultimately help them better understand how massive stars form. By studying the clustering and range of masses of the stellar embryos, they hope to determine if the stars were born in the same way that our low-mass sun was formed -- out of a collapsing cloud of gas and dust -- or by another mechanism in which the environment plays a larger role. The snake is located about 11,000 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius. This false-color image is a composite of infrared data taken by Spitzer's infrared array camera and multiband imaging photometer. Blue represents 3.6-micron light, green shows light of 8 microns, and red is 24-micron light. |
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New Horizons Sees Pluto (Sep
…
| title |
New Horizons Sees Pluto (Sept. 24) |
| date |
09.21.2006 |
| description |
A white arrow marks Pluto in this New Horizons Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) picture taken Sept. 21, 2006. Seen at a distance of about 4.2 billion kilometers (2.6 billion miles) from the spacecraft, Pluto is little more than a faint point of light among a dense field of stars. Mission scientists knew they had Pluto in their sights when LORRI detected an unresolved "point" in Pluto's predicted position, moving at the planet's expected motion across the constellation of Sagittarius near the plane of the Milky Way galaxy. Image Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute |
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New Horizons Sees Pluto (Sep
…
| title |
New Horizons Sees Pluto (Sept. 21) |
| date |
09.21.2006 |
| description |
A white arrow marks Pluto in this New Horizons Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) picture taken Sept. 21, 2006. Seen at a distance of about 4.2 billion kilometers (2.6 billion miles) from the spacecraft, Pluto is little more than a faint point of light among a dense field of stars. Mission scientists knew they had Pluto in their sights when LORRI detected an unresolved "point" in Pluto's predicted position, moving at the planet's expected motion across the constellation of Sagittarius near the plane of the Milky Way galaxy. Image Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute |
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An Asteroid's Sky Trek
| title |
An Asteroid's Sky Trek |
| description |
While analyzing NASA Hubble Space Telescope images of the Sagittarius dwarf irregular galaxy (SagDIG), an international team of astronomers led by Simone Marchi, Yazan Momany, and Luigi Bedin were surprised to see the trail of a faint asteroid that had drifted across the field of view during the exposures. The trail is seen as a series of 13 reddish arcs on the right in this August 2003 Advanced Camera for Surveys image. As the Hubble telescope orbits around the Earth, and the Earth moves around the Sun, a nearby asteroid in our solar system will appear to move with respect to the vastly more distant background stars, due to an effect called parallax. It is somewhat similar to the effect you see from a moving car, in which trees by the side of the road appear to be moving much more rapidly than background objects at much larger distances. If the Hubble exposure were a continuous one, the asteroid trail would appear like a continuous wavy line. However, the exposure with Hubble's camera was actually broken up into more than a dozen separate exposures. After each exposure, the camera's shutter was closed while the image was transferred from the electronic detector into the camera's computer memory, this accounts for the many interruptions in the asteroid's trail. Since the trajectory of the Hubble spacecraft around the Earth is known very accurately, it is possible to triangulate the distance to the asteroid in a manner similar to that used by terrestrial surveyors. It turns out to be a previously unknown asteroid, located 169 million miles from Earth at the time of observation. The distance places the new object, most likely, in the main asteroid belt, lying between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Based on the observed brightness of the asteroid, the astronomers estimate that it has a diameter of about 1.5 miles. The brightest stars in the picture (easily distinguished by the spikes radiating from their images, produced by optical effects within the telescope), are foreground stars lying within our own Milky Way galaxy. Their distances from Earth are typically a few thousand light-years. The faint, bluish SagDIG stars lie at about 3.5 million light-years (1.1 Megaparsecs) from us. Lastly, background galaxies (reddish/brown extended objects with spiral arms and halos) are located even further beyond SagDIG at several tens of millions parsecs away. There is thus a vast range of distances among the objects visible in this photo, ranging from about 169 million miles for the asteroid, up to many quadrillions of miles for the faint, small galaxies. The team reported their science findings about the asteroid in the October 2004 issue of New Astronomy. *Image Credit*: NASA, ESA, and Y. Momany (University of Padua) |
|
Image is 8 arcmin per side,
…
| Name |
Image is 8 arcmin per side, Sagittarius A* (thermal colors) |
