Hubble Sent The Most Important Image In Recent Times
In April 2024, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope turned 34 years old. Despite its venerable age and periodic failures, this instrument serves regularly, expanding our knowledge of the Universe. However, last spring, the inability to repair the telescope left it with a difficult choice: maintain productivity or extend operation until 2035 and beyond. NASA chose the second. Today, Hubble has proven the right choice.
The Hubble Telescope has captured the first image of distant spiral galaxy NGC 1546 since it recently began operating with a single gyroscope. This galaxy is located 50 million light-years from Earth and is a prime example of what astronomers call a “flaky spiral galaxy.” Unlike other spiral galaxies, which often have graceful, curved spiral arms, NGC 1546 appears to be a more disordered object. The rapid formation of new stars in the spiral arms causes an even greater surge in the appearance of more and more new stars, due to which the galaxy has a heterogeneous structure.
For normal operation of the observatory, three instruments are needed to accurately point at astronomical objects; it can cope with one. Due to the fact that it is no longer possible to repair the Hubble telescope with the help of astronauts, NASA decided to leave one of the gyroscopes in reserve and turn on only one device.
“Hubble’s new image of a spectacular galaxy demonstrates the complete success of our new, more stable telescope pointing mode,” Jennifer Wiseman, senior Hubble project scientist at NASA’s Maryland Space Flight Center, said in a statement. Goddard.
