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Hubble Shows Torrential Outflows from Infant Stars May Not Stop Them from Growing
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By NASA
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope reveals clouds of gas and dust near the Tarantula Nebula, located in the Large Magellanic Cloud about 160,000 light-years away.ESA/Hubble & NASA, C. Murray The universe is a dusty place, as this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image featuring swirling clouds of gas and dust near the Tarantula Nebula reveals. Located in the Large Magellanic Cloud about 160,000 light-years away in the constellations Dorado and Mensa, the Tarantula Nebula is the most productive star-forming region in the nearby universe, home to the most massive stars known.
The nebula’s colorful gas clouds hold wispy tendrils and dark clumps of dust. This dust is different from ordinary household dust, which may include bits of soil, skin cells, hair, and even plastic. Cosmic dust is often comprised of carbon or of molecules called silicates, which contain silicon and oxygen. The data in this image was part of an observing program that aims to characterize the properties of cosmic dust in the Large Magellanic Cloud and other nearby galaxies.
Dust plays several important roles in the universe. Even though individual dust grains are incredibly tiny, far smaller than the width of a single human hair, dust grains in disks around young stars clump together to form larger grains and eventually planets. Dust also helps cool clouds of gas so that they can condense into new stars. Dust even plays a role in making new molecules in interstellar space, providing a venue for individual atoms to find each other and bond together in the vastness of space.
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By NASA
Explore Hubble Hubble Home Overview About Hubble The History of Hubble Hubble Timeline Why Have a Telescope in Space? Hubble by the Numbers At the Museum FAQs Impact & Benefits Hubble’s Impact & Benefits Science Impacts Cultural Impact Technology Benefits Impact on Human Spaceflight Astro Community Impacts Science Hubble Science Science Themes Science Highlights Science Behind Discoveries Hubble’s Partners in Science Universe Uncovered Explore the Night Sky Observatory Hubble Observatory Hubble Design Mission Operations Missions to Hubble Hubble vs Webb Team Hubble Team Career Aspirations Hubble Astronauts News Hubble News Hubble News Archive Social Media Media Resources Multimedia Multimedia Images Videos Sonifications Podcasts e-Books Online Activities Lithographs Fact Sheets Posters Hubble on the NASA App Glossary More 35th Anniversary Online Activities 2 min read
Hubble Spies a Spiral That May Be Hiding an Imposter
The spiral galaxy UGC 5460 shines in this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image. UGC 5460 sits about 60 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. ESA/Hubble & NASA, W. Jacobson-Galán, A. Filippenko, J. Mauerhan
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The sparkling spiral galaxy gracing this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image is UGC 5460, which sits about 60 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. This image combines four different wavelengths of light to reveal UGC 5460’s central bar of stars, winding spiral arms, and bright blue star clusters. Also captured in the upper left-hand corner is a far closer object: a star just 577 light-years away in our own galaxy.
UGC 5460 has hosted two recent supernovae: SN 2011ht and SN 2015as. It’s because of these two stellar explosions that Hubble targeted this galaxy, collecting data for three observing programs that aim to study various kinds of supernovae.
SN 2015as was as a core-collapse supernova: a cataclysmic explosion that happens when the core of a star far more massive than the Sun runs out of fuel and collapses under its own gravity, initiating a rebound of material outside the core. Hubble observations of SN 2015as will help researchers understand what happens when the expanding shockwave of a supernova collides with the gas that surrounds the exploded star.
SN 2011ht might have been a core-collapse supernova as well, but it could also be an impostor called a luminous blue variable. Luminous blue variables are rare stars that experience eruptions so large that they can mimic supernovae. Crucially, luminous blue variables emerge from these eruptions unscathed, while stars that go supernova do not. Hubble will search for a stellar survivor at SN 2011ht’s location with the goal of revealing the explosion’s origin.
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The Death Throes of Stars
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Media Contact:
Claire Andreoli (claire.andreoli@nasa.gov)
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
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Last Updated Feb 21, 2025 Editor Andrea Gianopoulos Location NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Related Terms
Hubble Space Telescope Astrophysics Astrophysics Division Galaxies Goddard Space Flight Center Spiral Galaxies Stars Supernovae Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA
Hubble Space Telescope
Since its 1990 launch, the Hubble Space Telescope has changed our fundamental understanding of the universe.
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Reshaping Our Cosmic View: Hubble Science Highlights
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By NASA
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
How to Attend
The workshop will be hosted by NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Virtual and in-person attendance are available. Registration is required for both. (Link coming soon!)
