Cheer up, Hubble fans. After more than a month, the famous camera was closed Hubble Space Telescope He takes pictures of the universe again.
The iconic (and old) space observatory Scientific operations resumed on Saturday (July 17) After weeks of sleep during NASA engineers Try to fix the computer error. That work paid off with this image, which shows two of Hubble’s first new images since the computer problems began.
“I’m so excited to see Hubble bring the universe back onto the scene again and once again capture the kind of image that has fascinated and inspired us for decades,” said Bill Nelson, NASA Administrator. proof. “This is the time to celebrate the success of a team truly dedicated to its mission.” In April 1990, NASA and the European Space Agency launched the Hubble Space Telescope.
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The black and white images show different galactic views. On the left is an object called ARP-MADORE2115-273, which are actually two different objects. galaxies Trapped in an intergalactic tango. It is about 297 million light years from Earth.
“Astronomers previously thought this was a ‘collision ring system’ due to the forward merger of two galaxies,” NASA wrote in a letter. picture description. “The new Hubble observations show that the ongoing interaction between galaxies is much more complex, leaving behind a rich web of stars and dusty gas.”
The second Hubble view (pictured right) shows the large spiral galaxy ARP-MADORE0002-503 located about 490 million light-years from Earth. If you think you are just another person spiral galaxy like us Milky Way, think again.
“Their arms span a radius of 163,000 light-years, which makes them three times the size of our Milky Way,” NASA wrote. “While most disk galaxies have an even number of spiral arms, this one has three.”
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The new Hubble views are just two images in a series of experimental shots as NASA and the European Space Agency work to restart the space telescope.
Hubble went offline on June 13 The main computer downloaded offlinewho put the observatory in a preemptive “safe mode” where all flags stopped. After weeks of troubleshooting, engineers Fault tracing in an unstable circuit Between the Hubble power control unit and the payload computer, the observatory was reactivated Switch to a backup computer.
Since then, Hubble scientists and engineers have been making test images of galaxies, globular clusters, and the aurora borealis on Jupiter.
“I admit I had some nervous moments during the Hubble shutdown, but I also trust the wonderful engineers and technicians at NASA,” said Julian Dalcanton, an astronomer at the University of Washington in Seattle who ran the program that captured the new images. said in one proof. “Everyone is so grateful and looking forward to getting back to science!”
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