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Pan across Elliptical Galaxy ESO 325-G004 | Hubble
This video pans across NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope observations of the elliptical galaxy ESO 325-G004 that lies about 450 million light-years away. The galaxy is part of a diverse collection of galaxies in the cluster Abell S0740.
Credit: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
Hubble Illuminates Cluster of Diverse Galaxies in Centaurus
This image from the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope shows the diverse collection of galaxies in the cluster Abell S0740 that is over 450 million light-years away in the direction of the constellation Centaurus. The giant elliptical ESO 325-G004 looms large at the cluster's center. Hubble resolves thousands of globular star clusters orbiting ESO 325-G004. Globular clusters are compact groups of hundreds of thousands of stars that are gravitationally bound together. At the galaxy's distance they appear as pinpoints of light contained within the diffuse halo.
This image was created by combining Hubble science observations taken in January 2005 with Hubble Heritage observations taken a year later to form a 3-color composite. The filters that isolate blue, red and infrared light were used with the Advanced Camera for Surveys aboard Hubble.
Credit: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
Space Sparks Episode 5: Watch this special Space Sparks episode to learn more about the stellar nursery called 30 Doradus, or the Tarantula Nebula, as captured by the NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope.
Distance: about 160,000 light-years
Credit:
Directed by: Bethany Downer and Nico Bartmann
Editing: Nico Bartmann
Web and technical support: Enciso Systems
Written by: Bethany Downer
Footage and photos: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), Canadian Space Agency (CSA), Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) Conceptual Image Lab, Euroepan Southern Observatory (ESO), E. Slawik, N. Risinger, D. De Martin, D. Lennon, E. Sabbi, N. Bartmann, M. Zamani
Two Infrared Views of The Tarantula Nebula | James Webb Space Telescope
A side-by-side display of the same region of the Tarantula Nebula brings out the distinctions between Webb’s near-infrared (closer to visible red, left) and mid-infrared (further from visible red, right) images. Each portion of the electromagnetic spectrum reveals and conceals different features, making data in different wavelengths valuable to astronomers for understanding the physics taking place.
The image captured by Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam, left) features bright, hot features, like the sparkling cluster of massive young stars, and the bright star to their upper left, featuring Webb’s distinctive diffraction spikes. Young, emerging stars shine blue, while scattered red points indicate stars that are still enshrouded in dust. Structure in the nebula, carved by the stellar winds of the massive young stars, is intricately detailed.
In the view from Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), the hot young stars fade, and cooler gas takes the spotlight. Much of the nebula takes on a ghostly appearance in the mid-infrared, because these longer wavelengths of light are able to penetrate the dust clouds and reach Webb. Previously hidden bubbles and dust-embedded stars emerge. A particularly prominent, spherically shaped bubble—being blown out by a newborn star—appears in the MIRI image just to the right of the now-darkened central star cluster.
The Tarantula Nebula (NIRSpec IFU) | James Webb Space Telescope
Webb’s Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) reveals what is really going on in an intriguing region of the Tarantula Nebula. Astronomers focused the powerful instrument on what looked like a small bubble feature in the image from Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam). However, the spectra reveal a very different picture from a young star blowing a bubble in its surrounding gas.
The signature of atomic hydrogen, shown in blue, shows up in the star itself but not immediately surrounding it. Instead, it appears outside the “bubble,” which spectra show is actually “filled” with molecular hydrogen (green) and complex hydrocarbons (red). This indicates that the bubble is actually the top of a dense pillar of dust and gas that is being blasted by radiation from the cluster of massive young stars to its lower right (see the full NIRCam image). It does not appear as pillar-like as some other structures in the nebula because there is not much color contrast with the area surrounding it.
The harsh stellar wind from the massive young stars in the nebula is breaking apart molecules outside the pillar, but inside they are preserved, forming a cushy cocoon for the star. This star is still too young to be clearing out its surroundings by blowing bubbles—NIRSpec has captured it just beginning to emerge from the protective cloud from which it was formed. Without Webb’s resolution at infrared wavelengths, the discovery of this star birth in action would not have been possible.
