Thursday, April 24, 2008

Hubble telescope captures crashing galaxies

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Images of colliding galaxies show them spinning, sliding and slipping into one another, wreaking stellar destruction that will give birth to new and larger galaxies.

The Maryland-based Space Telescope Science Institute released 59 new images from the Hubble Space Telescope on Thursday to celebrate the 18th anniversary of its launch.

"This new Hubble atlas dramatically illustrates how galaxy collisions produce a remarkable variety of intricate structures in never-before-seen detail," the Institute said in a statement.

"Astronomers observe only one out of a million galaxies in the nearby universe in the act of colliding. However, galaxy mergers were much more common long ago when they were closer together, because the expanding universe was smaller."

The color images, available online, are a look back in time. It takes hundreds of millions of years for galaxies to merge and the light from their stars has traveled for hundreds of millions of years across space.

Because it orbits outside the Earth's atmosphere, Hubble's cameras can take extremely sharp images.

Its future was controversial, as it requires regular servicing by space shuttle astronauts to stay in working condition.

After the 2003 Columbia space shuttle disaster, a servicing mission initially planned for 2004 was canceled.

NASA at one point was planning to abandon the telescope, hugely popular among astronomers. After an outcry, the U.S. space agency relented and a final Hubble servicing mission is scheduled for August.
In 2013, the James Webb Space Telescope is scheduled to replace Hubble

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

wow! glory to GOD! creation is absolute evidence for a creator! you cant have laws without a lawgiver,design without a designer,information without an informer,etc.....bottom line is,telling one lie makes you a liar.stealing one thing makes you a thief.JESUS said if you look upon a person to lust for them you have committed adultery in your heart!rev.21v8 says "all liars will have their part in the lake of fire" no thief,or adulterer will inherit the kingdom of GOD!we broke GODs laws,but JESUS paid our fine! repent and trust in him alone!

Let Love Grow said...

Oh my god Michael.
That was such an incorrect.
Please tell me what ANYTHING you said has to do with two galaxies colliding into each other?
Nothing.
God has nothing to do with space.
Space is life, life is energy, and energy is eternal. Not "heaven" or "hell". When something 'dies', it doesn't die. The energy used to make/control/be the thing it was before its death is simply used for something else.
Consider this: the Milky Way Galaxy is one of many, many, MANY others in the universe, and our solar system is located in a minuscule part of one of the many arms of this galaxy. Here's what you need to consider: if "Jesus" died for everyone's sins, it would only be the people on Earth. There is no doubt that there is intelligent life on other planets, we just can't reach each other just yet. If Jesus lived and died for the sins of Earth, then he can't possibly be anything to the other millions of planets out there.
How exactly can God or Jesus be so eternal and have so much power? Or has God sent one Jesus-like person to every other planet because he has a fetish for watching his children die?
Final point: Jesus studied Buddhism. Almost ALL of his "teachings" were incredibly similar to the words of Buddha, who was alive LONG before Jesus.

Jazzmyoozikmon said...

"Universe of Track," God to announce at noon, from his home town . . . Heaven . . .I think.

Eng. Moawia F. AL-Shannaq said...

first of all , the one called Michael tries to make us think about him as a great thinker , no sir excuse me you are very stupid , you are trying to compare between GOD and Human . GOD WILL never tired he has HIS OWN properties , he is your god and the creator of this universe and everything whether you confess this or not . you have nothing to do with other beings or other GALAXIES , first why we learn and explore other galaxies , this should enhance our BELIEVE IN GOD to believers , and for nonbelievers like you whether we guide them or not they will not believe . god said in HOLY QURA'AN
" As to those who reject Faith, it is the same to them whether thou warn them or do not warn them; they will not believe " baqara .

T. D. Bostick said...

Sorry but based on the previous comments, I don't think of anyone here as a great thinker. If you can't put together a cogent sentence in English and make a point that relates to the original posting, you had best not write anything at all.

So, about the picture of the galaxies - this is a very nice picture with an eye-catching mixture of colors. I wonder, is this a natural-light photograph, was it taken measuring light waves outside of the visible spectrum, or is it merely an artist's rendition? I'd like to find a picture like this with better resolution for a desktop wallpaper for my computer.

Charlie said...

We are so fortunate to live in an instant of time in which we can see and appreciate the mysteries of the universe. Certainly the creation and creator are beyond our understanding but this does inspire thoughts of a spiritual world and humbles our existence. I just don't see how it has anything to do with something as conjured and contrite as religion.

thetruth said...

WTF? Really? this image has to do w/ space/exploration.....and so many of you are turning it into a religious belief. This has absolutely nothing to do w? religion. And for all of those who are preaching your dumb....theres no such thing as GOD, he did not ceate Earth and the stars and the millions and millions of galaxies. Most of the intelligent humans left on Earth usually refer to it as evoloution. Get over your selves. Seriously, ya wanna preach then google some images about religion and post your comments there. These are educational factual photos nothing else.