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Galactic Center X-ray Binari
…
| Name |
Galactic Center X-ray Binaries: Chandra Finds a Black Hole Swarm Near Milky Way Center |
| Category |
Milky Way Galaxy, Neutron Stars/X-ray Binaries |
| Release Date |
January 10, 2005 |
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Arches, Quintuplet, and GC S
…
| Name |
Arches, Quintuplet, and GC Star Clusters: Rough and Crowded Neighborhood at Galactic Center |
| Category |
Milky Way Galaxy, Normal Stars & Star Clusters |
| Release Date |
July 19, 2006 |
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Sagittarius A*: Stars Surpri
…
| Name |
Sagittarius A*: Stars Surprisingly Form in Extreme Environment Around Milky Way's Black Hole |
| Category |
Black Holes, Milky Way Galaxy |
| Release Date |
October 13, 2005 |
|
Quintuplet Cluster
| Title |
Quintuplet Cluster |
| Full Description |
Penetrating 25,000 light-years of obscuring dust and myriad stars, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has provided the clearest view yet of one of the largest young clusters of stars inside our Milky Way galaxy, located less than 100 light-years from the very center of the Galaxy. Having the equivalent mass greater than 10,000 stars like our sun, the monster cluster is ten times larger than typical young star clusters scattered throughout our Milky Way. It is destined to be ripped apart in just a few million years by gravitational tidal forces in the galaxy's core. But in its brief lifetime it shines more brightly than any other star cluster in the Galaxy. Quintuplet Cluster is 4 million years old. It has stars on the verge of blowing up as supernovae. It is the home of the brightest star seen in the galaxy, called the Pistol star. This image was taken in infrared light by Hubble's NICMOS camera in September 1997. The false colors correspond to infrared wavelengths. The galactic center stars are white, the red stars are enshrouded in dust or behind dust, and the blue stars are foreground stars between us and the Milky Way's center. The cluster is hidden from direct view behind black dust clouds in the constellation Sagittarius. If the cluster could be seen from earth it would appear to the naked eye as a 3rd magnitude star, 1/6th of a full moon's diameter apart. |
| Date |
09/16/1999 |
| NASA Center |
Hubble Space Telescope Center |
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Hubble Spies Giant Star Clus
…
| Title |
Hubble Spies Giant Star Clusters Near Galactic Center |
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Astronomers Unveil Colorful
…
| Title |
Astronomers Unveil Colorful Hubble Photo Gallery |
| General Information |
What is Hubble Heritage? A monthly showcase of new and archival Hubble images. Go to the Heritage site. A vibrant celestial photo album of some of NASA Hubble Space Telescope's most stunning views of the universe is being unveiled today on the Internet. Called the Hubble Heritage Program, this technicolor gallery is being assembled by a team of astronomers at Hubble's science operations center, the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Md. The four images released today are (top row, left to right) spiral galaxy NGC 7742, Saturn, and (bottom row, left to right) the Sagittarius Star Cloud and the Bubble Nebula. Read more: * Release Text [ http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/1998/28/text/ ] |
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Astronomers Unveil Colorful
…
| Title |
Astronomers Unveil Colorful Hubble Photo Gallery |
| General Information |
What is Hubble Heritage? A monthly showcase of new and archival Hubble images. Go to the Heritage site. A vibrant celestial photo album of some of NASA Hubble Space Telescope's most stunning views of the universe is being unveiled today on the Internet. Called the Hubble Heritage Program, this technicolor gallery is being assembled by a team of astronomers at Hubble's science operations center, the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Md. The four images released today are (top row, left to right) spiral galaxy NGC 7742, Saturn, and (bottom row, left to right) the Sagittarius Star Cloud and the Bubble Nebula. Read more: * Release Text [ http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/1998/28/text/ ] |
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X" Marks the Spot: Hubble Se
…
| Title |
X" Marks the Spot: Hubble Sees the Glow of Star Formation in a Neighbor Galaxy |
| General Information |
What is Hubble Heritage? A monthly showcase of new and archival Hubble images. Go to the Heritage site. Back to top [ #top ] |
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Hubble's New Camera Delivers
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| Title |
Hubble's New Camera Delivers Breathtaking Views of the Universe |
| General Information |
What is an Early Release Observation? A photograph of a celestial object that demonstrates the performance of a new Hubble camera. Back to top [ #top ] |
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Hubble's New Camera Delivers
…
| Title |
Hubble's New Camera Delivers Breathtaking Views of the Universe |
