High resolution images of Hubble space. Photos of deep space taken by the Hubble telescope

Amateur Astrophotography, have you ever wondered what kind of direction in photography this is? Perhaps this is the most complex and time-consuming genre of all that exists, I can tell you this with 100% responsibility, since I have a complete practical understanding of all areas in the photo industry. In amateur astrophotography there is no limit to perfection, there are no limits, there is always something to photograph, you can do both creative and scientific photography, and the main thing is that this is a very soulful genre of photography. But is it really possible to take pictures of space without leaving home, using household cameras and lenses and amateur telescopes, without having an orbital telescope like Hubble? My answer is yes! Everyone, of course, knows about the famous Hubble telescope. Nasa constantly shares colorful images of deep sky objects (Deep sky object or DSO or simply deep sky) from this telescope. And these pictures are very impressive. But almost none of us understands what exactly is depicted, where it is, or what size it is. we just look and think “wow.” But once you take up astrophotography yourself, you immediately begin to understand and recognize the universe. And space no longer seems so vast. And most importantly, with experience, the pictures of astrophotography enthusiasts turn out no less colorful and detailed. Without a doubt, Hubble will have higher resolution and detail, and it can look much further, but sometimes, some of the images of the masters in this genre are confused with Nasa images and they do not even believe that this was obtained by an ordinary person using household equipment. Even I sometimes have to prove to my friends that these are really my photographs and not taken from the Internet, although my level of skill in this matter is not yet up to average. But every time I hone my skills and achieve better results.
An example of one of my old photographs, the north pole of the Moon:

I’ll tell you in more detail how I do this and what equipment is needed for this. And the main thing is that we can take photographs in space with an amateur telescope or an ordinary camera with interchangeable lenses. True, the last question has a very simple answer - everything, well, or almost everything.

Let's start with the equipment. Although in fact you need to start not with equipment, but with an understanding of where you live, how much free time you have, is it possible to travel out of town at night (if you live in the city) and how often are you willing to do this and, of course , are you ready to spend money on this genre in material terms? Unfortunately, there is a pattern here: the more expensive the equipment, the better the result. BUT! The result on any equipment depends no less on experience, conditions and desire. Even if you have the best equipment, nothing will work without experience.
So, once you have an understanding of your capabilities, then the choice of equipment depends on this. I am a resident of Moscow, and I often have neither the opportunity nor the enthusiasm to travel outside the city, so at the very beginning of my journey, I put my emphasis on the objects of the solar system, that is, the Moon, Planets and the Sun. The fact is that in amateur astrophotography there are three subtypes - planetary photography, deep photography and photography of wide star fields at short focal lengths. And I will touch on all three types in this article. However, the choice of equipment for these subspecies is different. There are some universal options for deep and planetary photography, but they have their pros and cons.
Why did I choose, first of all, to photograph objects of the solar system? The fact is that these objects are not affected by city illumination, which does not allow the stars to leak through. And the brightness of the Moon and planets is very high, so they easily break through city light. There are indeed other nuances - these are heat flows, but you can come to terms with this. But decent deep photography in the city is only possible in narrow channels, but this is a separate topic with a limited choice of objects.
So, for amateur astrophotography of solar system objects, I use the following equipment, which allows me to observe and photograph the Moon, planets and the Sun well:
1) Telescope based on the Schmidt-Cassegrain optical design (abbreviated ShK) - Celestron SCT 203 mm. We use it as a lens with a focal length of 2032 mm. At the same time, I can effectively accelerate the DF to 3x, that is, to approximately 6000 mm, but at the expense of loss of aperture ratio. The choice fell on ShK, because it is the most convenient and profitable option for residential use. It is the ShK that has compact and at the same time powerful characteristics, for example, all other things being equal, the ShK will be two and a half times shorter than the classical Newton, and on the balcony such dimensions are very important.
2) The Celestron CG-5GT Telescope Mount is a kind of computerized tripod that is capable of turning to follow a selected object across the sky, as well as carrying bulky equipment without twitching or shaking. My mount is an entry-level one, so it has many errors in its intended purpose, but I also learned to deal with this.
3) TheImagingSource DBK-31 or EVS VAC-136 camera - old specialized cameras for amateur planetary astrophotography, but I also adapted them for microphotography at the cellular level. However, you can get by with household cameras with interchangeable lenses, the result will simply be worse, but in the absence of anything else, it will do just fine, I also once started with a Sony SLT-a33.
4) Laptop or PC. A laptop is, of course, preferable since it is mobile. The simplest option without gaming potential will do. We need it to synchronize all the equipment and record the signal from the cameras. But if you use a household camera, you can easily do without a computer.
This basic set for lunar and planetary photography, not counting the laptop, cost me 80,000 rubles. at the dollar exchange rate - 32 rubles, of which 60 thousand for the telescope and mount and 20 thousand for the camera. Here we should immediately note that all equipment for amateur astrophotography is exclusively imported, so we are directly dependent on the ruble exchange rate, since the price in dollars has not changed for several years.
This is what my telescope looks like in the photo. Just a photo from the balcony where I install it before shooting:

Once I mounted a lot of equipment on my telescope at the same time for lunar and deep sky photography, to check whether the mount would work. It pulled, but with a creak, so using this option is not recommended on this mount - it is rather weak.

