hubble

The true shape of the Ring Nebula

Hubble has been doing some interesting work with nebulae recently, it seems. About a month ago, we saw new images of the Horsehead Nebula in the infrared spectrum, revealing new details of the famous gas formation.

The newest nebula to get the fine-detail treatment is the equally famous Ring Nebula. Combining visible-light images from Hubble with infrared data from the ground-based Large Binocular Telescope in Arizona has revealed that the structure of the nebula is more complex than was previously believed. … Read more

Super tool: Canada enshrines robot space arm in museum

It was once described as a "glorified crane," but was so much more than that.

Tireless cargo handler, astronaut platform, and critical inspection tool, the Canadarm was an essential component of NASA's space shuttle fleet from 1981 to 2011.

This past week, it became a permanent exhibit at the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa.

"This exhibit commemorates an important part of our history in space," Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore said at a ceremony to unveil the exhibit. "The Canadarm is a symbol of our country's ingenuity and expertise in space robotics. It has positioned Canada as a leader in space." … Read more

Hubble captures possible 'comet of the century'

Comet ISON, discovered in September of last year by Russian Vitali Nevski, is headed in our direction. And although the sungrazing comet is still more than 394 million miles away (a little closer than Jupiter's current orbit), NASA's Hubble telescope managed to capture an amazing photograph on April 10.

NASA believes that when ISON is at its closest point to the sun on November 28 of this year, it will briefly become brighter than the moon in the sky, making it a serious contender for "comet of the century."

Currently, the comet is headed toward the sun at a speed of around 47,000 miles per hour and has a dusty head of around 3,100 miles wide (about 1.2 times the width of Australia). Its tail trails more than 57,000 miles behind. And yet, the core of the comet's head is tiny -- no more than around 3 to 4 miles across. … Read more

Hubble captures Horsehead nebula in stunning infrared

I just rewatched Ridley Scott's "Prometheus," and I think the soundtrack's opening horn melody would go perfectly with this NASA pic.

The Hubble Space Telescope has photographed the Horsehead Nebula in stunning detail. The nebula, about 1,500 light years away in the constellation of Orion, was imaged in infrared wavelengths against the backdrop of the Milky Way.

The pink cast is from hydrogen gas behind the nebula, which is being lit up by Sigma Orionis, a five-star system. … Read more

Crave Ep. 112: Sesame Street passes 1 billion views on YouTube

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This week on Crave, The Count counts 1 billion views on Sesame Street's YouTube Channel. Plus, the DRM chair self-destructs after eight sittings, we run screaming from a concrete-tossing robot dog, and sex up your iPhone with Sexy Smarty Pants underwear from Japan. All that and more goodies on this week's show. … Read more

Hubble telescope spots Space Invader in space

Humans have long looked up into space and assigned objects like lions, bears, and hunters to shapes made by the stars. Now the Hubble Space Telescope has looked up into space and discovered an object that looks an awful lot like a classic game creature from Space Invaders.

The image was taken in infrared light by Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 and combined with near-infrared observations from Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys.

"The gravitational field surrounding this massive cluster of galaxies, Abell 68, acts as a natural lens in space to brighten and magnify the light coming from very distant background galaxies," the Space Telescope Science Institute says. "Like a funhouse mirror, lensing creates a fantasy landscape of arc-like images and mirror images of background galaxies."… Read more

Stunning mosaic delves deep into spiral galaxy (picture)

As part of an experiment in stunning mosaics and data visualization, astrophotographer Robert Gendler used scientific data from the Hubble Legacy Archive and combined it with his own ground-based observations to assemble a photo illustration of the magnificent spiral galaxy M106.

Years of observations in WFC3 (which offers a unique combination of high sensitivity and wide spectral coverage), Hubble's primary camera, the Advanced Camera for Surveys (which offers three independent, high-resolution channels covering the ultraviolet to the near-infrared regions of the spectrum), and the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 have given scientists varied views and detailed pieces of … Read more

Hubble looks back 13.2 billion years in deepest view yet

A stunning new composite photograph from the Hubble Space Telescope, made up of more than 2,000 images shot by multiple cameras over the past 10 years and combined in what amounts to a 23-day time exposure, shows some 5,500 galaxies in tiny field of view, including some dating back to just 450 million years after the big bang birth of the universe, astronomers said Tuesday.

Dubbed the eXtreme Deep Field, or XDF, the photograph represents the deepest view of the universe yet achieved, giving astronomers a "time tunnel"-like glimpse back across 13.2 billion years … Read more

Quasars and supernovae and huge mirrors, oh my

PALOMAR MOUNTAIN, Calif.--If you want to talk big scientific breakthroughs, how about quasars and supernovae?

Those are just two of the most important discoveries in the long, very storied history of the Palomar Observatory, a set of telescopes and other astronomical instruments located at the top of this mountain northeast of San Diego. And while the facility no longer holds quite the place in the astronomy community that it once had, for most of the second half of the 20th century, it was the undisputed champion of the world.

Topping the bill at Palomar is its groundbreaking 200-inch Hale Telescope. … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1395: BingTorrent (podcast)

Google starts censoring torrents sites in their search and Facebook denies rumors of a Facephone, which means it exists! Hulu is looking at becoming an online cable operator and we drool over Sony's PSP2 announcement.