The Hubble Space Telescope is back in action, having returned to science operations, but now with only one working gyroscope. And to prove it still has what it takes, the venerable observatory snapped a stunning photo of the dusty spiral galaxy NGC 1546.
There are about 50 million light years far away in the constellation of Dorado, the swordfish, NGC 1546 is an excellent example of what is called a “flocculent” spiral. Instead of the graceful sweep of curved arms that some spiral galaxies have, NGC 1546 appears more disordered, with bursts of star formation in the arms causing more star formation nearby, leading to the jagged structure.
The dust we see illuminated by the bright core of NGC 1546 is the product of countless generations of STARS that have been born, lived and died, releasing large amounts of dust into them ROOM during their death throes. The dust, made of particles only microns (millionths of a meter) in size, indicates that the galaxy has a healthy chemistry; that dust will be recycled into new generations of stars and provide the heavy elements for the planets around those new stars. The bright blue regions, most visible on the far side of the galaxy where dust is not blocking the view, are examples of these hot young stars in the newborn. star clusters.
Although Hubble Space Telescope has taken many spectacular images like this during it 34 years of work IN earth orbit, this image of NGC 1546 taken with the telescope’s Wide Field Camera 3 is one of Hubble’s most important. That’s because it puts an end to any doubt about Hubble’s near future.
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During the past yearspace telescope entered repeatedly safe mode after one of the last three working gyroscopes started returning wrong data. Hubble was equipped with six new gyroscopes, which are used to rotate and steer the telescope, along service mission in 2009. Fifteen years later, only two remain fully operational. While three gyroscopes working at any one time are preferred for efficiency reasons, Hubble can only operate on one. This was even tested in 2008, when his previous set of gyroscopes all broke. With two gyroscopes left and no hope of another service mission ( spaceship retired in 2011), Hubble should it only works on onewith the remaining gyroscope held as a backup should this fail.
This isn’t the perfect solution: While Hubble can still point anywhere in the celestial sphere, its mobility is more limited with a slower target rotation and shutter speed, meaning the area it can observe at any time is reduced. Moreover, it will not be able to follow any ASTEROIDS OR comets inner in the orbit of March, because they move too fast to hold a single gyroscope. Overall, NASA estimates that from here Hubble will experience a drop of up to 25% in productivity.
Hubble returned to active duty on June 14, with this image of NGC 1546 being the first since — and the first of many more to come.
“Hubble’s new image of a spectacular galaxy shows the complete success of our new, more stable way to steer the telescope,” Jennifer Wiseman, senior project scientist for Hubble at NASA. Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, states in a STATEMENT. “We are ready for many years of discoveries ahead and we will look at everything from our own.” solar system THE exoplanets to distant galaxies. Hubble plays a powerful role in NASAhis astronomical toolkit.”
Over the years, the Hubble Space Telescope has overcome many challenges, from an incorrectly polished primary mirror requiring the insertion of corrective lenses on a do-or-die rescue mission, to multiple failing instruments that have needed to be replaced, and the wear and tear of a spacecraft now in its fourth decade in space. And yet, despite everything, Hubble is surviving and thriving. Here’s to many more years of this fantastic observatory producing stunning views of the cosmos.