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The space shuttle Discovery is on a special launch mission at the Kennedy launch Center in Florida on April 24, 1990. There were no astronauts on this mission, but the objects to be sent to low-Earth orbit completely changed our understanding of the universe over the next 30 years. This is the most powerful and successful optical telescope in history, the Hubble Space Telescope.

Today, the Hubble Space Telescope, long beyond its designed life, is still in service, photographing everything from galaxy clusters to planets and moons. When the Hubble Space Telescope is approaching its 30th birthday, NASA officially selected "30 photos of Hubble in 30 years". (note: 29 representative photos of 1991-2019) next, let's follow these amazing pictures of the universe to learn about the great achievements of the Hubble Space Telescope.

Source: NASA, ESA, and J. Westphal (Caltech)

1991: first color photograph of Jupiter

In 1991, not long after the Hubble Telescope was put into operation, it surprised us. Using its wide-angle planetary camera (Wide Field Planetary Camera), the Hubble Space Telescope took the first color picture of Jupiter. Substances such as ammonia ice in Jupiter's atmosphere form banded clouds, while in the lower right corner is Jupiter's famous Great Red spot, a giant storm cyclone larger than Earth's diameter that has existed for centuries.

Walter Jaffe/Leiden Observatory, Holland Ford/JHU/STScI, and NASA

1992: the center of the elliptical galaxy NGC 4261

This slightly blurred image shows the disk-shaped structure of the center of the elliptical galaxy NGC 4261. The disk, about 300 light-years across, is made up of cryogenic gas and dust and is the source of material for the black hole at the center of the galaxy. Its dip angle of nearly 60 °allows astronomers to clearly identify its internal structure.

J. J. Hester (Arizona State University) and NASA; Co-investigators: P.A. Scowen (Arizona State University), Ed Groth (Princeton University), Tod Lauer (NOAO), and the WFPC Instrument Definition Team

1993: Swan circle

The Swan Circle (Cygnus Loop, also known as Radio Source W78) is a giant supernova remnant in the constellation Cygnus. This image, a small part of the swan circle, shows the edge of the shock wave caused by the explosion of a giant star about 15,000 years ago in unprecedented clarity.

NASA, STScI

1994: the center of the spiral galaxy Messier 100

When the Hubble Space Telescope was launched, the picture taken by the Hubble Space Telescope was slightly blurred because of a slight defect in the mirror. In December 1993, NASA made the first maintenance of the Hubble Telescope, and NASA astronauts fixed mirror defects, upgraded wide-angle planetary cameras to second-generation cameras, and updated computers, solar panels, gyroscopes and other equipment. This image of the spiral arm structure of the brightest galaxies in the Virgo cluster was taken shortly after the Hubble Space Telescope upgrade.

NASA, ESA, STScI, J. Hester and P. Scowen (Arizona State University)

1995: pillar of creation

Many readers must be familiar with this picture. One of Hubble's most famous works, made up of 32 photos, shows the columnar structure of gas and dust in an open nebula called the Eagle Nebula (M16). The tallest "pillar" is 4 light-years long. The pillar of creation is born in the process of light-induced evaporation: ultraviolet light from newborn stars causes gas in the nebula to escape, and gas and dust that have not yet "evaporated" make up this beautiful image.

W. N. Colley and E. Turner (Princeton University), J.A. Tyson (Bell Labs, Lucent Technologies), and NASA

1996: gravitational lenses of galaxy cluster 002401654

Although the bright area in the center of the image is eye-catching, let's first focus on the blue ring object in the picture. Count, are there five blue objects? In fact, they are all in the same galaxy! What causes this phenomenon is the gravitational lens effect of the central galaxy cluster 002401654: when the light of the blue galaxy passes through, its huge gravitational field causes the light to bend, thus allowing us to see a rare "ghosting".

