When it comes down to dramatic and These pictures are breathtaking!Few can compete with this picture of space: A fascinating image of what appears to have been a hole in space’s fabric, captured by NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.
Described as a “cosmic keyhole” by experts, the phenomenon caught by the telescope is what’s known as a reflection nebula – part of the debris left behind by the formation of a newborn star, or in this case, a small, multiple star system known as V380 Orionis in the constellation Orion.
The ghostly celestial object you see here, named NGC 1999, is around 1,350 light-years from our planet; not far from the Orion Nebula – a star factory of significant size that happens to be the closest of its kind to Earth.
The gap at the center of the reflection nubula is actually an empty space. Astronomers originally thought it was a gap. Bok globule: A dense and dark cloud composed of dust, gas, molecules and water that blocks out background light.
The cosmic keyhole is surrounded by a cloud that reflects the light of the V380 Orionis Star. This is where the name reflection nebula comes from. Nebula means “cloud” or “mist” in Latin.
The space agencies It can be described asIt looks like a fog curling around street lamps, but it is unclear what caused the large gap between the clouds. However, were we filming a sci-fi movie, we might say it’s the perfect opening for aliens to arrive through – or an ideal spot to place a portal to another Universe.
First captured by the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2,On Hubble 1999, the image was subject to follow up observations from telescopes such as the ESA. Herschel Space Observatory. The story behind the final image is a collective effort of many instruments.
Hubble has been taking pictures of the stars and galaxies all around us for over thirty years, and it’s still going strong. Recently, we’ve seen it. Take a closeupOf the Orion Nebula Here’s a shot from a strange galaxie’mirror’Gravitational lensing is responsible for creating these images.
Of course the telescope is about much more than pretty pictures – it’s been helping scientists deepen their understanding of the Universe too, whether that’s in Finding new asteroidsOr Predicting the death of Sun.
More images of Hubble can be viewed at The ESA Hubble website.
