Recently, the European Space Agency (ESA) shared a photograph of a monster-looking celestial body captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. The image features a portion of a pillar forming a star, which is part of a massive nebula.
A part of the Carina Nebula has been identified as the celestial object featured in Hubble's picture. This area lies within the constellation of Carina and is approximately 7,500 light-years from the neighborhood of Earth.
How does it look like?
Hubble's photo of the object has been taken using visible light, according to the ESA. It shows the tip of a massive cosmic pillar that has a length of about three light-years. Sculpted by stellar winds and star-emitted radiation, the pillar resembles a giant monster's head inside space.
The ESA clarified that apart from forming the pillar's general structure, the emissions from surrounding stars also provide the nebula with the stellar material required to cause star formation.
In a statement, ESA explained the tip of the three-light-year-long pillar was taken in visible light in the glow of light from hot, massive stars off the top of the image.
"Scorching radiation and fast winds (streams of charged particles) from these stars are sculpting the pillar and causing new stars to form within it. Streamers of gas and dust can be seen flowing off the top of the structure."
View this post on InstagramWFC3 visible image of the Carina Nebula Composed of gas and dust, the pictured pillar resides in a tempestuous stellar nursery called the Carina Nebula, located 7500 light-years away in the southern constellation of Carina. Taken in visible light, the image shows the tip of the three-light-year-long pillar, bathed in the glow of light from hot, massive stars off the top of the image. Scorching radiation and fast winds (streams of charged particles) from these stars are sculpting the pillar and causing new stars to form within it. Streamers of gas and dust can be seen flowing off the top of the structure. Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 observed the Carina Nebula on 24-30 July 2009. WFC3 was installed aboard Hubble in May 2009 during Servicing Mission 4. The composite image was made from filters that isolate emission from iron, magnesium, oxygen, hydrogen and sulphur. These Hubble observations of the Carina Nebula were part of the Hubble Servicing Mission 4 Early Release Observations. Image credit: NASA / @europeanspaceagency and the Hubble SM4 ERO Team For more information check the link in bio. #carina #nebula #stars #galaxy #cosmos #universe #astronomy #science #space #NASA #ESA #Hubble #Space #Telescope #photogram #spaceisbeautiful #neverstopexploring #instaspace A post shared by Hubble Space Telescope (@hubbleesa) on Jun 9, 2020 at 7:01am PDT
NASA, which also operates Hubble, has used different wavelengths to take various images of the Carina Nebula. Those include a cosmic structure X-ray snapshot taken by the Chandra Observatory of the department.
The X-ray image has revealed several bright spots within a nebula region, according to NASA. The agency has explained that these could indicate that several massive stars have already died and exploded in the region. The supernova remnants of stars may be the light spots.
"Chandra's X-ray vision provides strong evidence that massive stars have self-destructed in this nearby star-forming region," NASA said. "Firstly, there is an observed deficit of bright X-ray sources in the area known as Trumpler 15, suggesting that some of the massive stars in this cluster were already destroyed in supernova explosions."
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What is it called?
The galaxy known as NGC 2608 is a spiral galaxy stretched out-much like the Milky Way-that is "sweeping" across the universe, NASA said.
NGC 2608 is a staggering 93 million light-years from Earth, with more than six trillion miles in one light year. The galaxy is vast, measuring 64,000 light-years across the universe, and is found in the constellation of Cancer.
"The peppered blue and red spiral arms are anchored together by the prominent horizontal central bar of the galaxy," NASA explained. The space agency added NGC 2608 is just one among an "uncountable number of related structures."
The Hubble Space Telescope will soon be replaced by James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) in 2021. The JWST is so strong it will reach back to the furthest realms and the universe's earliest moments.
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Named after NASA's second administrator James Webb, JWST can scan thousands of planets for alien life - even though those planets are thousands of light-years away.
One of the big discrepancies between Hubble and JWST will be how far it will be able to see back in time.
Hubble can see far into space and looks back in time as light travels to the craft.
Experts were able to observe the formation of the first galaxies via Hubble, around one billion years after the Big Bang.