| General Information |
What is an Early Release Observation? A photograph of a celestial object that demonstrates the performance of a new Hubble camera. Back to top [ #top ] |
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Hubble's New Camera Delivers
…
| Title |
Hubble's New Camera Delivers Breathtaking Views of the Universe |
| General Information |
What is an Early Release Observation? A photograph of a celestial object that demonstrates the performance of a new Hubble camera. Back to top [ #top ] |
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Hubble's New Camera Delivers
…
| Title |
Hubble's New Camera Delivers Breathtaking Views of the Universe |
| General Information |
What is an Early Release Observation? A photograph of a celestial object that demonstrates the performance of a new Hubble camera. Back to top [ #top ] |
|
Hubble's New Camera Delivers
…
| Title |
Hubble's New Camera Delivers Breathtaking Views of the Universe |
| General Information |
What is an Early Release Observation? A photograph of a celestial object that demonstrates the performance of a new Hubble camera. Back to top [ #top ] |
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Hubble's New Camera Delivers
…
| Title |
Hubble's New Camera Delivers Breathtaking Views of the Universe |
| General Information |
What is an Early Release Observation? A photograph of a celestial object that demonstrates the performance of a new Hubble camera. Back to top [ #top ] |
|
Hubble's New Camera Delivers
…
| Title |
Hubble's New Camera Delivers Breathtaking Views of the Universe |
| General Information |
What is an Early Release Observation? A photograph of a celestial object that demonstrates the performance of a new Hubble camera. Back to top [ #top ] |
|
Hubble's New Camera Delivers
…
| Title |
Hubble's New Camera Delivers Breathtaking Views of the Universe |
| General Information |
What is an Early Release Observation? A photograph of a celestial object that demonstrates the performance of a new Hubble camera. Back to top [ #top ] |
|
Hubble's New Camera Delivers
…
| Title |
Hubble's New Camera Delivers Breathtaking Views of the Universe |
| General Information |
What is an Early Release Observation? A photograph of a celestial object that demonstrates the performance of a new Hubble camera. Back to top [ #top ] |
|
Hubble's New Camera Delivers
…
| Title |
Hubble's New Camera Delivers Breathtaking Views of the Universe |
| General Information |
What is an Early Release Observation? A photograph of a celestial object that demonstrates the performance of a new Hubble camera. Back to top [ #top ] |
|
Hubble's New Camera Delivers
…
| Title |
Hubble's New Camera Delivers Breathtaking Views of the Universe |
| General Information |
What is an Early Release Observation? A photograph of a celestial object that demonstrates the performance of a new Hubble camera. Back to top [ #top ] |
|
Hubble's New Camera Delivers
…
| Title |
Hubble's New Camera Delivers Breathtaking Views of the Universe |
| General Information |
What is an Early Release Observation? A photograph of a celestial object that demonstrates the performance of a new Hubble camera. Back to top [ #top ] |
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Hubble Captures a Perfect St
…
| Title |
Hubble Captures a Perfect Storm of Turbulent Gases |
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Hubble Captures a Perfect St
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| Title |
Hubble Captures a Perfect Storm of Turbulent Gases |
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Hubble Captures a Perfect St
…
| Title |
Hubble Captures a Perfect Storm of Turbulent Gases |
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Hubble Finds Extrasolar Plan
…
| Title |
Hubble Finds Extrasolar Planets Far Across Galaxy |
| General Information |
What is a NASA Science Update? Major Hubble discoveries on NASA television ... Astronomers explain their Hubble discoveries at a press conference, called a NASA Science Update (NSU), broadcast on NASA television. The NSU includes a question and answer session with members of the media. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has discovered 16 extrasolar planet candidates orbiting a variety of distant stars in the central region of our Milky Way galaxy. The planet bonanza was uncovered during a Hubble survey, called the Sagittarius Window Eclipsing Extrasolar Planet Search (SWEEPS). Hubble looked farther than has ever successfully been searched for extrasolar planets. Hubble peered at 180,000 stars in the crowded central bulge of our galaxy 26,000 light-years away or one-quarter the diameter of the Milky Way's spiral disk. The results will appear in the Oct. 5 issue of the journal Nature. Read more: * NASA Press Release [ http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2006/34/text/ ] |
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Hubble Finds Extrasolar Plan
…
| Title |
Hubble Finds Extrasolar Planets Far Across Galaxy |
| General Information |
