Hubble Space Telescope Photos
Images & Discoveries Page 2

For the past 20 years, the Hubble Space Telescope has been orbiting the planet adding mountains of knowledge about the astronomy of our universe and dazzling earthlings with breathtaking images of outer space, from jaw-dropping pictures of clusters of newborn stars to fantastic photos of colliding galaxies my favorite is the Carina Nebula.

Alien Worlds, Inhabitable Planets Outside Our Solar System

Has Hubble Already Help Identify the Closest Planet Outside our Solar System that Supports Real Alien Life Forms?

According to NASA, "Astronomers using ground-based telescopes to hunt for planets outside our solar system, dubbed extrasolar planets, have nabbed more than a hundred alien worlds. But they needed the keen 'eye' of Hubble to make the first direct measurement of the chemical makeup of an extrasolar planet's atmosphere. The telescope detected the elements sodium, hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen in the atmosphere of a Jupiter-size planet. The unique observation demonstrates that Hubble and other telescopes can sample the chemical makeup of the atmospheres of alien worlds." Watch a video about Hubbles role in finding and photographing planets beyond our solar system at HubbleSite.org... Another Space Telescope seeking proof of life on other planets is a satellite observatory named Kepler: Of other earths, other wonders at the Hearld. Want to learn about more amazing Hubble Telescope discoveries in photos and words? Read National Geographic's ...

2010 Carina Nebula Hubble Telescope Photograph

Click for Hubble Telescope Photo Image in various Wallpaper Sizes at www.hubblesite.org

The NASA Hubble Space Telescope image of the Carina Nebula captures the chaotic activity atop a three-light-year-tall pillar of gas and dust that is being eaten away by the brilliant light from nearby bright stars. The pillar is also being assaulted from within, as infant stars buried inside it fire off jets of gas that can be seen streaming from towering peaks.
This turbulent cosmic pinnacle lies within a tempestuous stellar nursery called the Carina Nebula, located 7,500 light-years away in the southern constellation Carina. Scorching radiation and fast winds (streams of charged particles) from super-hot newborn stars in the nebula are shaping and compressing the pillar, causing new stars to form within it. Streamers of hot ionized gas can be seen flowing off the ridges of the structure, and wispy veils of gas and dust, illuminated by starlight, float around its towering peaks. The denser parts of the pillar are resisting being eroded by radiation much like a towering butte in Utah's Monument Valley withstands erosion by water and wind.
Nestled inside this dense mountain are fledgling stars. Long streamers of gas can be seen shooting in opposite directions off the pedestal at the top of the image. Another pair of jets is visible at another peak near the center of the image. These jets (known as HH 901 and HH 902, respectively) are the signpost for new star birth. The jets are launched by swirling disks around the young stars, which allow material to slowly accrete onto the stars' surfaces.
Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 observed the pillar on Feb. 1-2, 2010. The colors in this composite image correspond to the glow of oxygen (blue), hydrogen and nitrogen (green), and sulfur (red). MORE breathtaking Hubble Space Telescope Photographs at HubbleSite.org...GALLERY

Mysteries of Deep Space: To The Edge of Time