NASA, Bruce Balick (University of Washington), Vincent Icke (Leiden University, the Netherlands), and Garrelt Mellema (Stockholm University)

1997: butterfly Nebula

The planetary nebula, which resembles the wings of butterflies, is also known as the Minkowski 2-9 Nebula (M2-9), discovered by astronomer Rudolph Minkowski in 1947. Exactly 50 years later, the Hubble Space Telescope took a clear image. In the center of the Butterfly Nebula, two stars orbit each other at a very close distance, and star engulfment may even occur.

Erich Karkoschka (University of Arizona) and NASA

1998: infrared image of Saturn

This brightly colored picture of Saturn does not show Saturn's true hue, but its reflected infrared light. Different colors reflect the distribution of Saturn's atmosphere: blue indicates an atmosphere as low as clouds, whose tones may be made up of ammonia ice crystals; green and yellow are smoke layers above the clouds; clouds in red and orange regions are higher, reaching the atmosphere; and the dark areas of Antarctica represent a giant hole in the clouds.

John Spencer (Lowell Observatory) and NASA

1999: Jupiter and Io

Compared with most of the planets and moons in the solar system, Io's more than 400 active volcanoes make it the most geologically active celestial body in the solar system, as well as the attention of scientists. In the process of trying to find Io's volcanic plume, the Hubble telescope accidentally captured Io passing by Jupiter in the ultraviolet and purple bands. The black circular area on the right side of the image shows Io's shadow on Jupiter.

NASA and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

2000: bright Eye Nebula

This cosmic eye may herald the end of the sun 6 billion years from now. In the constellation Eagle, 6500 light-years from Earth, a star with a mass similar to that of the sun is heading towards the end of life. The gas from the outer layer of the star is blown into the universe, exposing the hot core.

Radiate ultraviolet rays to ionize the outer gas. The fluorescent expansion gas and the bright core form the brightly colored planetary nebula, the Bright Eye Nebula (NGC 6751).

NASA, NOAO, ESA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA); Acknowledgment: K. Noll (Hubble Heritage PI/STScI), C. Luginbuhl (USNO), F. Hamilton (Hubble Heritage/STScI)

2001: Horsehead Nebula

Representing 2001, it is also a vivid picture of the nebula, shaped like the head of a red rabbit with handsome sideburns, hence the name of the Horsehead Nebula (also known as Barnard 33). However, compared with the brilliance of the bright-eyed nebula, the Horsehead Nebula looks a little bleak. The dark nebula is made up of cold, dense clouds of gas and dust, and its formation process is similar to that of the pillar of creation. You don't remember? Go back to the 1995 picture and review it! )

NASA, H. Ford (JHU), G. Illingworth (UCSC/LO), M. Clampin (STScI), G. Hartig (STScI), the ACS Science Team, and ESA The ACS Science Team: H. Ford, G. Illingworth, M. Clampin, G. Hartig, T. Allen, K. Anderson, F. Bartko, N. Benitez, J. Blakeslee, R. Bouwens, T. Broadhurst, R. Brown, C. Burrows, D. Campbell, E. Cheng, N. Cross, P. Feldman, M. Franx, D. Golimowski, C. Gronwall, R. Kimble, J. Krist, M. Lesser, D. Magee, A. Martel, W. J. McCann, G. Meurer, G. Miley, M. Postman, P. Rosati, M. Sirianni W. Sparks, P. Sullivan, H. Tran, Z. Tsvetanov, R. White, and R. Woodruff

2002: cone Nebula

Another nebula. You may already have countless associations with its outline, but its name is much simpler-the Cone Nebula (also known as NGC 2264). The cone nebula is 7 light-years long, and this image shows the upper part of the nebula 2.5 light-years. Like the Pillar of creation, the Cone Nebula is also undergoing a process of "erosion". Hydrogen under ultraviolet radiation emits a dim red glow, forming a red halo around the nebula.

