Wildlife UK Forum - Discuss the UK countryside and wildlife

I find the images from the hubble space telescope fascinating so I thought I'd share a few of my favourites. They are truly amazing.



Eagle Nebula



Cats Eye nebula



A Planetary Nebula



A reflection nebula

Thanks to the hubble heritage website for these.

I love the Cat's Eye Nebula photo. The Hubble project produced some very exciting photos, and dramatic images, not to mention actually increasing scientific knowledge.

Kingfisher

Your right the scientific discoveries from the hubble have been very important. I'm glad NASA has decided to repair its failing mirrors so it can at least last until the next big telescope is launched, I think about 2014.

Here are a few more of my favourites that you might find interesting:

It's fascinating to see how the Monocerotis changed over time.

Kingfisher

It really is! I would imagine that the object is huge, so it must be expanding very fast to see a change in that relatively short period.

The Monocerotis was actually a star which exploded, the huge amounts of energy emitted in the form of light then lit up the dust that surrounded it. Astronomers still aren't sure what caused the outburst.

It looks almost like the star is breaking out of its cocoon!

Is there a succesor to hubble? If so, when is it being launched and how much more powerful will it be? I can't wait to see images from an even more powerful telescope.

Incredible pictures! The colours are amazing! All that energy and power, yet the pics are so beautiful and almost peaceful!

Apparently so:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/...ubble.html

I don't know if it's still on that timeline, though.

Kingfisher

They do look so peaceful and calming, that is one of the reasons i enjoy looking at them so much. They make perfect desktop pictures!

The activity actually going on inside them is actually huge though, beyond our imagination.