In celebration of its 30th anniversary, capturing stunning images with stellar objects, NASA has released 30 newly processed Hubble images with galaxies, star clusters and nebulae.
All 30 images are added to what amateur astronomers know as the Caldwell Catalog, which was compiled by British amateur astronomer and scientific communicator Sir Patrick Caldwell-Moore and inspired by the Messier Catalog. The catalog was published by Sky & Telescope the magazine 25 years ago, in December 1995. Caldwell’s catalog highlights 109 galaxies, groups of stars and nebulae that are bright enough to be seen by amateur astronomers.
Caldwell 45 | Credits: NASA, ESA, J. Lee (California Institute of Technology) and A. Filippenko (University of California – Berkeley); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA / Catholic University of America)Caldwell 17 | Credits: NASA, ESA and A. Ferguson (University of Edinburgh, Institute of Astronomy); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA / Catholic University of America)Caldwell 18 | Credits: NASA, ESA and A. Ferguson (University of Edinburgh, Institute of Astronomy); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA / Catholic University of America)Caldwell 29 | Credits: NASA, ESA and L. Ho (Peking University); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA / Catholic University of America)
NASA says Caldwell objects are an interesting target for amateur astronomers around the world because Caldwell objects are split between the northern and southern hemispheric skies.
The 30 additional images were taken by Hubble over its 30-year career and used for scientific research and testing, but have not been fully processed for public publication so far.
Caldwell 53 | Credits: NASA, ESA and J. Erwin (University of Alabama); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA / Catholic University of America)Caldwell 72 | Credits: NASA, ESA, R. de Jong (Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam [AIP]) and G. Illingworth (University of California – Santa Cruz); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA / Catholic University of America)Caldwell 73 | Credits: NASA, ESA and G. Piotto (University of Padua); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA / Catholic University of America)Caldwell 78 | Credits: NASA, ESA and G. Piotto (University of Padua); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA / Catholic University of America)
Some images do not fully capture the entire Caldwell object, such as the ones below, due to Hubble’s detailed field of view.
Caldwell 2 | Credits: NASA, ESA and H. Bond (Pennsylvania State University); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA / Catholic University of America)Caldwell 36 | Credits: NASA, ESA and S. Smartt (Queen’s University of Belfast); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA / Catholic University of America)Caldwell 83 | Credits: NASA, ESA and H. Falcke (Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA / Catholic University of America)Caldwell 14 | Credits: NASA, ESA and S. Casertano (Space Telescope Science Institute); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA / Catholic University of America)
The images added this month increase the collection of photos to 87 out of a total of 109 objects.
Caldwell 40 | Credits: NASA, ESA and P. Erwin (Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA / Catholic University of America)Caldwell 99 | Credits: NASA, ESA and R. Sahai (Jet Propulsion Laboratory); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA / Catholic University of America)Caldwell 89 | Credits: NASA, ESA and A. Riess (Johns Hopkins University); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA / Catholic University of America)
To see the complete set of images from the Caldwell collection, you can consult the catalog here.
Hubble was launched aboard the Discovery spacecraft in April 1990 and has been upgraded five times by astronaut crews. Hubble turned 30 on December 11, 2020 and is now considered to be even better than the day it was launched. As such, it will continue to make innovative discoveries that NASA hopes will promote fundamental understanding of the universe.
Hubble may be 30, but it’s certainly not old.
(via Engadget)
Image credits: NASA, ESA and A. Riess (Johns Hopkins University), with processing credit noted individually on each image.