NASA, ESA and J. Hester (ASU)

2003: omega Nebula

This magnificent picture of "huge waves hitting the shore" is part of the Omega Nebula, also known as the Swan Nebula or Messier 17, which is more than 5000 light-years from Earth. Dangerous as it may seem, it is the cradle of a large number of stars. The "wave" in the nebula is a "work of art" in which the hydrogen cloud is carved and lit by young, massive stars: the dazzling orange-red light on the surface comes from heated gas, while the seemingly cold green area on the left is actually a warmer gas after the matter leaves the nebula.

NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI)

2004: AM 0644-741 galaxy

In the constellation Pisces, 300 million light-years from Earth, the Hubble Space Telescope found a "ring" set with sapphires. This unique ring structure is the result of the "escape" of neighboring galaxies after a collision, the impact of which significantly changes the orbits of stars and gas in the galaxy disk, causing them to move outward. Subsequently, the gas cloud collides and compresses, creating a large number of newborn stars in the ring.

NASA, ESA, S.Beckwith (STScI), and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

2005: vortex galaxies

Spiral galaxies are named after spiral arms that extend outward from the core, which are home to many newborn stars. Among such galaxies, the protagonist of this photo, NGC 5194, is directly called a vortex galaxy (Whirlpool Galaxy,NGC 5194) because of its amazing standard spiral arm shape. Among them, the spiral arm, as a star-making factory, gives birth to young stars by compressing hydrogen, while the central yellow core is home to older stars.

NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

2006: Messier 82 (cigar galaxy)

Under the gravitational interaction with neighbor Messier 81, Messier 82 experienced a rapid star birth process (starburst): at the center of the galaxy, stars were born 10 times faster than the Milky way. Radiation from newborn stars blows the surrounding gas away, creating enough gas compressed by the interstellar wind to form millions of newborn stars. Among them, red is the starburst activity captured in the infrared band, while blue and yellowish green represent the visible band.

NASA, ESA, N. Smith (University of California, Berkeley), and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

2007: Carina Nebula

This is the nursery of stars and the graveyard of stars. This dreamy image is the central region of the Carina Nebula (NGC 3372). The outward flow of wind and ultraviolet radiation from giant stars create the eye-catching shape of the Carina Nebula.

NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration, and A. Evans (University of Virginia, Charlottesville/NRAO/Stony Brook University)

2008: Galactic collisions

The representative photos of 2008, made up of 12 images, show the different stages of a rare galaxy collision scene. With the accelerated expansion of the universe, the probability of galaxy convergence is getting lower and lower, currently only 1/1000. But in the early universe, galaxies were closer together, so the probability of collisions was higher.

NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScl/AURA)

2009: interacting galaxy Arp 194

The interacting galaxy, known as Arp 194, is a complex and special system. Spiral galaxies, newborn galactic nuclei and a series of disorganized spiral arms make up the upper part of Arp 194.The lower part is a single large spiral galaxy. What connects the two parts is the complex of several superclusters. The hot, massive stars in each cluster emit a fascinating blue light.

NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScl/AURA)

2010: mystery Mountain (Mystic Mountain)

Denser interstellar gas and dust form towering columns, where the light of nearby bright stars erodes from the outside, and hot newborn stars emit radiation and streams of charged particles, carving rugged peaks. In the mountains, hot ionized gas flows like a stream. Around the mountain, thin gas and dust are shrouded in clouds. This "mysterious mountain" stands quietly on the base of the ship 7500 light-years away.

NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScl/AURA)

2011: colliding galaxy Arp 273

The larger spiral galaxy in the picture is UGC 1810, whose disk is distorted and twisted into the shape of flowers due to the gravitational pull of companion galaxy UGC 1813. UGC 1810 galaxies are flowers, UGC 1813 galaxies are stems, and young, hot blue stars dot the edges of the petals-thus, galaxies collide to create a cosmic "rose".