Virtual attendees will receive connection information one week before the workshop.
Background, Goals and Objectives
The NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) is conducting an assessment of the state of cold capable electronics for future lunar surface missions. The intent is to enable the continuous use of electronics with minimal or no thermal management on missions of up to 20 years in all regions of the lunar surface, e.g., permanently shadowed regions and equatorial. The scope of the assessment includes: capture of the state of cold electronics at NASA, academia, and industry; applications and challenges for lunar environments; gap analyses of desired capabilities vs state of the art/practice; guidance for cold electronics selection, evaluation and qualification; and recommendations for technology advances and follow-on actions to close the gaps. The preliminary report of the assessment will be available the first week of April 2025 on this website, i.e., 3 weeks prior to the workshop. Attendees are urged to read the report beforehand as the workshop will provide only a limited, high-level summary of the report’s key findings. The goal of the workshop is to capture your feedback with regards to the findings of the report, especially in the areas below: Technologies, new or important studies or data that we missed. Gaps, i.e. requirements vs available capabilities that we missed. Additional recommendations, suggestions, requests, that we missed.
Preliminary Agenda
Day 1, April 30, 2025 8:00 – 9:00 Sign-in 9:00 – 10:00 Introduction – Y. Chen 10:00 – 11:00 Environment and Architectural Considerations – R. Some 11:00 – 12:00 Custom Electronics – M. Mojarradi 12:00 – 13:00 Lunch 13:00 – 14:00 COTS Components – J. Yang-Scharlotta 14:00 – 15:00 Power Architecture – R. Oeftering 15:00 – 15:30 Energy Storage – E. Brandon 15:30 – 17:00 Materials and Packaging and Passives – L. Del Castillo 17:00 – 17:30 Qualification – Y. Chen 18:30 Dinner Day 2, May 1, 2025 8:00 – 9:00 Sign-in 9:00 – 12:00 Review and discussion of key findings 12:00 – 13:00 Lunch 13:00 – 15:00 Follow on work concepts & discussions. Please be prepared to discuss: 15 min each from industry primes and subsystem developers What would you like to see developed and how would it impact your future missions/platforms? 15:00 – 17:30 Follow on work concepts & discussions 15 min each from technology & component developers, academia, government agencies, etc. What would you like to be funded to do and what are benefits to NASA/missions? 17:00 – 17:30 Wrap up – Y. Chen Points of Contact
If you have any questions regarding the workshop, please contact Roxanne Cena at Roxanne.R.Cena@jpl.nasa.gov and Amy K. Wilson at Amy.K.Wilson@jpl.nasa.gov
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Last Updated Feb 20, 2025 Related Terms
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By NASA
Explore Hubble Hubble Home Overview About Hubble The History of Hubble Hubble Timeline Why Have a Telescope in Space? Hubble by the Numbers At the Museum FAQs Impact & Benefits Hubble’s Impact & Benefits Science Impacts Cultural Impact Technology Benefits Impact on Human Spaceflight Astro Community Impacts Science Hubble Science Science Themes Science Highlights Science Behind Discoveries Hubble’s Partners in Science Universe Uncovered Explore the Night Sky Observatory Hubble Observatory Hubble Design Mission Operations Missions to Hubble Hubble vs Webb Team Hubble Team Career Aspirations Hubble Astronauts News Hubble News Hubble News Archive Social Media Media Resources Multimedia Multimedia Images Videos Sonifications Podcasts e-Books Online Activities Lithographs Fact Sheets Posters Hubble on the NASA App Glossary More 35th Anniversary Online Activities 2 min read
Hubble Captures a Cosmic Cloudscape
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope reveals clouds of gas and dust near the Tarantula Nebula, located in the Large Magellanic Cloud about 160,000 light-years away. ESA/Hubble & NASA, C. Murray
Download this image
The universe is a dusty place, as this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image featuring swirling clouds of gas and dust near the Tarantula Nebula reveals. Located in the Large Magellanic Cloud about 160,000 light-years away in the constellations Dorado and Mensa, the Tarantula Nebula is the most productive star-forming region in the nearby universe, home to the most massive stars known.
The nebula’s colorful gas clouds hold wispy tendrils and dark clumps of dust. This dust is different from ordinary household dust, which may include of bits of soil, skin cells, hair, and even plastic. Cosmic dust is often comprised of carbon or of molecules called silicates, which contain silicon and oxygen. The data in this image was part of an observing program that aims to characterize the properties of cosmic dust in the Large Magellanic Cloud and other nearby galaxies.
