Hubble with spectra from the Space Telescope European Coordinating Facility: This image of Hubble is made up of a mosaic of over 47 000 unique slitless spectra, which have been processed and studied at the Space Telescope European Coordinating Facility (ST-ECF). They represent the emissions of a wide range of astronomical objects, ranging from stars to galaxies. The ST-ECF, which is closing at the end of 2010, after 26 years of successful operation, has pioneered the process of slitless spectroscopy from which these spectra are derived.

Name: Hubble Space Telescope
Type: Solar System : Technology : Observatory : Telescope
Category: Spacecraft
Release date: 17 December 2010, 15:00
Credit: ESA/ST-ECF

Selected galaxies from the COSMOS survey: A team of astronomers studied over 1400 galaxies snapped by Hubble in the COSMOS survey, to test the hypothesis that galactic mergers trigger active galactic nuclei (AGN). In order to make this a blind test, the team modelled and removed the active nucleus (which normally appears as a bright spot) from each galaxy, and then cosmetically added a similar mark to the galaxies without an AGN, to make them visually indistinguishable. This explains the black dot visible near the centre of each of these images. They then categorised the galaxies, according to whether they showed no sign of recent mergers (top), minor signs (middle row) or clear signs of disruption from a recent merger (bottom). Analysing these results, they found that galaxies with active nuclei (left) and those with inactive nuclei (right) showed no statistically significant difference in the proportion that had undergone mergers. This means that processes other than galactic mergers must trigger AGN activity.

Name: COSMOS FIELD
Type: Early Universe : Galaxy : Activity : AGNEarly Universe : Galaxy : Activity : NormalEarly Universe : Cosmology : Morphology : Deep Field
Category: GalaxiesQuasars and Black Holes
Release date: 5 January 2011, 10:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, M. Cisternas (Max-Planck Institute for Astronomy)

Hubble snaps image of space oddity: In this image by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, an unusual, ghostly green blob of gas appears to float near a normal-looking spiral galaxy. The bizarre object, dubbed Hanny’s Voorwerp (Hanny’s Object in Dutch), is the only visible part of a streamer of gas stretching 300 000 light-years around the galaxy, called IC 2497. The greenish Voorwerp is visible because a searchlight beam of light from the galaxy’s core has illuminated it. This beam came from a quasar, a bright, energetic object that is powered by a black hole. The quasar may have turned off in the last 200 000 years. This Hubble view uncovers a pocket of star clusters, the yellowish-orange area at the tip of Hanny’s Voorwerp. The star clusters are confined to an area that is a few thousand light-years wide. The youngest stars are a couple of million years old. The Voorwerp is the size of the Milky Way, and its bright green colour is from glowing oxygen. The image was made by combining data from the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) onboard Hubble, with data from the WIYN telescope at Kitt Peak, Arizona, USA. The ACS exposures were taken 12 April 2010; the WFC3 data, 4 April 2010.

Name: Hanny’s Voorwerp, IC 2497
Type: Local Universe : Nebula : Appearance : EmissionLocal Universe : Galaxy : Type : Spiral
Category: Nebulae
Constellation: Leo Minor
Distance: 650 million light years
Release date: 10 January 2011, 21:45
Credit: NASA, ESA, William Keel (University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa), and the Galaxy Zoo team

Infrared image of area surrounding Hanny’s Voorwerp: A number of galaxies are seen in this Hubble infrared image of the area surrounding the space oddity, Hanny’s Voorwerp. Located in the constellation Leo Minor, a faint outline of the mysterious object, which is primarily visible in the light emitted by glowing oxygen, can be seen below the large galaxy IC 2497 near the centre. Leo Minor is known for its galaxy clusters, and this image is a testament to that fact. Most galaxies in this picture are spirals, shown nearly face-on, as is the case with IC 2497 and its smaller companion to the left, or edge-on, as demonstrated by the multitude of elongated objects in the background. This Hubble image was taken on 4 April 2010, with the Wide Field Camera 3’s infrared detector. This near-infrared view of galaxies is typical of what is to come with the James Webb Space Telescope, whose prime purpose will be to image the Universe in infrared wavelengths with high resolution.

Name: Hanny’s Voorwerp, IC 2497
Type: Local Universe : Nebula : Appearance : EmissionLocal Universe : Galaxy : Type : Spiral
Category: GalaxiesNebulae
Constellation: Leo Minor
Distance: 650 million light years
Release date: 10 January 2011, 21:45
Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

Hanny’s Voorwerp: A space oddity: This diagram explains the formation of the strange green object known as Hanny’s Voorwerp. Astronomers believe that it is part of the long streamer of gas that extends from galaxy IC 2497, lit up brightly by the searchlight beam of a recently extinguished quasar.

Name: Hanny’s Voorwerp, IC 2497
Type: Local Universe : Nebula : Appearance : EmissionLocal Universe : Galaxy : Type : Spiral
Category: GalaxiesNebulae
Release date: 10 January 2011, 21:45
Credit: NASA, ESA

Hubble finds a new contender for galaxy distance record: Astronomers have used Hubble to spot what they think is the furthest and one of the very earliest galaxies ever seen in the Universe. Candidate galaxy UDFj-39546284 appears as a faint red blob in this ultra deep field exposure taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. This is the deepest infrared image taken of the Universe. Based on the object’s colour, astronomers believe that its light has taken 13.2 billion years to reach us. Spectroscopic confirmation that this is indeed the most distant galaxy ever seen is expected to come from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, which is planned for launch later this decade.

Name: Hubble Ultra Deep Field, UDFj-39546284
Type: Early Universe : GalaxyEarly Universe : Galaxy : Grouping : Cluster
Category: Galaxies
Distance: z=10.0 (redshift)
Release date: 26 January 2011, 19:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, G. Illingworth (University of California, Santa Cruz), R. Bouwens (University of California, Santa Cruz, and Leiden University) and the HUDF09 Team

Hubble finds a new contender for galaxy distance record: Astronomers have used Hubble to spot what they think is the furthest and one of the very earliest galaxies ever seen in the Universe. Candidate galaxy UDFj-39546284 appears as a faint red blob in this part of an ultra deep field exposure taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. This is the deepest infrared image taken of the Universe. Based on the object’s colour, astronomers believe that its light has taken 13.2 billion years to reach us. Spectroscopic confirmation that this is indeed the most distant galaxy ever seen is expected to come from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, which is planned for launch later this decade.

Name: Hubble Ultra Deep Field, UDFj-39546284
Type: Early Universe : GalaxyEarly Universe : Galaxy : Grouping : Cluster
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Fornax
Distance: z=10.0 (redshift)
Release date: 26 January 2011, 19:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, G. Illingworth (University of California, Santa Cruz), R. Bouwens (University of California, Santa Cruz, and Leiden University) and the HUDF09 Team