Hubble surprises us with an iconic new image for its 34th anniversary!

The James Webb Space Telescope is often called the successor to Hubble. Both are true in the sense that it extends Hubble’s observations into the infrared with better capabilities. permissionpermission (which allows him to explore layerslayers oldest light in history spacespace observable) and false because Hubble can also make observations in the visible and ultraviolet, which JWST cannot. In fact, Hubble is still in great demand for observing both solar system objects and phenomena within it. galaxiesgalaxies distant as supernovaesupernovae. You could even say that the James Webb Telescope was created to complement Hubble, not replace it.

Thus, Hubble will be with us for some time, already because Space Telescope Science Institute Baltimore, Maryland (USA) contains 184 terabytes of processed and archived data that can be used astrophysicistsastrophysicists future to obtain new information. These data correspond to 1.6 million observations of more than 53 thousand astronomical objects. The result was 44,000 scientific papers on topics as diverse as supermassive black holes and atmosphereatmosphere belonging exoplanetsexoplanets, gravity lensesgravity lenses With black matterblack matter and the existence and nature of dark energy.

This is reported in a press release NASANASA on the occasion of the 34th^_e anniversary of NASA’s launch of Hubble on April 24, 1990. To mark this anniversary, the press release is accompanied by a luxurious image nebulanebula du Petit Dumbbell (also known as Messier 76, M76 or NGKNGK 650/651), located at around 3400 light yearslight years from us to constellationconstellation Perseus. This is an object that astronomersastronomers Amateurs can observe, in particular, using the Unistellar electronic telescope.

Video for 34 years of Hubble activity. To get a fairly accurate French translation, click on the white rectangle in the lower right corner. After this, English subtitles should appear. Then click on the nut to the right of the rectangle, then on “Subtitles” and finally on “Automatic translation”. Select “French”. © NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Plasma sheath ejected by a dying star

As explained in a NASA press release, the Little Dumbbell Nebula is classified as planetary nebulaplanetary nebula but in fact it has no connection with the planets and the name goes back to the time Charles MessierCharles Messier and its catalog of 110 deep-sky objects. diffusediffuse (star clusters and nebulae in the sense of time), which the astronomer compiled after being burned by observations of these objects, which could be confused with cometscomets. The instruments of that time provided only blurry images of what the planets might have been for the scientists of that time. More precisely, because these fuzzy objects, cataloged by Messier three centuries ago, looked very much like UranusUranus in telescopes that William HerschelWilliam Herschel They called them planetary nebulae.

In the case of Messier 76, we now know that we are observing an expanding shell of plasma ejected by instabilities. eruptiveeruptive from giant stargiant star dying red who eventually became white Dwarfwhite Dwarf super dense and hot, with a surface temperature of about 138,000 KelvinsKelvinsor almost 24 times the surface temperature of our planet. SunSun. This shell will soon dissipate quickly on a time scale Milky WayMilky Waythat is, for approximately 15,000 years.

NASA comments on the Hubble image as follows:

” The M76 consists of a ring, visible from the edge as the structure of the central bar, and two petals at each hole of the ring. Before the star went out, she threw the ring out of gasgas and dust. The ring was likely inspired by a star that once had a companion star. binarybinary. This removed material created a thick disk of dust and gas along the planeorbitorbit companion. The hypothetical companion star is not visible in the Hubble image and could therefore have been later absorbed by the central star. The disc will become forensic evidence of this stellar cannibalism.

Clamped by the disk, from above and below the “belt”, two lobes of hot gas burst out along the axis of rotation of the star, perpendicular to the disk. They are driven by a flow of material similar to HurricaneHurricane emanating from a dying star and crossing space at a speed of three million kilometers per hour. It’s fast enough to travel from Earth to MoonMoon in just seven minutes! This ” windwind A torrential rain of “star formation” falls on cooler, slower-moving gas that was ejected earlier in the star’s life when it was a red giant. Ultraviolet radiation from a super-hot star causes the gases to glow. There colorcolor red comes fromnitrogennitrogen and blue coloroxygenoxygen. »