What can we still see and photograph with this amateur telescope? In fact, almost all the planets of the solar system, the large satellites of Jupiter and Saturn, Comets, the Sun and of course the Moon.
And from words to action, I present several photographs of some objects of the solar system, obtained at different times using the telescope described above. And first I will show you pictures of the closest space object in the solar system - the Moon.
The moon is a very good object. She is always interesting to look at and photograph. It shows a lot of detail. Every day for a month you see new lunar formations and each time you wait for better weather, without wind and turbulence, to take an even better picture than the last time. Therefore, we don’t get tired of photographing the Moon, but on the contrary, we want more and more, especially since we can build compositions, panoramas and choose the focal length for various purposes.
Crater Clavius. Photographed at 5000 mm in the infrared spectrum:

Part of the lunar terminator, photographed at 2032 mm in the daytime, so the contrast is not quite enough:

Panorama of the Lunar Alps from two frames. The photo shows the Alps themselves with a canyon and the ancient crater Plato, filled with basalt lava. Filmed at 5000 mm.

Three ancient craters near the north Pole of the Moon: Pythagoras, Anaximander and Carpenter, FR - 5000 mm:

Even more lunar photos at 5000mm

The Lunar Sea, or rather the Sea of Crises, was filmed in 2032 mm. This image was taken with two cameras, one b/w in the infrared spectrum, the other in the visible spectrum. The infrared layer served as the basis for the brightness layer, the visible spectrum lay on top in the form of color:

Crater Copernicus against the backdrop of Lunar Dawn, 2032 mm:

And now panoramas of the Moon in various phases. When clicked, a larger size will open. All lunar panoramas were shot at 2032 mm.
1) Crescent Moon:

2) First quarter moon, you can read more about this phase here

3) Gibbous Moon phase. I photographed this panorama of the Moon with a visible color camera:

4) Full moon. The most boring time on the moon is the full moon. In this phase, the Moon is flat as a pancake, there are very few details, everything is too bright. Therefore, on a full moon, I almost never photograph the Moon, especially with a telescope, a maximum of 500 mm with a regular lens and camera. Although this version was made with my telescope, but with a focus reducer, more details here:

And here, by the way, is a photograph without any special equipment. Camera + TV. At the same time, the whole truth about the Supermoon, clicking on the photo will open a larger size, and follow the link for a more detailed description:

The next object is Venus, the second planet from the Sun. I took this picture in Belarus, increasing the focal length of the telescope by 2.5 times to 5000 mm. The phase of Venus was such that it appeared in the form of a sickle. I note that no details can be discerned in the visible spectrum on Venus, only thick cloud cover. To distinguish details on Venus, you need to use ultraviolet and infrared filters.

I took the second picture of Venus from the Moscow balcony without increasing the focal length, that is, FR = 2032 mm. This time the phase of Venus was more turned towards us with the illuminated side, but for volume I painted on a highlight of the dark side of Venus in the editor, this should be especially noted, since the dark side of Venus, its ashen light, cannot be captured under any circumstances, unlike the Moon ashen light.

The next planet on the list is Mars. In an amateur telescope, the fourth planet from the Sun looks quite small. This is not surprising, its size is half that of the Earth, and even at the moment of opposition, Mars is visible as a small reddish ball with some surface details. However, we can observe and photograph some things. For example, in this image you can clearly see a large white cap of Martian snow. The picture was taken using a 3x extender with a final FR of 6000 mm.

In the next photo we are already observing the Martian spring. The winter cap melted and we even managed to capture the clouds in the form of pale, low-contrast diffuse specks of a gray-white-blue hue. If it were possible to observe Mars every day, it would be possible to study well the periods of seasonality on Mars, its rotation around its axis, the melting and formation of snow caps, as well as the appearance and movement of clouds. The photo, like the previous one, was taken at 6000 mm.

And this is just a photograph of Mars at the time of opposition in 2014. Notice how well the seas and continents of Mars are drawn (symbols for dark and light areas on Mars and the Moon). More information about the geography of the planet in the picture can be found here:

The fifth planet of the solar system is the king of the planets - Jupiter. Jupiter is the most interesting planet for observing and photographing. Even despite its enormous distance, Jupiter is visible through a telescope larger than the others, all other things being equal. If you are lucky with the weather, then on Jupiter you can clearly distinguish such formations as vortices, streaks, GRS (great red spot) and other details, as well as its 4 Galilean satellites (IO, Europa, Callisto and Ganymede). And it’s much easier to capture this in a photograph, although the result of the photo directly depends on weather conditions and equipment. This is how I manage to photograph Jupiter with my amateur telescope. Panorama of Jupiter with satellites:

Photograph of Jupiter from the BKP

It also makes sense to photograph Jupiter in the infrared spectrum. In this spectrum, much more detail is visible and the details themselves look sharper:

The next, sixth planet is Saturn. A huge gas giant, recognizable primarily by its rings. For me this is the second most interesting planet. But its remoteness is so enormous (up to 1500 billion km) that my telescope hardly has enough power to spread the belts on the surface of the planet; my optics do not have enough resolution for hurricane vortices. However, I still watch the photograph of this planet with interest, because its rings open up in front of me, and I often see the shadow of the rings cast on the planet. And under good conditions, you can distinguish the mysterious formation of Saturn - the hexagon, in particular it can be seen in the photograph below. The geography of the planet with a description is available at this link:

As for the remaining planets - Mercury, Neptune, Uranus and the dwarf planet Pluto, I did not photograph them, but observed them (except for Pluto). Mercury in my telescope is visible as a very small gray disk; I could not discern any details on it. Uranus and Neptune in my telescope are visible in the form of small bluish disks of different shades; these planets are not of interest to me in photography yet. But with more powerful equipment, I will definitely photograph them. The sun is also very interesting to photograph, but this requires special filters. Otherwise, you can damage your eyesight and camera.