What is a NASA Science Update? Major Hubble discoveries on NASA television ... Astronomers explain their Hubble discoveries at a press conference, called a NASA Science Update (NSU), broadcast on NASA television. The NSU includes a question and answer session with members of the media. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has discovered 16 extrasolar planet candidates orbiting a variety of distant stars in the central region of our Milky Way galaxy. The planet bonanza was uncovered during a Hubble survey, called the Sagittarius Window Eclipsing Extrasolar Planet Search (SWEEPS). Hubble looked farther than has ever successfully been searched for extrasolar planets. Hubble peered at 180,000 stars in the crowded central bulge of our galaxy 26,000 light-years away or one-quarter the diameter of the Milky Way's spiral disk. The results will appear in the Oct. 5 issue of the journal Nature. Read more: * NASA Press Release [ http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2006/34/text/ ] |
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Hubble Finds Extrasolar Plan
…
| Title |
Hubble Finds Extrasolar Planets Far Across Galaxy |
| General Information |
What is a NASA Science Update? Major Hubble discoveries on NASA television ... Astronomers explain their Hubble discoveries at a press conference, called a NASA Science Update (NSU), broadcast on NASA television. The NSU includes a question and answer session with members of the media. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has discovered 16 extrasolar planet candidates orbiting a variety of distant stars in the central region of our Milky Way galaxy. The planet bonanza was uncovered during a Hubble survey, called the Sagittarius Window Eclipsing Extrasolar Planet Search (SWEEPS). Hubble looked farther than has ever successfully been searched for extrasolar planets. Hubble peered at 180,000 stars in the crowded central bulge of our galaxy 26,000 light-years away or one-quarter the diameter of the Milky Way's spiral disk. The results will appear in the Oct. 5 issue of the journal Nature. Read more: * NASA Press Release [ http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2006/34/text/ ] |
|
Hubble Finds Extrasolar Plan
…
| Title |
Hubble Finds Extrasolar Planets Far Across Galaxy |
| General Information |
What is a NASA Science Update? Major Hubble discoveries on NASA television ... Astronomers explain their Hubble discoveries at a press conference, called a NASA Science Update (NSU), broadcast on NASA television. The NSU includes a question and answer session with members of the media. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has discovered 16 extrasolar planet candidates orbiting a variety of distant stars in the central region of our Milky Way galaxy. The planet bonanza was uncovered during a Hubble survey, called the Sagittarius Window Eclipsing Extrasolar Planet Search (SWEEPS). Hubble looked farther than has ever successfully been searched for extrasolar planets. Hubble peered at 180,000 stars in the crowded central bulge of our galaxy 26,000 light-years away or one-quarter the diameter of the Milky Way's spiral disk. The results will appear in the Oct. 5 issue of the journal Nature. Read more: * NASA Press Release [ http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2006/34/text/ ] |
|
Hubble Finds Extrasolar Plan
…
| Title |
Hubble Finds Extrasolar Planets Far Across Galaxy |
| General Information |
What is a NASA Science Update? Major Hubble discoveries on NASA television ... Astronomers explain their Hubble discoveries at a press conference, called a NASA Science Update (NSU), broadcast on NASA television. The NSU includes a question and answer session with members of the media. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has discovered 16 extrasolar planet candidates orbiting a variety of distant stars in the central region of our Milky Way galaxy. The planet bonanza was uncovered during a Hubble survey, called the Sagittarius Window Eclipsing Extrasolar Planet Search (SWEEPS). Hubble looked farther than has ever successfully been searched for extrasolar planets. Hubble peered at 180,000 stars in the crowded central bulge of our galaxy 26,000 light-years away or one-quarter the diameter of the Milky Way's spiral disk. The results will appear in the Oct. 5 issue of the journal Nature. Read more: * NASA Press Release [ http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2006/34/text/ ] |
|
Hubble Tracks Asteroid's Sky
…
| Title |
Hubble Tracks Asteroid's Sky Trek |
| General Information |
What is Hubble Heritage? A monthly showcase of new and archival Hubble images. Go to the Heritage site. Back to top [ #top ] |
|
Hubble Weighs in on the Heav
…
| Title |
Hubble Weighs in on the Heaviest Stars in the Galaxy |
|
Hubble Finds Extrasolar Plan
…
| Title |
Hubble Finds Extrasolar Planets Far Across Galaxy |
| General Information |
