Hubble Views Of Mars and More During Space Telescope's 35th Anniversary

Space.com

Footage from NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope that celebrates 35 years in space.  Images of Mars, planetary nebula NGC 2899, Rosette Nebula and galaxy NGC 5335 to celebrate.   Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Paul Morris: Lead Producer Narrator: Dr. Jennifer Wiseman  Music Credit: "God is in the Wind" by Yat Fung Wong [CASH] via Universal Publishing Production Music Asia [CASH] and Universal Production Music.

Transcript

00:00NASA is celebrating Hubble's 35th birthday with an assortment of breathtaking images recently taken by the Space Telescope,

00:10stretching from the planet Mars to spectacular star-forming regions to a magnificent neighboring galaxy.

00:18The first birthday image shows the planetary nebula NGC 2899,

00:24located about 4500 light-years away in the southern constellation Vela.

00:30A hot white dwarf, perhaps with companion stars, drives powerful outflows of gas that shape the nebula's bipolar structure.

00:39Gaseous pillars point back toward the source of radiation and stellar winds,

00:44and the vivid colors come from glowing hydrogen and oxygen.

00:49Hubble also captured a detailed face-on view of galaxy NGC 5335.

00:56Unlike typical spiral galaxies, it lacks well-defined arms and features a prominent bar stretching across its center.

01:05This bar funnels gas toward the core, fueling star formation.

01:10Bars can appear and fade over billions of years,

01:14and they're found in about 30% of galaxies, including our own Milky Way.

01:19This Hubble image captures a small section of the Rosette Nebula,

01:24a vast star-forming region 100 light-years across and located 5200 light-years away.

01:31Hubble zooms in on a four light-year wide slice, revealing dark hydrogen clouds laced with dust.

01:38These clouds are being sculpted by intense radiation from a cluster of massive stars at the nebula's center.

01:45In the upper right, a young star at the tip of a dark cloud shoots out plasma jets that slam into the surrounding gas,

01:54creating a glowing red shock wave.

01:57The colors in the image come from hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen.

02:01The final anniversary images show two sides of Mars from about 61 million miles away.

02:09Ultraviolet light reveals thin water ice clouds, giving the red planet a frosty look.

02:16The icy northern polar cap is entering spring.

02:20At the 10 o'clock position, the giant volcano Olympus Mons rises above the clouds,

02:26towering 70,000 feet high or two and a half times taller than Mount Everest.

02:33The dark streak near the center left is Valles Marineris, a 2500-mile-long canyon system.

02:41On the right, high-altitude evening clouds hug the eastern limb,

02:46while the 1400-mile-wide Hellas Basin lies far to the south.

02:51Because Hubble orbits above Earth's atmosphere, it can give us these clear views of the many wonders in our universe.

03:00For 35 years, the Hubble Space Telescope has transformed our view of the universe

03:06and deepened our understanding of our place within it.

03:09From refining the estimated age of the cosmos to measuring how quickly it's expanding,

03:15Hubble has helped answer some of astronomy's biggest questions.

03:19Its deep-field images allow us to peer across billions of light-years,

03:25revealing galaxies in their earliest stages,

03:28snapshots we can compare to the Milky Way to learn about our own galactic history.

03:34Hubble also continues to explore activity within our own solar system and beyond,

03:39capturing details of distant planets, stars, and systems throughout the galaxy and the universe.

03:46Its scientific capabilities are used jointly and collaboratively with those of other telescopes on the ground and in space,

03:54including the James Webb Space Telescope, the Chandra X-ray Observatory,

03:59the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, the X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission,

04:05and the upcoming Roman Space Telescope, ensuring cutting-edge science and discovery.

04:12Thanks to five astronaut servicing missions and ongoing support from expert teams on the ground,

04:18Hubble remains in excellent health and is expected to deliver groundbreaking science for years to come.

04:24Explore more about Hubble's discoveries at NASA.gov slash Hubble

04:30and follow along on social media at NASA Hubble.

04:34Some other

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