The next subtype of astrophotography is the most creative and easiest. This is photographing wide star fields at short focal lengths. For this species, in principle, special astro-equipment is not necessary. All you need is a camera with an appropriate lens and a tripod, but if you have an automated mount or other accessories to compensate for the rotation of the earth, then this will be even better.
So, we need:
1) camera
2) a lens with an FR from 15 to 50, it can be a fisheye, portrait or landscape lens. And it’s better if it’s a prime lens with a high aperture ratio from 1.2 to 2.8. You can use 70 mm or more, but with such FRs, rotation compensation equipment is very desirable.
3) A tripod and preferably equipment to compensate for field rotation, but for starters you can neglect it.
4) dark moonless starry night and free time.
That's the whole set for this type of astrophotography. But there are some nuances. The first and main nuance when shooting on a stationary tripod is the shutter speed rule. The rule is called the “600 rule” and it works like this: 600/lens FR = maximum shutter speed. For example, you have a lens with FR 15, which means 600/15=40. In this case, 40 seconds is the maximum exposure time at which the stars will remain stars and not stretch into sausages, especially at the edges of the frames. In practice, it is better to reduce this maximum time by 20%. The second nuance is the choice of terrain; a dark starry night will not always be happy for you. Sometimes at night it can be very damp and humid in our latitudes, especially near forests, swamps, rivers, etc. And then literally in half an hour your lens will completely fog up and you won’t be able to photograph anything. To avoid this, you need to use either a hairdryer or special aperture heaters in the form of flexible shadows. I began to specifically explore the star fields only in the summer of 2015, so I don’t have many photographs. Here is an example of a photograph of the milky way, taken on a Sony SLT-a33 + Sigma 15mm fisheye using an auto-vision mount, exposure time 3 minutes, you can read more about the photograph at the link

And here is also the Milky Way shot at moonrise using the same technique, but from a stationary tripod, the shutter speed is only 30 seconds, in my opinion the Milky Way is quite clearly visible.

Next is a small selection of constellations shot on a Sony SLTa-33 + Sigma 50 mm. Exposures of 30 seconds, on a mount with autovision:
1. first constellation Cepheus:

1.1 diagram of the constellation with symbols:

2. Constellation Lyra

2.1 Constellation diagram:

3. Constellation Cygnus

3.1 and diagram of Lebed and its surroundings

4. Constellation Ursa Major, full version, not just a bucket:

4.1 Scheme of the Big Dipper:

5. The constellation Cassiopeia is easily recognized because it looks like the letter W or M, depending on what angle you look at:

And here is the Swan with shutter speeds of 10 minutes, the photo was taken in May 2016, you can read more here:

The last, third type of astrophotography is deep sky. This is the most difficult type in amateur astrophotography; in order to take pictures masterfully you need a lot of experience and decent equipment. In deep photography there are no restrictions on the focal length, but the higher the focal length, the more difficult it is to obtain a high-quality result, so lenses from 500 to 1000 mm are considered typical average focal lengths. Most often, either refractors (preferably apochromats) or classical Newtons are used. There are other more complex and efficient optical devices, but they cost completely different money.
As in the case of star fields, I began to master this genre only in the summer of 2015; before that, of course, there were attempts, but unsuccessful. However, I can write for a very long time about shooting deep sky objects such as galaxies, nebulae and star clusters. I'll just share my experience.
To photograph the deep we will need:
1) Mounting with auto vision is a prerequisite.
2) a lens from 500 mm (you can use from 200 for large objects, such as the Orion Nebula M42 or the Andromeda Galaxy M31). I use my Sigma 150-500 telephoto camera for hunting photography.
3) A camera (I use a Sony SLT-a33) or a more advanced camera for astrophotography.
4) Mandatory ability to align the mount along the polar axis so that it is accurately aligned with the celestial pole.
5) It is highly desirable, or rather extremely necessary, to master guiding with an additional guiding telescope and a guiding camera. This is necessary so that the guide camera captures a star located next to the object being filmed and thereby sends signals to the mount to follow exactly this star. As a result of proper guiding, you can set even hour-long shutter speeds and get the clearest possible frames without the appearance of stretched stars with Hubble-like rendering of objects.
6) Laptop for synchronizing mount, camera and guiding
7) Power system, autonomous or plug-in, it’s up to you to decide.

In order to place all this equipment on the mount, I made a plate, drilled a bunch of holes in it and screwed in all the necessary equipment. Photo of my equipment taken during the shooting:

And this is what I’m getting at the moment in the deep shooting:
1. Andromeda Galaxy (M31):

2. The dark Iris nebula in the constellation Cepheus:

4. I am adding a photo of the Veil Nebula, which I took in May 2016, more details about shooting the Veil here:

And this is how the Orion Nebula M42 turned out from a Moscow balcony through my planetary telescope with a 2032mm focal length, exposure time 30 seconds:

As you can see, in urban conditions in the visible spectrum, such a shutter speed is not enough to study the background and periphery, and a long shutter speed only gives milky illumination throughout the entire frame, so in the city I photograph only the Moon and planets, in which I achieved almost maximum results with my equipment. All that remains is to catch good weather or change equipment to more powerful ones to improve the quality of the pictures.