What is a NASA Science Update? Major Hubble discoveries on NASA television ... Astronomers explain their Hubble discoveries at a press conference, called a NASA Science Update (NSU), broadcast on NASA television. The NSU includes a question and answer session with members of the media. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has discovered 16 extrasolar planet candidates orbiting a variety of distant stars in the central region of our Milky Way galaxy. The planet bonanza was uncovered during a Hubble survey, called the Sagittarius Window Eclipsing Extrasolar Planet Search (SWEEPS). Hubble looked farther than has ever successfully been searched for extrasolar planets. Hubble peered at 180,000 stars in the crowded central bulge of our galaxy 26,000 light-years away or one-quarter the diameter of the Milky Way's spiral disk. The results will appear in the Oct. 5 issue of the journal Nature. Read more: * NASA Press Release [ http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2006/34/text/ ] |
|
Hubble Finds Extrasolar Plan
…
| Title |
Hubble Finds Extrasolar Planets Far Across Galaxy |
| General Information |
What is a NASA Science Update? Major Hubble discoveries on NASA television ... Astronomers explain their Hubble discoveries at a press conference, called a NASA Science Update (NSU), broadcast on NASA television. The NSU includes a question and answer session with members of the media. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has discovered 16 extrasolar planet candidates orbiting a variety of distant stars in the central region of our Milky Way galaxy. The planet bonanza was uncovered during a Hubble survey, called the Sagittarius Window Eclipsing Extrasolar Planet Search (SWEEPS). Hubble looked farther than has ever successfully been searched for extrasolar planets. Hubble peered at 180,000 stars in the crowded central bulge of our galaxy 26,000 light-years away or one-quarter the diameter of the Milky Way's spiral disk. The results will appear in the Oct. 5 issue of the journal Nature. Read more: * NASA Press Release [ http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2006/34/text/ ] |
|
Hubble Finds Extrasolar Plan
…
| Title |
Hubble Finds Extrasolar Planets Far Across Galaxy |
| General Information |
What is a NASA Science Update? Major Hubble discoveries on NASA television ... Astronomers explain their Hubble discoveries at a press conference, called a NASA Science Update (NSU), broadcast on NASA television. The NSU includes a question and answer session with members of the media. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has discovered 16 extrasolar planet candidates orbiting a variety of distant stars in the central region of our Milky Way galaxy. The planet bonanza was uncovered during a Hubble survey, called the Sagittarius Window Eclipsing Extrasolar Planet Search (SWEEPS). Hubble looked farther than has ever successfully been searched for extrasolar planets. Hubble peered at 180,000 stars in the crowded central bulge of our galaxy 26,000 light-years away or one-quarter the diameter of the Milky Way's spiral disk. The results will appear in the Oct. 5 issue of the journal Nature. Read more: * NASA Press Release [ http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2006/34/text/ ] |
|
Hubble Finds Extrasolar Plan
…
| Title |
Hubble Finds Extrasolar Planets Far Across Galaxy |
| General Information |
What is a NASA Science Update? Major Hubble discoveries on NASA television ... Astronomers explain their Hubble discoveries at a press conference, called a NASA Science Update (NSU), broadcast on NASA television. The NSU includes a question and answer session with members of the media. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has discovered 16 extrasolar planet candidates orbiting a variety of distant stars in the central region of our Milky Way galaxy. The planet bonanza was uncovered during a Hubble survey, called the Sagittarius Window Eclipsing Extrasolar Planet Search (SWEEPS). Hubble looked farther than has ever successfully been searched for extrasolar planets. Hubble peered at 180,000 stars in the crowded central bulge of our galaxy 26,000 light-years away or one-quarter the diameter of the Milky Way's spiral disk. The results will appear in the Oct. 5 issue of the journal Nature. Read more: * NASA Press Release [ http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2006/34/text/ ] |
|
Hubble Finds Extrasolar Plan
…
| Title |
Hubble Finds Extrasolar Planets Far Across Galaxy |
| General Information |
What is a NASA Science Update? Major Hubble discoveries on NASA television ... Astronomers explain their Hubble discoveries at a press conference, called a NASA Science Update (NSU), broadcast on NASA television. The NSU includes a question and answer session with members of the media. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has discovered 16 extrasolar planet candidates orbiting a variety of distant stars in the central region of our Milky Way galaxy. The planet bonanza was uncovered during a Hubble survey, called the Sagittarius Window Eclipsing Extrasolar Planet Search (SWEEPS). Hubble looked farther than has ever successfully been searched for extrasolar planets. Hubble peered at 180,000 stars in the crowded central bulge of our galaxy 26,000 light-years away or one-quarter the diameter of the Milky Way's spiral disk. The results will appear in the Oct. 5 issue of the journal Nature. Read more: * NASA Press Release [ http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2006/34/text/ ] |
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Hubble Space Telescope Image
