Hubble's Latest Photo Is Unbelieveable! (1 Viewer)

[Neil Joseph]

I would like to see more planet pictures too. The problem is that planets are so close to their sun's that the hubble would get blinded trying to take pictures of the stars. I think if you could turn the star's light off/down momentarily, the hubble could probably get great shots of other planets.

 

[Iain Lambert]

Scott, while attempting to dodge the more religious aspects and speculation, the last time I looked at Big Bang science, the actual spacetime gets created at the same 'time' as its contents. So, in a sense, 'the time before the Big Bang' doesn't have a meaning; its like asking what this IE window was showing before I opened it - it didn't exist to show anything.

 

[Dave Morton]

If the laws of physics are true, then matter cannot be created nor destroyed. So, scientfically, all matter always existed. So either randomness or some sort of system is in place to create a steady state where all things can co-exist.

 

[CharlesD]

I think if you could turn the star's light off/down momentarily, the hubble could probably get great shots of other planets.

There are plans for a "nulling interferometer" telescope... its basic principle is to point it at a star and collect light from two or more locations some distance apart. If the instrument is precisely aligned with the target, the light waves from the different receptors will cancel each other out. A light source very close to the target star, but not precisely in line with it will not be canceled out. The aim is to use this instrument to detect light from planets nearby the target star.

The overall effect of such an instrument is essentially to "turn off" the light from a star to see any planets that might be orbiting it.

 

[Ron-P]

Amazing, simply amazing and it's not CGI.
Peace Out~

 

[Dave Poehlman]

minus 333 degrees F

I just saw that in the original post. Thats COLD! Absolute zero is -459 F!

I love that picture.

 

[Alex-C]

And people get frustrated when their latte is a little cold....

Staring at those pics....boy, words escape me !

My fav is that Hubble Deep Space field that shows many galaxies in one picture. The word: amazing doesnt do it justice.

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

When the Pathfinder landed on Mars, I was with a group of close friends at a gathering of space enthusiasts in Pasadena, just off the JPL "campus." SF author David Brin was present. His speech has stayed with me in a way that's almost as profound as those first images from what is still the most recent spacecraft to reach the surface of the Red Planet successfully.

The line I remember best is, "We are a great species."

This poignant image from the Hubble Space Telescope is proof positive of the human spirit.

Jack,

Did you ever read Harlan Ellison's essay "Saturn, November 11th" (printed in FutureLife magazine, March 1981 and collected in the volume "An Edge in My Voice")? It details a day spent at, I think, the JPL lab when Voyager was making its closest pass to Saturn and all new information about the rings was coming in. It's a great piece of science reporting and sounds similar to the day you had in Pasadena.

 

[Holadem]

spirit.

And why o why do you always feel the need to introduce stuff like this?
--
Holadem

 

[Alex S]

I like this one:

 

[Chuck C]

Now correct me if i'm wrong....are some of these photos indicative of pictures that artsists could have only dreamed up about ten years ago?

 

[Dennis Reno]

The picture Shawn linked to is called "Tadpole". There are dozens of additional galaxies visible in the picture. Absolutely stunning! You can view this image and others HERE. Several are available as wallpaper.
NOTE - I had linked a 640x480 copy of the "Tadpole" image but removed it because of Copyright concerns. Sorry!

 

[Jack Briggs]

Peter A: I think I read that piece!

All: About imaging extrasolar planets--please hope with all your heart that NASA's budget is not further emasculated and that the Terrestrial Planet Finder deep-space telescopic/interferometer array does in fact get built, launched, and put into Solar orbit sometime in the next decade. That project, along with the forthcoming Next Generation Space Telescope, represents what humankind can do at its best.

For all the world's troubles, these are indeed exciting times--the most exciting ever, in fact.

 

[Bruce Hedtke]

Love the image. It truly is beautiful.

The colors are enhanced and may even be changed to highlight features

I'm not so sure about this. I mean, these colors are all part of the visible spectrum. Color does exist everywhere, even in space.

Bruce

 

[Bruce Hedtke]

Also, as to whether Hubble can photograph within out solar system:
Link Removed
(it's Mars)
Bruce

 

[RobertR]

I liked "Tadpole" so much that I decided to use it as wallpaper

 

[Peter Kline]

I understand the colors are indeed decided upon by the processors at NASA. They are based on what the camera image picks up but are enhanced. Doesn't matter. By the way there is an animated version of the two galaxy image showing how they could come together and form a new one. Saw it last night on CNN I believe.

 

[Bruce Hedtke]

I understand the colors are indeed decided upon by the processors at NASA. They are based on what the camera image picks up but are enhanced

Actually, now that I've given myself a chance to think about this, it would make sense. Colors are vibrant to us because of our atmosphere and since space lacks an atmosphere, the colors would be muted. My apologies to Ashley for trying to argue a correct assessment
Bruce

 

[Todd Hochard]

If the laws of physics are true, then matter cannot be created nor destroyed. So, scientfically, all matter always existed.

I believe the whole law is "Matter can neither be created, nor destroyed, only altered in form." Einstein's Theory of Relativity shows the mass->energy equivalent. It is also theorized (and supported) that the sum of all matter and all energy within the universe is zero.
As such, you literally can create something from nothing, because everything=nothing. This sort of thing is demonstrated in nuclear (fission & fusion) reactors- pair production. The interaction of energy within the reactor can create an electron (matter) and positron (a positively charged electron- anti-matter). They were created from the energy present- nothing more. They typically then go on to annihilate one another (matter meeting anti-matter) in short order (10-xx seconds), and the energy is given off. In the end, nothing was created or destroyed, on altered in form.
There was a time when I could give you all supporting mathematical arguments, times, mass-energy numbers, and show you specifically how it occurs. Alas, I forget most of that.:frowning:
Todd

 

[Frank Anderson]

For some reason I would think we would get even better, closer shots of stuff in our own solar system.