As a summary, I can say that astrophotography is a very serious genre and nothing will come of it without determination. But as soon as you start to succeed at something, it will give you complete pleasure! Therefore, I encourage everyone to develop and popularize this most interesting genre in photography!

At the beginning of April, the Taschen publishing house will put up for sale a new book with a collection the most stunning images of deep space which were captured using a telescope Hubble. It's been 25 years since the telescope was launched into orbit, and it still continues to inform us about what our universe looks like, in all its incredible beauty.

Barnard 33, or the Horsehead Nebula, is a dark nebula in the constellation Orion

Position: 05h 40m, –02°, 27", distance from Earth: 1,600 light years; device/year: WFC3/IR, 2012.

M83, or the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy, is a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Hydra

Position: 13h 37m, –29°, 51", distance from Earth: 15,000,000 light years, instrument/year: WFC3/UVIS, 2009–2012.

Position: 18h 18m, –13°, 49", distance from Earth: 6,500 light years, instrument/year: WFC3/IR, 2014.

The book is called Expanding Universe(“The Expanding Universe”) and is dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the launch of Hubble. The Hubble photographs published in this book are not just breathtaking images, they are also an opportunity to learn more about space exploration. The book includes an essay by a photography critic, an interview with a specialist who explains exactly how these images are created, and two stories by astronauts about the role this unique telescope plays in space exploration.

RS Puppis is a variable star in the constellation Puppis

Position: 08h 13m, –34°, 34", distance from Earth: 6,500 light years, instrument/year: ACS/WFC, 2010.

M82, or the Cigar Galaxy, is a spiral galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major

Position: 09h 55m, +69° 40", distance from Earth: 12,000,000 light years, device/year: ACS/WFC, 2006.

M16, or the Eagle Nebula, is a young open star cluster in the constellation Serpens.

Position: 18h 18m, –13°, 49", distance from Earth: 6,500 light years, instrument/year: WFC3/UVIS, 2014.

Due to the fact that the telescope is located in space, it can detect radiation in the infrared range, which is completely impossible to do from the surface of the Earth. Therefore, Hubble's resolution is 7-10 times greater than that of a similar telescope located on the surface of our planet. For example, among other things, scientists for the first time obtained maps of the surface of Pluto, learned additional data about planets outside the solar system, they managed to make significant progress in the study of such mysterious black holes in the centers of galaxies, and also, which seems completely incredible, they were able to formulate the modern cosmological model and find out a more accurate age of the Universe (13.7 billion years).

Jupiter and its moon Ganymede

Sharpless 2-106, or the Snow Angel Nebula in the constellation Cygnus

Position: 20h 27m, +37°, 22", distance from Earth: 2,000 light years, device/year: Subaru, Telescope, 1999; WFC3/UVIS, WFC3/IR, 2011.

M16, or the Eagle Nebula, is a young open star cluster in the constellation Serpens.

Position: 18h 18m, –13°, 49", distance from Earth: 6,500 light years, instrument/year: ACS/WFC, 2004.

HCG 92, or Stephen's Quintet, is a group of five galaxies in the constellation Pegasus

Position: 22h 35m, +33°, 57", distance from Earth: 290,000,000 light years, device/year: WFC3/UVIS, 2009.

M81, NGC 3031, or Bode's Galaxy - a spiral galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major

Original taken from osmiev V

The Hubble Space Telescope is an automatic observatory in orbit around the Earth, named after Edwin Hubble. The Hubble Telescope is a joint project of NASA and the European Space Agency; it is one of NASA's Large Observatories. Placing a telescope in space makes it possible to detect electromagnetic radiation in ranges in which the earth's atmosphere is opaque; primarily in the infrared range. Due to the absence of atmospheric influence, the resolution of the telescope is 7-10 times greater than that of a similar telescope located on Earth. We now invite you to see the best images from this unique telescope over the past few years. In the photo: The Andromeda Galaxy is the closest giant galaxy to our Milky Way. Most likely, our Galaxy looks about the same as the Andromeda Galaxy. These two galaxies dominate the Local Group of galaxies.

The hundreds of billions of stars that make up the Andromeda Galaxy together produce a visible, diffuse glow. The individual stars in the image are actually stars in our Galaxy, located much closer to the distant object. The Andromeda Galaxy is often called M31 because it is the 31st object in Charles Messier's catalog of diffuse celestial objects.

At the center of the Doradus star-forming region is a gigantic cluster of the largest, hottest, and most massive stars known to us. These stars form the R136 cluster captured in this image.

NGC 253: Brilliant NGC 253 is one of the brightest spiral galaxies we see, yet one of the dustiest. Some call it the “Silver Dollar Galaxy” because it is shaped like that in a small telescope. Others simply call it the “Sculptor Galaxy” because it lies within the southern constellation Sculptor. This dusty galaxy is located 10 million light years away.

Galaxy M83 is one of the closest spiral galaxies to us. From the distance that separates us from her, equal to 15 million light years, she looks completely ordinary. However, if we take a closer look at the center of M83 using the largest telescopes, the region appears to be a turbulent and noisy place.

The group of galaxies is Stefan's Quintet. However, only four galaxies in the group, located three hundred million light years away, participate in the cosmic dance, moving closer and further away from each other. The four interacting galaxies - NGC 7319, NGC 7318A, NGC 7318B and NGC 7317 - have yellowish colors and curved loops and tails, the shape of which is caused by the influence of destructive tidal gravitational forces. The bluish galaxy NGC 7320, pictured above left, is much closer than the others, just 40 million light-years away.