| Name of Image |
Hubble Space Telescope Image |
| Date of Image |
1997-01-01 |
| Full Description |
Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) have identified what may be the most luminous star known, a celestial mammoth that releases up to 10-million times the power of the Sun and is big enough to fill the diameter of Earth's orbit. The star unleashes as much energy in six seconds as our Sun does in one year. The image, taken by a UCLA-led team with the recently installed Near-Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) aboard the HST, also reveals a bright nebula, created by extremely massive stellar eruptions. The UCLA astronomers estimate that the star, called the Pistol Star, (for the pistol shaped nebula surrounding it), is approximately 25,000 light-years from Earth, near the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The Pistol Star is not visible to the eye, but is located in the direction of the constellation Sagittarius, hidden behind the great dust clouds along the Milky Way |
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The Galactic Center in Infra
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| Title |
The Galactic Center in Infrared |
| Explanation |
The center of our Galaxy is a busy place. In visible light [ http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/know_l2/emspectrum.html ], much of the Galactic Center [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap011229.html ] is obscured by opaque dust [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap030706.html ]. In infrared light [ http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/cosmic_classroom/ir_tutorial/discovery.html ], however, dust glows more and obscures less, allowing nearly one million stars to be recorded in the above photograph [ http://www.ipac.caltech.edu/2mass/gallery/images_misc.html ]. The Galactic Center [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020803.html ] itself appears [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020707.html ] on the right and is located about 30,000 light years [ http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/cosmic_distance.html ] away towards the constellation of Sagittarius [ http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/constellations/Sagittarius.html ]. The Galactic Plane [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000130.html ] of our Milky Way Galaxy [ http://www.damtp.cam.ac.uk/user/gr/public/gal_milky.html ], the plane in which the Sun [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/gifcity/interv.html ] orbits, is identifiable by the dark diagonal dust lane [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020703.html ]. The absorbing dust [ http://nedwww.ipac.caltech.edu/level5/Mathis/Mathis1.html ] grains are created in the atmospheres of cool red-giant stars [ http://www.historyoftheuniverse.com/starold.html ] and grow in molecular cloud [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap030202.html ]s. The region directly surrounding the Galactic Center [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000422.html ] glows brightly in radio [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020521.html ] and high-energy radiation [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000819.html ], and is thought to house a large black hole [ http://hubblesite.org/discoveries/black_holes/home.html ]. |
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Galactic Centre Starscape
| Title |
Galactic Centre Starscape |
| Explanation |
Thirty thousand light-years distant, beyond the majestic dust clouds [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960605.html ] of the constellation Sagittarius, lies the centre of our Milky Way Galaxy. Hidden from optical view by the dust, the Galactic Centre [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990911.html ] region is a relatively unexplored [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000422.html ] starscape. But infrared [ http://www.ipac.caltech.edu/Outreach/Edu/ univ_index.html ] light can more easily penetrate the dust and this recently released [ http://www.iso.vilspa.esa.es/science/galleries/ism/ isogalgc.htm ] Infrared Space Observatory (ISO [ http://www.ipac.caltech.edu/iso/iso.html ]) mosaic, together with other similar images, shows about 100,000 previously unseen stars of the Milky Way's central regions. Huge obscuring dust clouds still seem to crowd the area especially in the left part of the infrared picture. Marked by the white circle, the centre itself is missing from the mosaic because it is so bright that it would saturate ISO's sensitive camera. The stars [ http://mrcohen1.keel.physics.ship.edu/108/evol.htm ] are mostly evolved red giants [ http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/answers/ 971016.html ], intrinsically cool, large, bright stars that have swollen after exhausting their central supply of hydrogen fuel. The detailed properties of the red [ http://aibn47.astro.uni-bonn.de/~gallery/color.html ] giant stars can be very revealing [ http://sci.esa.int/content/news/ index.cfm?aid=18&cid=599&oid=20040 ] as these stars contribute to the interstellar gas and dust clouds, enriching their galactic environment with carbon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap981218.html ] and other elements. Their motions also trace the mass distribution in the Galactic Centre and may support the idea that our Galaxy grew by swallowing smaller [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980216.html ], nearby galaxies. |
