The Hubble Space Telescope is back in action and has returned to scientific activities, but now with only one working gyroscope. And to prove it still has what it takes, the venerable observatory captured a striking photo of the dusty spiral galaxy NGC 1546.
Located about 50 million light years Further up in the constellation Dorado, the Swordfish, NGC 1546 is a brilliant example of what’s called a “flocculating” spiral. Instead of the graceful sweep of bent arms that some have spiral galaxies In that case, the images of NGC 1546 look messier, with bursts of star formation in the arms giving rise to more star formation nearby, leading to the patchy structure.
The dust we see backlit by NGC 1546’s bright core is the product of countless generations stars that were born, lived and died, emitting enormous amounts of dust room during their death throes. The dust, made of particles just microns (millionths of a meter) in size, shows that the galaxy has healthy chemistry; that dust will be recycled into new generations of stars and provide the heavy elements for planets around those new stars. The bright blue regions, more visible at the far end of the galaxy where dust does not obscure the view, are examples of these hot young stars in newly born galaxies. star clusters.
Although the Hubble Space Telescope has created many spectacular images like this during her time Active for 34 years in Soil in orbit, this image of NGC 1546, taken with the telescope’s Wide-field Camera 3, is one of Hubble’s most important. That’s because it removes any doubts about Hubble’s immediate future.
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Last yearthe space telescope entered repeatedly safe mode when one of the last three functional gyroscopes started returning erroneous data. Hubble has recently been equipped with six new gyroscopes, which are used to rotate and aim the telescope. service mission in 2009. Fifteen years later, only two are still fully operational. Although three working gyroscopes are preferred for efficiency reasons, Hubble can operate on just one gyroscope. This was even tested in 2008, when the previous set of gyroscopes all broke. With two remaining gyroscopes and no hope of a new maintenance mission (the spaceship retired in 2011), Hubble has to function on just onewith the remaining gyroscope being kept as a backup in case it fails.
This isn’t the perfect solution: while Hubble can still point anywhere on the celestial sphere, its mobility is more limited and it has a slower turn and target lock speed, meaning the area it can observe at any point time is reduced. Moreover, it will not be able to track anyone asteroids or Come eat interior of the track Mars, because they move too fast for a single gyroscope to keep up. Overall, NASA estimates that Hubble will see a drop in productivity of up to 25% from now on.
Hubble returned to active duty on June 14, with this image of NGC 1546 being the first since then – and the first of many more.
“Hubble’s new image of a spectacular galaxy demonstrates the full success of our new, more stable pointing mode for the telescope,” said Jennifer Wiseman, senior project scientist for Hubble at NASA. Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, said in a rack. “We are now ready for many years of discovery and we will look at everything from our own perspective solar system Unpleasant exoplanets to distant galaxies. Hubble plays a powerful role in this NASA‘s astronomical toolbox.”
Over the years, the Hubble Space Telescope has overcome many challenges, from an improperly polished primary mirror that required the installation of corrective lenses during a rescue mission, to multiple failed instruments that needed to be replaced, and the wear and tear of a spacecraft that is now is in its fourth decade in space. And yet, despite everything, Hubble survives and thrives. Here’s to many more years of this fantastic observatory producing breathtaking views of the cosmos.