A giant cluster of stars distorts and splits the image of the galaxy. Many of them are images of a single unusual, beady, blue ring-shaped galaxy that happens to be located behind a giant cluster of galaxies. According to recent research, in total, at least 330 images of individual distant galaxies can be found in the picture. This stunning photograph of the galaxy cluster CL0024+1654 was taken in November 2004.

Spiral galaxy NGC 3521 lies just 35 million light-years away in the direction of the constellation Leo. It has features such as jagged, irregular spiral arms adorned with dust, pinkish star-forming regions, and clusters of young bluish stars.

Spiral galaxy M33 is a medium-sized galaxy from the Local Group. M33 is also called the Triangulum galaxy after the constellation in which it is located. M33 is not far from the Milky Way, its angular dimensions are more than twice the size of the full Moon, i.e. it is perfectly visible with good binoculars.

Lagoon Nebula. The bright Lagoon Nebula contains many different astronomical objects. Particularly interesting objects include a bright open star cluster and several active star forming regions. When viewed visually, the light from the cluster is lost against the overall red glow caused by hydrogen emission, while the dark filaments arise from the absorption of light by dense layers of dust.

The Cat's Eye Nebula (NGC 6543) is one of the most famous planetary nebulae in the sky.

The small constellation Chameleon is located near the south pole of the World. The picture reveals the amazing features of the modest constellation, which reveals many dusty nebulae and colorful stars. Blue reflection nebulae are scattered across the field.

The dark, dusty Horsehead Nebula and the glowing Orion Nebula contrast in the sky. They are located 1,500 light years away in the direction of the most recognizable celestial constellation. The familiar Horsehead Nebula is a small, dark cloud in the shape of a horse's head, silhouetted against a background of red glowing gas in the lower left corner of the picture.

Crab Nebula. This confusion remained after the star exploded. The Crab Nebula is the result of a supernova explosion observed in 1054 AD. At the very center of the nebula is a pulsar, a neutron star with a mass equal to the mass of the Sun, which fits into an area the size of a small town.

This is a mirage from a gravitational lens. The bright red galaxy (LRG) shown in this photograph has been distorted by its gravity to the light from a more distant blue galaxy. Most often, such a distortion of light leads to the appearance of two images of a distant galaxy, but in the case of a very precise superposition of the galaxy and the gravitational lens, the images merge into a horseshoe - an almost closed ring. This effect was predicted by Albert Einstein 70 years ago.

Star V838 Mon. For unknown reasons, in January 2002, the outer shell of the star V838 Mon suddenly expanded, making it the brightest star in the entire Milky Way. Then she became weak again, also suddenly. Astronomers have never observed such stellar flares before.

Ring Nebula. She really looks like a ring in the sky. Therefore, hundreds of years ago, astronomers named this nebula according to its unusual shape. The Ring Nebula is also designated M57 and NGC 6720.

Column and jets in the Carina Nebula. This cosmic column of gas and dust is two light years wide. The structure is located in one of the largest star-forming regions of our Galaxy. The Carina Nebula is visible in the southern sky and is 7,500 light-years away.

Trifid Nebula. The beautiful, multi-colored Trifid Nebula allows you to explore cosmic contrasts. Also known as M20, it lies about 5,000 light-years away in the nebula-rich constellation Sagittarius. The size of the nebula is about 40 light years.

Known as NGC 5194, this large galaxy with a well-developed spiral structure may have been the first spiral nebula discovered. It is clearly visible that its spiral arms and dust lanes pass in front of its satellite galaxy - NGC 5195 (left). The pair are located about 31 million light years away and officially belong to the small constellation Canes Venatici.

Centaurus A. A fantastic pile of young blue star clusters, giant glowing gas clouds and dark dust lanes surround the central region of the active galaxy Centaurus A.

Butterfly Nebula. Bright clusters and nebulae in Earth's night sky are often named after flowers or insects, and NGC 6302 is no exception. The central star of this planetary nebula is exceptionally hot: its surface temperature is about 250 thousand degrees Celsius.

An image of a supernova that exploded in 1994 on the outskirts of a spiral galaxy.

Galaxy Sombrero. Galaxy M104's appearance resembles a hat, which is why it is called the Sombrero Galaxy. The image shows distinct dark lanes of dust and a bright halo of stars and globular clusters. The reasons why the Sombrero Galaxy looks like a hat are the unusually large central stellar bulge and the dense dark lanes of dust located in the galaxy's disk, which we see almost edge-on.

M17: close-up view. Formed by stellar winds and radiation, these fantastic wave-like formations are found in the M17 (Omega Nebula) nebula. The Omega Nebula is located in the nebula-rich constellation Sagittarius and is 5,500 light-years away. The patchy clumps of dense, cold gas and dust are illuminated by radiation from the stars in the image at top right and could become sites of star formation in the future.

What does the IRAS 05437+2502 nebula illuminate? There is no exact answer. Particularly puzzling is the bright, inverted V-shaped arc that outlines the top edge of the mountain-like clouds of interstellar dust near the center of the image.

The Foundations of the Universe photographs are among many thousands of images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. Zoltan Livey, the lead specialist responsible for processing these images, selected the ten best. Photo: NASA; ESA; Hubble Legacy Foundation; STSCI/AURA. All images consist of superimposed and colored black and white originals. some of them are collected from many photographs.