NIRSpec was built for the European Space Agency (ESA) by a consortium of European companies led by Airbus Defence and Space (ADS) with NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center providing its detector and micro-shutter subsystems.
Credit: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)
The Tarantula Nebula (MIRI Image) | James Webb Space Telescope
At the longer wavelengths of light captured by its Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), Webb focuses on the area surrounding the central star cluster and unveils a very different view of the Tarantula Nebula. In this light, the young hot stars of the cluster fade in brilliance, and glowing gas and dust come forward. Abundant hydrocarbons light up the surfaces of the dust clouds, shown in blue and purple. Much of the nebula takes on a more ghostly, diffuse appearance because mid-infrared light is able to show more of what is happening deeper inside the clouds. Still-embedded protostars pop into view within their dusty cocoons, including a bright group at the very top edge of the image, left of center.
Other areas appear dark, like in the lower-right corner of the image. This indicates the densest areas of dust in the nebula, that even mid-infrared wavelengths cannot penetrate. These could be the sites of future, or current, star formation.
MIRI was contributed by the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA, with the instrument designed and built by a consortium of nationally funded European Institutes (The MIRI European Consortium) in partnership with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the University of Arizona.
Credit: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)
Pan of The Tarantula Nebula | James Webb Space Telescope
In this mosaic image stretching 340 light-years across, Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) displays the Tarantula Nebula star-forming region in a new light, including tens of thousands of never-before-seen young stars that were previously shrouded in cosmic dust. The most active region appears to sparkle with massive young stars, appearing pale blue. Scattered among them are still-embedded stars, appearing red, yet to emerge from the dusty cocoon of the nebula. NIRCam is able to detect these dust-enshrouded stars thanks to its unprecedented resolution at near-infrared wavelengths.
Distance: about 160,000 light-years
Credit: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), N. Bartmann
Zoom into The Tarantula Nebula | James Webb Space Telescope
This video takes the viewer on a journey that zooms through space to reveal the Tarantula Nebula.
Thousands of never-before-seen young stars are spotted in the stellar nursery called 30 Doradus, captured by the NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope. It is nicknamed the Tarantula Nebula for the appearance of its dusty filaments in previous telescope images, the nebula has long been a favorite for astronomers studying star formation. In addition to young stars, Webb reveals distant background galaxies, as well as the detailed structure and composition of the nebula’s gas and dust.
Distance: about 160,000 light-years
Credit: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), European Southern Observatory, E. Slawik, N. Risinger, D. De Martin, D. Lennon, E. Sabbi, N. Bartmann, M. Zamani
In this mosaic image stretching 340 light-years across, Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) displays the Tarantula Nebula star-forming region in a new light, including tens of thousands of never-before-seen young stars that were previously shrouded in cosmic dust. The most active region appears to sparkle with massive young stars, appearing pale blue. Scattered among them are still-embedded stars, appearing red, yet to emerge from the dusty cocoon of the nebula. NIRCam is able to detect these dust-enshrouded stars thanks to its unprecedented resolution at near-infrared wavelengths.
Distance: about 160,000 light-years
To the upper left of the cluster of young stars, and the top of the nebula’s cavity, an older star prominently displays NIRCam’s distinctive eight diffraction spikes, an artefact of the telescope’s structure. Following the top central spike of this star upward, it almost points to a distinctive bubble in the cloud. Young stars still surrounded by dusty material are blowing this bubble, beginning to carve out their own cavity. Astronomers used two of Webb’s spectrographs to take a closer look at this region and determine the chemical makeup of the star and its surrounding gas. This spectral information will tell astronomers about the age of the nebula and how many generations of star birth it has seen.
Farther from the core region of hot young stars, cooler gas takes on a rust color, telling astronomers that the nebula is rich with complex hydrocarbons. This dense gas is the material that will form future stars. As winds from the massive stars sweep away gas and dust, some of it will pile up and, with gravity’s help, form new stars.
Credit: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)
This video starts by showing a wide-field view of a region of the sky in the constellation of Auriga. It then zooms in to show AB Auriga, a young star system where the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) has spotted signs of planet birth.
