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To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope, NASA launched a new feature on its website. Through the feature, users will be able to learn what the space telescope discovered during their previous birthdays.
The space telescope was officially launched by NASA on April 24, 1990, through the space shuttle Discovery STS-31 mission. On Friday of next week, Hubble will celebrate its thirtieth year in space.
NASA, ESA and the Hubble SM4 ERO team
NASA’s latest offering
To celebrate the launch anniversary, NASA introduced a new online feature known as “What did Hubble see on his birthday?” As the name implies, the feature reveals the image taken by the space telescope on a particular date.
Since the beginning of his mission, Hubble has been looking at the universe 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This means that the space telescope has taken several cosmic images every day since its mission began in 1990. “Hubble explores the universe 24 hours a day, seven days a week. That means it has observed some fascinating cosmic wonders every day. days of the year, including your birthday, “NASA declared.
Hubble Images
For example, writing the date of April 13 revealed the image of a galaxy within the cluster known as Abell 2261, which was photographed by Hubble on the same date in 2011. According to NASA, the elliptical galaxy at the center of the image is the brightest and most massive member of the galactic cluster.
“Spanning just over a million light years, the galaxy is approximately 10 times the diameter of our galaxy, the Milky Way,” NASA said in a statement. “The bloated galaxy is a member of an unusual class of galaxies with a diffuse core filled with a mist of starlight.”
NASA / ESA / Hubble / J. Dalcanton, B.F. Williams & M. Durbin, University of Washington.
Hubble’s successor
NASA plans to operate Hubble until its mission ends, which is expected to occur sometime between 2030 and 2040. During this period, the space telescope’s orbit around Earth will disintegrate, causing it to re-enter the atmosphere. from the earth.
Serving as the official successor if Hubble is the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which will launch on March 30, 2021. As NASA noted, JWST could take better photos than Hubble as it has better sensitivity and Infrared Resolution. improved.