Zoltan Livey, a leading scientist at the Space Telescope Research Institute, has been working with Hubble images since 1993. Photo: Rebecca Hale, NGM Staff

10. Cosmic fireworks. A cluster of young stars, sparkling with excess energy, forms a bright spot against the swirling clouds of cosmic dust in the Tarantula Nebula. Zoltan Livey, in charge of processing images from the Hubble Space Telescope, is amazed at the scale of the energy release: “Stars are born and die, triggering the circulation of gigantic volumes of matter.” Photo: NASA; ESA; F. Paresque, INAF-IASF, Bologna, Italy; R. O'Connell, University of Virginia; ?scientific committee for the work? with wide angle camera 3

9. Star power. This image of the Horsehead Nebula, taken in infrared using the Hubble Telescope's Wide-Field Camera 3, is striking in its clarity and abundance of detail. Nebulae are classic objects for observation in astronomy. They usually appear as dark spots against a bright background of stars, but Hubble easily cuts through clouds of interstellar gas and dust. “What else will happen when NASA launches the James Webb Infrared Space Observatory”! - Livey anticipates. Photo: Image composed? from four pictures. NASA; ESA; Hubble Legacy Foundation; STSCI/AURA

8. Galactic Waltz. Gravitational force bends a pair of spiral galaxies 300 million light-years from Earth, collectively known as Arp 273. “You know, I always imagine them dancing around,” says Leavey. “With a few more steps, after billions of years these galaxies will turn into a single whole.” Photo: NASA; ESA; Hubble Legacy Foundation; STSCI/AURA

7. Far and near. The telescope focus is set to infinity. In the photo you can see the bright stars that inhabit our Milky Way galaxy. Most of the other stars, including the star cluster below, are in the Andromeda Galaxy. The same image also included galaxies billions of light years away from us. “At first glance, it’s a completely ordinary image. But this impression is deceptive. Before you, at your fingertips, are representatives of all classes of cosmic diversity,” explains Livey. Photo: NASA; ESA; T. M. Brown; STSCI

6. Heavenly wings. Gases released from the upper layers of a dying star resemble the lacy wings of a butterfly. Color images of unique planetary nebulae like NGC 6302 are among Hubble's most popular images. “But we shouldn’t forget that all this beauty is based on very complex physical phenomena,” says Livey. Photo: NASA; ESA; Hubble 4th Servicing Mission Team

5. Spectral vision. A ghostly ring suspended in the sky looks quite ominous, doesn't it? It is actually a gas bubble 23 light years in diameter, a reminder of the supernova explosion 400 years ago. “The simplicity of this photograph is captivating, it remains in the memory for a long time,” Livey shares his impressions. Different forces constantly act on the surface of the bubble, gradually blurring its shape. Photo: NASA; ESA; Hubble Legacy Foundation; STSCI/AURA. J. Hughes, Rutgers University

4. Light echo. In 2002, over the course of several months, scientists observed an extraordinary picture: the Hubble telescope recorded light reflected from a dust cloud surrounding the star V 838 in the constellation Monoceros. In the pictures, the cloud looks like it is expanding at tremendous speed. In fact, this effect is explained by a flash of light from the star, which illuminates increasingly larger areas of the cloud over time. “It is extremely rare to see changes in space objects occurring throughout a human life,” comments Livey. Photo: NASA; ESA; H. I. Bond; STSCI

3. Take off your hat. This breathtaking image of the spiral Sombrero Galaxy, clearly visible from Earth, has, according to Livey, "a special emotional coloring." Zoltan still fondly remembers one university professor who spent nights watching this galaxy from his observatory in awe. Photo: Image compiled from six NASA images; Hubble Legacy Foundation; STSCI/AURA

2. Star Trouble. The birth and death of numerous stars has created cosmic chaos in a panoramic image of the Carina Nebula. The image was colored based on data from ground-based telescopes on the spectrum of observed chemical elements. Photo: The image is composed of thirty-two photographs. Hubble images: NASA; ESA; N. Smith, University of California, Berkeley; Hubble Legacy Foundation; STSCI/AURA Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory images: N. Smith; NOAO/AURA/NSF

1. Unsurpassed beauty. Here is the signature image of the Hubble telescope - an image of the spiral galaxy NGC 1300. It amazes with the smallest details: soft blue young stars and spiraling arms of cosmic dust are visible here. More distant galaxies are visible here and there. “This picture is fascinating,” says Livey thoughtfully. “It will captivate many forever.” Photo: Image composited from two NASA images; ESA; Hubble Legacy Foundation; STSCI/AURA. P. Knezek, WIYN

For 25 years now, humanity has been admiring photographs taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. We offer you the ten best, selected by the specialist responsible for processing images from the automatic observatory.

Text: Timothy Ferris

At first, things didn't go well. Shortly after Hubble was launched into orbit on April 24, 1990, it began to malfunction. Instead of focusing on distant galaxies, the space telescope trembled like a vampire, frightened by the sunlight. As soon as the first rays fell on its solar panels, the body of the device began to vibrate. It turns out that when the protective hatch was opened, the telescope was severely damaged and fell into an “electronic coma.”

The misfortunes did not end there: the first images revealed the “myopia” of Hubble. The main mirror with a diameter of 2.4 meters turned out to be too flat at the edges - a manufacturing defect. The problem was solved only three years later, when specialists installed an optical correction system.