NASA, ESA, D. Lennon and E. Sabbi (ESA/STScI), J. Anderson, S.de Mink, R. van der Marel, T. Sohn, and N. Walborn (STScI), N. Bastian (Excellence Cluster, Munich), L. Bedin (INAF, Padua), E. Bressert (ESO), P. Crowther (University of Sheffield), A. de Koter (University of Amsterdam), C. Evans (UKATC/STFC, Edinburgh), A. Herrero (IAC, Tenerife), N. Langer (AifA, Bonn), I. Platais (JHU) And H. Sana (University of Amsterdam)

2012: star Factory swordfish 30

Swordfish 30 at the center of the Tarantula Nebula (Tarantula Nebula) is a "star factory" where millions of young stars compete to shine. The bright region on the left side of the image is a huge young cluster NGC 2070, which is only 2 million years old and has 500000 stars. These newborn stars emit large amounts of ultraviolet light, eroding the hydrogen cloud that surrounds the cluster.

NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScl/AURA)

2013: infrared Horsehead Nebula

Twelve years later, the Horsehead Nebula reappeared. Only this time, the nebula in the picture became brighter. This is because this picture was taken in the infrared band. The protruding part of the nebula has a high density of helium and hydrogen and is covered with dust, which protects the lower part from light erosion. It is estimated that it will be about 5 million years before the Horsehead Nebula will dissipate.

NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScl/AURA)

2014: hericium Erinaceus Nebula

This image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2014 takes us to the hericium Erinaceus Nebula (Monkey Head Nebula) 6400 light-years away. This is a breeding ground for stars. In the center of the nebula, the ultraviolet light of the newborn star (on the right) ionizes the hydrogen that is the main component of the nebula, etching it into a strange shape.

NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScl/AURA), A. Nota (ESA/STScl), and the Westerlund 2 Science Team

2015: Westerlund 2

In the constellation of Carina, about 20,000 light-years from Earth, the beautiful Gum29 Nebula looks like fireworks in the universe. At the center of the nebula is a giant cluster of about 3000 stars called Westerlund 2. The cluster is only 2 million years old, but it contains many hot, bright, massive newborn stars that emit powerful ultraviolet rays and stellar winds, carving magnificent peaks and valleys on the surrounding gas clouds.

NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScl/AURA)

2016: bubble Nebula

In the vast expanse of space, there are many such "bubbles", most of which are the common masterpieces of stars and interstellar gas. The 7 light-year-wide Bubble Nebula (Bubble Nebula, officially known as NGC 7635) is a hot star about 45 times the mass of the sun at 10:00. The stellar wind from the star pushes away the surrounding interstellar gas, forming a bubble-like nebula.

NASA, ESA, and M. Mutchler (STScl)

2017: NGC 4302 and NGC 4298

On Hubble's 27th birthday, astronomers used it to photograph two spiral galaxies, NGC 4302 (left) and NGC 4298 (right). They are located in the constellation 5500 million light-years from Earth and look different in the photo because one side faces the telescope and the other faces obliquely. If you look at the Milky way from outside the Milky way, it will probably be similar.

NASA, ESA, and STScl

2018: lagoon Nebula

In the center of the image, a newborn star 200000 times brighter than the sun breaks out from its cocoon, releasing ultraviolet rays and fierce winds, tearing apart the thick interstellar gas and dust around it. It all happened in the Lagoon Nebula (Lagoon Nebula), a giant star breeding field. The Hubble Space Telescope led us across 4000 light-years to witness the extraordinary birth of a star.

NASA, ESA, and STScl

2019: southern Crab Nebula

This is the Southern Crab Nebula (Southern Crab Nebula, officially known as Hen 2104), thousands of light-years away from Earth. In the center of the nebula, there is a double star system composed of a red giant star and a white dwarf star. The outer layer of the red giant star is constantly spewing out, attracted by the gravity of the white dwarf star and filling the gap between the two stars, thus forming such a unique shape similar to an hourglass.

This article is from the official account of Wechat: global Science (ID:huanqiukexue), by Wu Fei and Zhang Erqi.

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