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The Hubble SWEEPS Field
| Title |
The Hubble SWEEPS Field |
| Explanation |
This crowded star field [ http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/ releases/2006/34/ ] towards the center of our Milky Way Galaxy turns out to be a great place to search for planets beyond [ http://www.alienearths.org/online/ starandplanetformation/planetfamilies.php ] our solar system. In fact, repeatedly imaging about 180,000 stars in the field [ http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/ releases/2006/34/fastfacts/ ] over a one week period, the Hubble Space Telescope enabled astronomers to conduct the Sagittarius Window Eclipsing Extrasolar Planet Search (SWEEPS). Their search looked for brief, periodic dips in brightness caused as a large planet eclipses [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap991115.html ] or transits its parent star. Since chances [ http://imgsrc.hubblesite.org/hu/db/2006/34/images/g/ formats/web_print.jpg ] of seeing such an eclipse are slim, it was a definite advantage to examine as many stars as possible. In the end, SWEEPS astronomers found [ http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0610098 ] 16 candidate stars (green circles identify 11 in this cropped picture) that are likely closely orbited by large Jupiter-sized planets with periods of a few days or less. Large planets orbiting so close to their stars are termed hot Jupiters [ http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/Media/releases/ ssc2006-18/release.shtml ]. Kepler [ http://www.kepler.arc.nasa.gov/ ], a future NASA mission, is intended to extend the transit technique to search for Earth-sized planets [ http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/index.cfm ]. |
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M55: Globular Star Cluster
| Title |
M55: Globular Star Cluster |
| Explanation |
The fifty-fifth entry [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap991023.html ] in Charles Messier's catalog, M55 is [ http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m055.html ] a large and lovely globular cluster [ http://www.seds.org/messier/glob.html ] of around 100,000 stars. Only 20,000 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius [ http://www.astronomical.org/constellations/ sgr.html ], M55 appears to earth-bound observers to be nearly 2/3 the size of the full moon. Globular star clusters like M55 roam the halo [ http://www.limber.org/globs.html ] of our Milky Way Galaxy as gravitationally bound populations of stars known to be much older than stellar groups found in the galactic disk. Astronomers who make detailed studies [ http://arXiv.org/abs/astro-ph/?9812302 ] of globular cluster stars can accurately measure the cluster ages and distances. Their results ultimately constrain the age of the Universe [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/diamond_jubilee/debate.html ] (... it must be older than the stars in it! ), and provide a fundamental rung on the astronomical distance [ http://casswww.ucsd.edu/public/tutorial/ Distances.html ] ladder. This stunning three-color image [ http://aibn47.astro.uni-bonn.de/~gallery/ articles/imagecolor.html ] made with astronomical (BVI [ http://herbie.ucolick.org/techdocs/filters/ phot_filt_curves.html ]) filters spans about 100 light-years across the globular cluster M55. |
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Stars of the Galactic Center
| Title |
Stars of the Galactic Center |
| Explanation |
The center [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040411.html ] of our Milky Way Galaxy is hidden [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap051004.html ] from the prying eyes of optical telescopes by clouds of obscuring dust and gas. But in this stunning vista [ http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/Media/releases/ ssc2006-02/ssc2006-02a.shtml ], the Spitzer Space Telescope's infrared [ http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/cosmic_classroom/ ir_tutorial/importance.html ] cameras, penetrate much of the dust revealing the stars of the crowded galactic center region. A mosaic of many smaller snapshots, the detailed, false-color image shows [ http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/Media/releases/ ssc2006-02/release.shtml ] older, cool stars in bluish hues. Reddish glowing dust clouds are associated with young, hot stars in stellar nurseries. The galactic center [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap051023.html ] lies some 26,000 light-years away, toward the constellation Sagittarius [ http://hawastsoc.org/deepsky/sgr/index.html ]. At that distance, this picture spans about 900 light-years. |
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