Distance: about 500 light years
Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/Boccaletti et al./L. Calçada, Digitized Sky Survey 2, N. Risinge
Birth of a Star System: Disc around Young Star AB Aurigae | ESO
This image shows the disc around the young AB Aurigae star, where the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) has spotted signs of planet birth. Close to the center of the image, in the inner region of the disc, we see the ‘twist’ (in very bright yellow) that scientists believe marks the spot where a planet is forming. This twist lies at about the same distance from the AB Aurigae star as Neptune from the Sun.
Distance: about 500 light years
The image was obtained with the VLT’s Spectro-Polarimetric High-Contrast Exoplanet Research (SPHERE) instrument in polarized light.
Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/Boccaletti et al.
The 'Ghost Head Nebula' is one of a chain of star-forming regions lying south of the 30 Doradus nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Two bright regions (the 'eyes of the ghost'), named A1 (left) and A2 (right), are very hot, glowing 'blobs' of hydrogen and oxygen. The bubble in A1 is produced by the hot, intense radiation and powerful stellar wind from a single massive star. A2 has a more complex appearance due to the presence of more dust, and it contains several hidden, massive stars. The massive stars in A1 and A2 must have formed within the last 10,000 years since their natal gas shrouds are not yet disrupted by the powerful radiation of the newly born stars.
Distance:170,000 light years
Credit: European Space Agency (ESA), NASA, & Mohammad Heydari-Malayeri (Observatoire de Paris, France)
Looking Back at NASA’s Copernicus Orbiting Astronomical Observatory (1972-1981)
This vintage segment on NASA’s Copernicus mission comes from a 1973 edition of “The Science Report,” a long-running film series produced by the U.S. Information Agency.
The heaviest and most complex space telescope of its time, Copernicus launched into orbit on Aug. 21, 1972. Initially known as Orbiting Astronomical Observatory C, it was renamed to honor the 500th anniversary of the birth of Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543), the Polish astronomer who formulated a model of the solar system with the Sun in the central position instead of Earth.
Fitted with the largest ultraviolet telescope ever orbited at the time as well as four co-aligned X-ray instruments, Copernicus was arguably NASA’s first dedicated multi-wavelength astronomy observatory.
The UV telescope produced a treasure trove of information about interstellar gas and the ionized outflows of hot stars. Copernicus measured the UV light of stars to sample the gases between them, finding evidence that most of it comes in the form of molecular hydrogen.
The X-ray experiment discovered several long-period pulsars, including X Persei. Pulsars—typically spinning neutron stars—swing a beam of radiation in our direction each time they rotate, usually at tens to thousands of times a second. Oddly, the X Persei pulsar takes a leisurely 14 minutes per spin. The mission performed long-term monitoring of other pulsars and bright sources.
Copernicus returned UV and X-ray observations for 8.5 years before its retirement in 1981—data that appear in more than 650 scientific papers. Its instruments studied some 450 unique objects targeted by more than 160 investigators in the United States and 13 other countries.
RCW 120, also known as Sharpless 2-3, is an emission nebula and star-forming region located in the constellation Scorpius, about 4,300 light-years away from Earth. The glowing nebula was captured here by the SMARTS 0.9-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of the National Science Foundation’s NOIRLab.
This HII region shines in the red color of ionized hydrogen gas. Immense heat generated from young, massive stars within energizes the gas, that then releases light in deep red and infrared wavelengths. The dark lanes in the nebula are less energized areas and thus do not appear to glow despite being made of the same material. Within the gas, bright stars are a common sight in emission nebulae, and are responsible for fusing together light elements to form many of the heavier elements in the cosmos, such as silicon and iron. RCW 120, however, houses an unusual embryonic star—one that is expected to become one of the brightest in our galaxy.
Credit: CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF’s NOIRLab)
Image Processing: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF’s NOIRLab), M. Zamani (NSF’s NOIRLab) & D. de Martin (NSF’s NOIRLab)
This visible-light wide-field image of the region around the Helix Nebula was created from photographs taken through red and blue filters and forming part of the Digitized Sky Survey 2. The nebula appears prominently at the center of the image and many faint galaxies are also visible on careful inspection.
Distance:700 light years
The field of view is approximatelly 2.9 x 2.9 degrees.
Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/Digitized Sky Survey 2
