First Images From Upgraded Hubble Telescope Revealed

Posted on September 9, 2009

Astronomers declared NASA's Hubble Space Telescope a fully rejuvenated observatory with the release Wednesday of images from four of its six operating science instruments. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, D-Md., unveiled the images at NASA Headquarters in Washington. They are the first images following a billion-dollar upgrade and repair. The images include colorful, multi-wavelength pictures of far-flung galaxies, a densely packed star cluster, an eerie "pillar of creation," and a "butterfly" nebula.

The image at top left shows NGC 6302, a butterfly-shaped nebula surrounding a dying star. At top right is a picture of a clash among members of a galactic grouping called Stephan's Quintet. The image at bottom left gives viewers a panoramic portrait of a colorful assortment of 100,000 stars residing in the crowded core of Omega Centauri, a giant globular cluster. At bottom right, an eerie pillar of star birth in the Carina Nebula rises from a sea of greenish-colored clouds.

You can see larger version of the photographs and a video here on HubbleSite.org. You can also see some more images in the AP video below. Take a look:

SPACE