The giant planet #Jupiter, in all its banded glory, is revisited by the #HubbleSpaceTelescope in these latest images, taken on 5–6 January 2024, that capture both sides of the planet. Hubble monitors Jupiter and the other outer Solar System planets every year under the Outer Planet Atmospheres Legacy programme (OPAL).
Gravitational lensing has to be one of the most visually striking phenomena in astronomy
Gravitational lensing is a phenomenon where a massive object bend the light of a distant source as it approaches the observer. Most often this takes the form of enormous galaxy clusters bending the light of even more distant galaxies into warped images of their true selves. They typically follow an arc around the massive object in the foreground like ripples in a pond.
Here's a few of my favourite gravitational lensing events.
Abel 1689 – Virgo
Abel 1689 is a one of the largest galaxy clusters in the known universe. It's located about 2.459 billion light-years away in constellation Virgo. Not only is this image visually beautiful, but the sheer number of gravitationally lensed galaxies across the entire image is just mind-blowing.
In 2008, one of the lensed galaxies, A1689-zD1, became known as the most distant galaxy from Earth based on a photometric redshift. 2008 also happens to be the same year the astronomy bug really bit me and it became one of my life-long passions.
PSZ1 G311.65-18.48 is a massive galaxy cluster located 4.6 billion light-years away in the constellation Apus. What's especially remarkable about this image is that it features a bright galaxy that's been lensed 12 separate times along four arcs. Three of these arcs are visible to the upper right of the cluster, while a fainter fourth arc is partially obscured by a bright foreground star to the bottom left of the cluster. This galaxy is almost 12 billion light-years away from Earth, which given its title as the brightest gravitationally lensed galaxy is quite a remarkable feat.
The famous Ring Nebula is seen in brilliant new clarity, thanks to a new James Webb Space Telescope image released by researchers in the JWST Ring Nebula Imaging Project.
The image was processed by Roger Wesson, according to Western University in Ontario.
Excuse me while I'm being giddy... but #HubbleSpaceTelescope is carrying out MY observations right. this. second. (and for the next ~30 min)!!!! 🥹 #firstHSTobservation
P.S. I don't know what this image is all about, but my galaxy looks a lot more exciting than this indicates😆
P.P.S. This wouldn't have been possible without the help of my awesome GOALS collaborators, most of whom are HST veterans so I'm being disproportionally excited!
Sharing some of my favorite #Hubble images from the #NASA archives to commemorate the space telescope’s 33rd anniversary. We should take a moment to appreciate the beauty and wonder of the universe.
Information about the images + Hubble facts, a thread: 1/x
#HLF: a stunning image, 16 years in the making, comprising thousands of snapshots and representing one of the widest views of the universe ever captured. It includes observations from the eXtreme Deep Field and captures the galaxy assembly in ultraviolet to near-infrared light.
One of the most visually stunning images #Hubble has captured. This is the giant nebula #NGC2014 and its neighbor #NGC2020, part of a star-forming region in the #LargeMagellanicCloud—a satellite galaxy of the #MilkyWay, about 163,000 light-years distant.
This is #NGC2525, a captivating galaxy located in the constellation of #Puppis, nearly 70 million light-years from Earth. It is notable for being home to a supermassive black hole. It is being observed by the #HubbleSpaceTelescope to measure the universe's expansion rate.
#Hubble captured a stunning image of #Jupiter from a distance of 653 million kilometers from Earth. The image shows the giant planet's turbulent atmosphere, a new storm brewing, and a changing #GreatRedSpot. Also, the image features Jupiter's icy moon #Europa.