In general, developers have been forced to make compromises more than once. So, scientists dreamed of a larger device and in a higher orbit. But dimensions had to be sacrificed, otherwise Hubble would not have fit in the cargo bay of the shuttle that delivered it to the site. And so that the telescope could be serviced by astronauts, the device was placed into a 550-kilometer orbit - within the reach of space shuttles. If the observatory were installed in a higher orbit, where astronauts cannot reach, the whole undertaking risked turning into a monumental failure. The modular design of the telescope allows its main components to be repaired and replaced: cameras, on-board computer, gyroscopes and radio transmitters. Since the launch of Hubble, five expeditions have already been equipped to it, and all of them went off without a hitch.

Hubble's track record includes many discoveries: supermassive black holes and the first evidence of the existence of dark matter and dark energy.

Hubble expanded the horizons of human knowledge. Providing a new level of clarity, it allowed astronomers to view distant worlds, looking billions of years into the past to understand how small, scattered clumps of matter in the early Universe assembled into galaxies. Hubble's track record includes many discoveries: supermassive black holes and the first evidence of the existence of dark matter and dark energy.

Studies of dim white dwarfs, impossible without the participation of Hubble, confirmed that for the formation of galaxies in the form in which we observe them now, the gravitational influence of baryonic (ordinary) matter was not enough - mysterious dark matter, the composition of which is still unknown, made its contribution . Measuring the speed of galaxies moving relative to each other led scientists to think about a mysterious force accelerating the expansion of the Universe - dark energy.

Most recently, thanks to this super-powerful telescope, it was possible to record the radiation of the oldest galaxy, more than 13 billion years old. Hubble was also involved in measuring the temperature of a “hot” planet orbiting a star 260 light years away from us.

The telescope became famous not only for its fantastic discoveries, but also for its memorable photographs of galaxies shining with a bright glow, gently illuminated nebulae and captured the last moments of the life of stars. Over the course of 25 years, photographs of the universe around us collected by Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) leading specialist Zoltan Leevey and his colleagues, according to NASA historian Stephen J. Dick, “expanded the boundaries of the very concept of “culture”.” . Space images show the world untouched beauty, evoke fantastic emotions, in no way inferior to the breathtaking views of earthly sunsets and snow-capped mountain ranges, once again proving that nature is a single organism, and man is an integral part of it.

The telescope became famous not only for its fantastic discoveries, but also for its memorable photographs of galaxies shining with a bright glow, gently illuminated nebulae and captured the last moments of the life of stars. Over the course of 25 years, photographs of the universe around us collected by Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) leading specialist Zoltan Leevey and his colleagues, according to NASA historian Stephen J. Dick, “expanded the boundaries of the very concept of “culture.” Space images show the world untouched beauty, evoke fantastic emotions, in no way inferior to the breathtaking views of earthly sunsets and snow-capped mountain ranges, once again proving that nature is a single organism, and man is an integral part of it.

Mysterious nebulae, which are millions of light years away, the birth of new stars and collisions of galaxies. A selection of the best photographs from the Hubble Space Telescope in recent times.

1. Dark nebulae in a cluster of young stars. Shown here is a section of the Eagle Nebula star cluster, which formed about 5.5 million years ago and is located 6,500 light-years from Earth. (Photo ESA | Hubble & NASA):

2. The giant galaxy NGC 7049, located 100 million light years from Earth, in the constellation Indian. (Photo by NASA, ESA and W. Harris - McMaster University, Ontario, Canada):

3. The emission nebula Sh2-106 is located two thousand light years from Earth. It is a compact star-forming region. At its center is the star S106 IR, which is surrounded by dust and hydrogen - in the photograph it is colored blue. (Photo by NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team, STScI | AURA, and NAOJ):

4. Abell 2744, also known as the Pandora Cluster, is a giant cluster of galaxies, the result of the simultaneous collision of at least four separate small clusters of galaxies that occurred over the course of 350 million years. The galaxies in the cluster make up less than five percent of its mass, and the gas (about 20%) is so hot that it glows only in X-rays. Mysterious dark matter makes up about 75% of the cluster's mass. (Photo by NASA, ESA, and J. Lotz, M. Mountain, A. Koekemoer, & the HFF Team):

5. “Caterpillar” and the Carina emission nebula (a region of ionized hydrogen) in the constellation Carina. (Photo by NASA, ESA, N. Smith, University of California, Berkeley, and The Hubble Heritage Team. STScI | AURA):

6. Barred spiral galaxy NGC 1566 (SBbc) in the constellation Doradus. It is located 40 million light years away. (Photo by ESA | Hubble & NASA, Flickr user Det58):

7. IRAS 14568-6304 is a young star located 2500 light years from Earth. This dark region is the Circinus molecular cloud, which has 250,000 solar masses and is filled with gas, dust and young stars. (Photo by ESA | Hubble & NASA Acknowledgments: R. Sahai | JPL, Serge Meunier):

8. Portrait of a star kindergarten. Hundreds of brilliant blue stars covered in warm, glowing clouds make up R136, a compact star cluster that lies at the center of the Tarantula Nebula.

