NASA's Hubble Telescope snaps pictures of a mysterious titled Galaxy
Here's Hubble's best year by year from Hubble Cast:
Saturn
Among the first images to be sent back from Hubble after its launch in April 1990, this image of Saturn is good by the standards of ground-based telescopes.
Orion Nebula
Although not perfectly sharp, this early image of the Orion Nebula nevertheless shows the rich colors and structures of this bright star-forming region. The Orion Nebula is 1,500 light-years away, the nearest star-forming region to Earth.
Herbig-Haro 2
Throughout the region of the Orion Nebula are numerous streamers of gas that come from newborn stars, known to astronomers as Herbig-Haro Objects.Hubble Views a Baby Star's Tantrums,
The two Herbig-Haro objects cataloged as HH46 and HH47.
Messier 100
In late 1993, Hubble's teething problems were resolved in the first servicing mission. Before-and-after images of the core of spiral galaxy Messier 100 show how this dramatically improved the telescope's image quality.
1994: Shoemaker-Levy 9 hits Jupiter
Soon after the astronauts repaired Hubble during the first servicing mission, comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 collided with Jupiter.
1995: Eagle Nebula
Hubble's image of the 'pillars of creation' in the Eagle Nebula is one of its most famous. These huge, dusty structures enshroud pockets of ongoing star formation.
1996: NGC 6826 'Blinking Nebula'
This image from 1996 shows a planetary nebula, which represents the other extremity of a star's life from the Eagle Nebula. Planetary nebulae form when Sun-like stars puff out their outer layers as they run low on fuel.
1997: Mars 'The Red Planet'
NASA's Mars Pathfinder probe was en route to Mars in 1997 while Hubble took this image.
1998: Ring Nebula
Another planetary nebula, the Ring Nebula is one of the most famous.The image from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope shows the most famous of all planetary nebulae: the Ring Nebula (M57).
1999: Keyhole Nebula
The Keyhole Nebula, part of the larger Carina Nebula is another bright star-forming region.
2000: NGC 1999
Not all nebulae glow brightly. NGC 1999 contains a dark patch silhouetted against a brighter background which reflects starlight. It is located 1,500 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Orion. HH 1/2, the first recognized Herbig-Haro Object, is located near NGC 1999.
2001: ESO 510-G13
Hubble's image of this galaxy shows the dramatic deformations that can occur after collisions between galaxies. On April 6 in 2001. Galaxy ESO 510-G13. Usually, when a spiral galaxy appears edge-on, its dust and spiral arms appear flat.
2002: Cone Nebula
Further upgrades in 2002, including the installation of the Advanced Camera for Surveys increased resolution and picture quality again. Hubble's ultra-sharp image of the Cone Nebula demonstrates the new instrument's capabilities. Astronomers believe that these pillars are incubators for developing stars. ACS made this observation on April 2, 2002..
Cone Nebula (NGC 2264): Star-Forming Pillar of Gas and Dust
2003: Hubble Ultra Deep Field
Usually astronomers know what they're going to look at when they plan their observations. For the Hubble Ultra Deep Field, observed over 11 days between September 2003 and January 2004, they did not.The Hubble Ultra-Deep Field (HUDF) is an image of a small region of space in the constellation Fornax, containing an estimated 10,000 galaxies.
2004: Antennae Galaxies
The dramatic collision of two spiral galaxies is visible in this image of the Antennae Galaxies. The bright pink patches visible across much of the vista are pockets of star formation triggered by the gravitational interaction of the galaxies.
2006: Messier 9
Globular clusters, roughly spherical collections of stars, contain some of the oldest stars in our Milky Way. Hubble's high-resolution observations allow astronomers to discern individual stars right into the center of these clusters.
2007: NGC 4874
This image of NGC 4874, a galaxy in the Coma Cluster, was taken with the Advanced Camera for Surveys just two days before it suffered an electronic failure in January 2007. NGC 4874 is a giant elliptical galaxy. It was discovered by the British astronomer Frederick William Herschel I in 1785.
2008: NGC 2818
This image of planetary nebula NGC 2818 dates from this period. It is worth noting that even with its capabilities constrained, Hubble was still able to produce images that compete with any telescope on the ground. NGC 2818 is a planetary nebula located in the southern constellation Pyxis (The Compass). It consists largely of glowing gases from the star's outer layers.
2009: Bug Nebula-NGC 6302
In 2009, astronauts traveled to Hubble for another servicing mission, which installed new and upgraded cameras. The Bug Nebula was one of the first images sent back: Hubble was back in business. A bipolar nebula caused our little telescope to go bipolar and blow a gasket ... NGC 6302 (also called the Bug Nebula or Butterfly Nebula), is a bipolar planetary nebula in the constellation Scorpius.
2010: Centaurus A
Using its new instrumentation, Hubble peered into the heart of Centaurus A, a dramatically dusty galaxy.
2011: Tarantula Nebula
Just published in April 2012, this image of the Tarantula Nebula combines a mosaic of Hubble observations, which capture the detail and structure of the nebula. About 2,400 massive stars in the center of 30 Doradus, also known as the Tarantula Nebula, are producing intense radiation and powerful winds as they blow off material.
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