New Delhi: NASA's Hubble Space Telescope turns 32 years old today. The telescope was deployed into Earth's orbit by NASA astronauts aboard the space shuttle Discovery, on April 25, 1990, and has taken 1.5 million observations of approximately 50,000 celestial objects to date.
On the occasion of Hubble's 32nd birthday, here is a glimpse into the telescope's most recent discoveries.
Hubble Confirms Size Of Largest Comet Nucleus Ever Seen
Hubble confirmed the size of the behemoth comet C/2014 UN271, or Bernardinelli-Bernstein in April 2022. The nucleus of Bernardinelli-Bernstein is about 50 times larger than the nuclei of most comets.
Hubble confirmed that the nucleus is bigger than the US state of Rhode Island. The diameter of the nucleus is approximately 80 miles across, and its mass is about 500 trillion tonnes.
Hubble Detects Farthest Star Ever Seen
In March 2022, Hubble detected the farthest individual star ever seen. The star, called Earendel, existed within the first billion years after the universe's birth in the big bang, and is at a distance of 28 billion light years from Earth.
With a natural phenomenon known as "gravitational lensing", an international team of astronomers were able to detect Earendel at a distance where detecting entire galaxies proves challenging too.
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A gravitational lens occurs when a huge amount of matter, like a cluster of galaxies, creates a gravitational field that distorts and magnifies the light from distant galaxies which are behind it but in the same line of sight. According to NASA, the gravitational lensing effect is like looking through a giant magnifying glass.
Earendel may be up to 500 times more massive than the Sun. The light from Earendel took 12.9 billion years to reach us. This gave us a glimpse into the past when the universe was young.
Hubble Finds Black Hole Creating Stars And Not Engulfing Them
In January 2022, Hubble discovered a black hole at the heart of the dwarf galaxy Henize 2-10, which is creating stars rather than engulfing them.
The black hole is apparently contributing to the firestorm of new star formation occurring in the galaxy.
Henize 2-10 is a dwarf starburst galaxy, which is a galaxy undergoing exceptionally high rate of star formation.
According to a researcher, Hubble provided a very clear picture of the connection between the black hole and the neighbouring star-forming. The connection is an outflow of gas stretching across space like an umbilical cord to a bright stellar nursery.
Hubble Finds Evidence Of Leak In Milky Way's Central Black Hole
In December 2021, Hubble found evidence that the Milky Way galaxy's central supermassive black hole has a leak. The telescope spotted eman expanding bubble of gas near the centre of the galaxy. According to researchers, a "mini-jet" from the supermassive black hole is impacting and inflating the bubble. Every time a black hole devours something hefty, like a star or gas cloud, it burps out "mini-jets", NASA said on its website.
Hubble Finds Proof Of Water On Jupiter's Icy Moon Europa
In October 2021, Hubble found that Jupiter's icy moon Europa has the presence of persistent water vapour. Surprisingly, the evidence of water vapour was found only in one hemisphere.
The observation is of utmost importance because it will help astronomers better understand the atmosphere of icy moons.
Europa has an icy surface, underneath which a vast ocean, that may provide conditions favourable to support life, flows. The water vapour comes from the icy exterior, rather than the vast ocean.
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Hubble Photographs Red Giant Star With "Cobwebs"
In October 2021, Hubble photographed a red giant star called CW Leonis, which has orange-red "cobwebs". These are dusty clouds of sooty carbon engulfing the dying star, and were created from the outer layers of CW Leonis being thrown out into the inky black void, according to NASA.
The carbon, which is cooked up through nuclear fusion in the star's interior, gives CW Leonis a carbon-rich atmosphere.
CW Leonis is located at a distance of 400 light-years from Earth, and is the closest carbon star.
The carbon from the star may one day be the building blocks of new planets and life.
Hubble Provides Evidence That White Dwarfs Enjoy Slow Ageing
In September 2021, Hubble provided evidence which suggests that white dwarf stars could continue to burn hydrogen in the final stages of their lives. This causes them to appear more youthful than they actually are. A white dwarf is a small, burned-out and tremendously dense star.
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Hubble Discovers Storm Winds In Jupiter's Great Red Spot To Be Accelerating
In September 2021, Hubble discovered that the winds in the outermost "lane" of Jupiter's Great Red Spot are accelerating. From 2009 to 2020, the average wind speed just within the boundaries of the storm, known as a high-speed ring, increased by up to eight per cent, according to NASA. In contrast, the winds near the innermost region of Jupiter's red spot are moving significantly slowly.
Hubble Captures Still-Forming Planet Feeding Off A Young Star
In April 2021, Hubble captured a rare look at a Jupiter-sized, still-forming planet feeding off material surrounding a young star.
According to NASA, the huge exoplanet, called PDS 70b, orbits the orange dwarf star PDS 70, which is already known to have two actively forming planets inside a huge disk of gas and dust encircling the star.
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The ultraviolet observations allowed astronomers to measure the planet's mass growth rate for the first time.
PDS 70b is five times the mass of Jupiter and is still growing. It provides clues into how gas giants form and grow.