The R136 cluster consists of young stars, giants and supergiants, estimated to be approximately 2 million years old. (Photo by NASA, ESA, and F. Paresce, INAF-IASF, Bologna, R. O"Connell, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, and the Wide Field Camera 3 Science Oversight Committee):

9. Spiral galaxy NGC 7714 in the constellation Pisces. Located at a distance of 100 million light years from Earth. (Photo by ESA, NASA, A. Gal-Yam, Weizmann Institute of Science):

10. The image taken by the orbiting Hubble Telescope shows the warm planetary Red Spider Nebula, also known as NGC 6537.

This unusual wave-like structure is located about 3,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Sagittarius. A planetary nebula is an astronomical object consisting of an ionized shell of gas and a central star, a white dwarf. They are formed when the outer layers of red giants and supergiants with a mass of up to 1.4 solar masses are shed at the final stage of their evolution. (Photo by ESA & Garrelt Mellema, Leiden University, the Netherlands):

11. The Horsehead Nebula is a dark nebula in the constellation Orion. One of the most famous nebulae. It is visible as a dark spot in the shape of a horse's head against the background of a red glow. This glow is explained by the ionization of hydrogen clouds located behind the nebula under the influence of radiation from the nearest bright star (Z Orionis). (Photo by NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team, AURA | STScI):

12. This Hubble Space Telescope image shows the nearby spiral galaxy NGC 1433 in the constellation Hours. It is located at a distance of 32 million light years from us, and is a type of very active galaxy/ (Photo by Space Scoop | ESA | Hubble & NASA, D. Calzetti, UMass and the LEGU.S. Team):

13. A rare cosmic phenomenon is the Einstein ring, which occurs as a result of the fact that the gravity of a massive body bends electromagnetic radiation traveling towards the Earth from a more distant object.

Einstein's general theory of relativity states that the gravity of large cosmic objects such as galaxies bends the space around them and bends light rays. In this case, a distorted image of another galaxy appears - the source of light. The galaxy that bends space is called a gravitational lens. (Photo ESA | Hubble & NASA):

14. Nebula NGC 3372 in the constellation Carina. A large bright nebula that contains several open star clusters within its boundaries. (Photo by NASA, ESA, M. Livio and the Hubble 20th Anniversary Team, STScI):

15. Abell 370 is a cluster of galaxies at a distance of about 4 billion light years in the constellation Cetus. The cluster core consists of several hundred galaxies. It is the most distant cluster. These galaxies are located at a distance of about 5 billion light years. (Photo by NASA, ESA, and J. Lotz and the HFF Team, STScI):

16. Galaxy NGC 4696 in the constellation Centaurus. Located 145 million light years from Earth. It is the brightest galaxy in the Centaurus cluster. The galaxy is surrounded by many dwarf elliptical galaxies. (Photo by NASA, ESA | Hubble, A. Fabian):

17. Located within the Perseus-Pisces galaxy cluster, the UGC 12591 galaxy attracts the attention of astronomers with its unusual shape - it is neither lenticular nor spiral, that is, it exhibits features characteristic of both classes.

The star cluster UGC 12591 is relatively massive - its mass, as scientists have been able to calculate, is about four times higher than that of our Milky Way.

At the same time, the galaxy of a unique shape also very quickly changes its spatial position, at the same time rotating around its axis at an anomalously high speed. Scientists have yet to understand the reasons for such a high speed of rotation of UGC 12591 around its axis. (Photo ESA | Hubble & NASA):

18. How many stars! This is the center of our Milky Way, 26,000 light-years away. (ESA Photo | A. Calamida and K. Sahu, STScI and the SWEEPS Science Team | NASA):

19. Minkowski Nebula 2-9 or simply PN M2-9. The characteristic shape of the petals of the nebula PN M2-9 is most likely due to the movement of these two stars around each other. The system is thought to have a white dwarf spinning around it, causing the larger star's expanding shell to form wings or petals rather than simply expanding as a uniform sphere. (Photo by ESA, Hubble & NASA, Acknowledgment: Judy Schmidt):

20. The planetary ring nebula is located in the constellation Lyra. This is one of the most famous and recognizable examples of planetary nebulae. The Ring Nebula appears as a slightly elongated ring surrounding a central star. The radius of the nebula is about a third of a light year. If the nebula continuously expanded, maintaining its current speed of 19 km/s, then its age is estimated to be from 6000 to 8000 years. (Photo by NASA, ESA, and C. Robert O'Dell, Vanderbilt University):

21. Galaxy NGC 5256 in the constellation Ursa Major. (Photo by ESA | Hubble, NASA):

22. Open cluster 6791 in the constellation Lyra. Among the faintest stars in the cluster are a group of white dwarfs that are 6 billion years old and another group that is 4 billion years old. The ages of these groups stand out from the typical age of 8 billion years for the cluster as a whole. (Photo by NASA, ESA):

23. The famous Pillars of Creation. These are clusters (“elephant trunks”) of interstellar gas and dust in the Eagle Nebula, about 7,000 light-years from Earth. The Pillars of Creation - the remnants of the central part of the gas-dust Eagle Nebula in the constellation Serpens, consist, like the entire nebula, mainly of cold molecular hydrogen and dust. Under the influence of gravity, condensations are formed in the gas and dust cloud, from which stars can be born. The uniqueness of this object is that the first four massive stars (NGC 6611) (these stars are not visible in the photograph itself), which appeared in the center of the nebula about two million years ago, scattered its central part and the area on the Earth’s side. (Photo by NASA, ESA | Hubble and the Hubble Heritage Team):

24. The Bubble Nebula in the constellation Cassiopeia. The "bubble" was formed as a result of stellar wind from a hot, massive star. The nebula itself is part of a giant molecular cloud located at a distance of 7,100 - 11,000 light years from the Sun. (Photo by NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Team):