Hubble Space Telescope Snaps Photo of a "Superbubble" Inside a Nebula

Isabella James, Tech Times 03 November 2021, 01:11 am

The Hubble Space Telescope has snapped a photo of what scientists call a "superbubble." The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has shared the photo of the superbubble online.

The superbubble is actually a gap found within a nebula called N44. N44 is located 170,000 light-years away from our planet and is considered an emission nebula. The N44 nebula is located in the Large Magellanic Cloud.

The Hubble Space Telescope has taken numerous photos of different nebulae through the years, including the Veil Nebula and the Crab Nebula.

Hubble Snaps Photo of 'Superbubble'

Hubble Space Telescope's Photo of a Superbubble

(Photo : NASA, ESA, V. Ksoll and D. Gouliermis (Universität Heidelberg), et al.; Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)

The Hubble Space Telescope has taken a photo of a superbubble found within a nebula called N44.

The N44 nebula has been described by NASA as "a complex nebula filled with glowing hydrogen gas, dark lanes of dust, massive stars, and many populations of stars of different ages."

"One of its most distinctive features, however, is the dark, starry gap called a 'superbubble,'" NASA added.

NASA has noted that the superbubble is around 250 light-years wide. According to an article by Space, a light-year is equivalent to 6 trillion miles and is a length of distance and not time.

The space agency has noted that the superbubble is still somewhat of a mystery to scientists at this point. Scientists are considering the possibility that the superbubble has been formed thanks to "expanding shells of old supernovae."

The N44 Nebula

A nebula is pretty much a giant cloud made up of gas and dust, according to a separate post on the NASA website. In plural form, nebula becomes nebulae.

Some nebulae are actually regions where stars are about to take shape. Other nebulae, on the other hand, are the opposite in such a way that the gas and dust have actually been thrown out when a dying star exploded.

The N44 nebula is what NASA calls an emission nebula, which is a nebula whose "gas has been energized, or ionized, by the radiation of nearby stars."

The N44 nebula is located 170 light-years away from Earth in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The nebula spans 1,000 light-years.

Hubble Space Telescope's Photos of Nebulae

(Photo : ESA/Hubble & NASA, Z. Levay)

The 31-year-old Hubble Space Telescope is known for its many awe-inspiring photos of planets, stars, and other space objects it spots. Many of the photos that the telescope has taken are actually photos of nebulae.

Examples of nebulae that the Hubble Space Telescope has taken photos of including the Southern Crab Nebula, Veil Nebula, and even a "rotten egg nebula" called Calabash.

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Written by Isabella James