Stay Curious

SIGN UP FOR OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER AND UNLOCK ONE MORE ARTICLE FOR FREE.

Sign Up

VIEW OUR Privacy Policy


Discover Magazine Logo

WANT MORE? KEEP READING FOR AS LOW AS $1.99!

Subscribe

ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER?

FIND MY SUBSCRIPTION
Advertisement

Hubble Snaps New Pics of Star Birth to Celebrate 100,000 Orbits

NASA scientists celebrate the Hubble Space Telescope's 100,000th orbit with stunning images of a star nursery near the Tarantula Nebula.

Newsletter

Sign up for our email newsletter for the latest science news

Sign Up

You may remember where you were when your car's odometer rolled over 100,000 miles. NASA scientists are swelling with the same kind of pride over the Hubble Space Telescope, which has completed its 100,000th orbit of the Earth. NASA celebrated the milestone by taking new pictures of a nearby star nursery, close to the Tarantula Nebula 170,000 light-years away. Ultraviolet radiation blazing from hot, young stars in the cluster has created dramatic ridges and valleys of dust. The intense radiation has also set aglow gaseous filaments and eroded away the dusty cocoons where newborn stars are being born, unveiling the hatchlings at the tops of serpent-shaped pillars [Science News]. The gas cloud, or nebula, itself is cold and dark – the perfect environment for creating new stars. But intense radiation from young stars nearby is eroding the cloud and causing its 'walls' to glow [New Scientist]. The colors in the ...

Stay Curious

JoinOur List

Sign up for our weekly science updates

View our Privacy Policy

SubscribeTo The Magazine

Save up to 40% off the cover price when you subscribe to Discover magazine.

Subscribe
Advertisement

0 Free Articles