Dust plays several important roles in the universe. Even though individual dust grains are incredibly tiny, far smaller than the width of a single human hair, dust grains in disks around young stars clump together to form larger grains and eventually planets. Dust also helps cool clouds of gas so that they can condense into new stars. Dust even plays a role in making new molecules in interstellar space, providing a venue for individual atoms to find each other and bond together in the vastness of space.
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Caldwell 103 / Tarantula Nebula / 30 Doradus
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Media Contact:
Claire Andreoli (claire.andreoli@nasa.gov)
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
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Last Updated Feb 13, 2025 Editor Andrea Gianopoulos Location NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Related Terms
Hubble Space Telescope Absorption or Dark Nebulae Astrophysics Astrophysics Division Emission Nebulae Goddard Space Flight Center Nebulae Star-forming Nebulae The Universe Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From Hubble
Hubble Space Telescope
Since its 1990 launch, the Hubble Space Telescope has changed our fundamental understanding of the universe.
Exploring the Birth of Stars
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This e-book highlights the mission’s recent discoveries and observations related to the birth, evolution, and death of stars.
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By NASA
5 Min Read Webb Maps Full Picture of How Phoenix Galaxy Cluster Forms Stars
Spectroscopic data collected from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is overlayed on an image of the Phoenix cluster that combines data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope. Credits:
NASA, CXC, NRAO, ESA, M. McDonald (MIT), M. Reefe (MIT), J. Olmsted (STScI) Discovery proves decades-old theory of galaxy feeding cycle.
Researchers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have finally solved the mystery of how a massive galaxy cluster is forming stars at such a high rate. The confirmation from Webb builds on more than a decade of studies using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and Hubble Space Telescope, as well as several ground-based observatories.
The Phoenix cluster, a grouping of galaxies bound together by gravity 5.8 billion light-years from Earth, has been a target of interest for astronomers due to a few unique properties. In particular, ones that are surprising: a suspected extreme cooling of gas and a furious star formation rate despite a roughly 10 billion solar mass supermassive black hole at its core. In other observed galaxy clusters, the central supermassive black hole powers energetic particles and radiation that prevents gas from cooling enough to form stars. Researchers have been studying gas flows within this cluster to try to understand how it is driving such extreme star formation.
Image A: Phoenix Cluster (Hubble, Chandra, VLA Annotated)
Spectroscopic data collected from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is overlayed on an image of the Phoenix cluster that combines data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope. Webb’s powerful sensitivity in the mid-infrared detected the cooling gas that leads to a furious rate of star formation in this massive galaxy cluster. Credit: NASA, CXC, NRAO, ESA, M. McDonald (MIT), M. Reefe (MIT), J. Olmsted (STScI) “We can compare our previous studies of the Phoenix cluster, which found differing cooling rates at different temperatures, to a ski slope,” said Michael McDonald of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, principal investigator of the program. “The Phoenix cluster has the largest reservoir of hot, cooling gas of any galaxy cluster — analogous to having the busiest chair lift, bringing the most skiers to the top of the mountain. However, not all of those skiers were making it down the mountain, meaning not all the gas was cooling to low temperatures. If you had a ski slope where there were significantly more people getting off the ski lift at the top than were arriving at the bottom, that would be a problem!”
To date, in the Phoenix cluster, the numbers weren’t adding up, and researchers were missing a piece of the process. Webb has now found those proverbial skiers at the middle of the mountain, in that it has tracked and mapped the missing cooling gas that will ultimately feed star formation. Most importantly, this intermediary warm gas was found within cavities tracing the very hot gas, a searing 18 million degrees Fahrenheit, and the already cooled gas around 18,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
The team studied the cluster’s core in more detail than ever before with the Medium-Resolution Spectrometer on Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI). This tool allows researchers to take two-dimenstional spectroscopic data from a region of the sky, during one set of observations.
“Previous studies only measured gas at the extreme cold and hot ends of the temperature distribution throughout the center of the cluster,” added McDonald. “We were limited — it was not possible to detect the ‘warm’ gas that we were looking for. With Webb, we could do this for the first time.”
Image B: Phoenix Cluster (Hubble, Chandra, VLA)
This image of the Phoenix cluster combines data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra X-ray Observatory, and the Very Large Array radio telescope. X-rays from Chandra depict extremely hot gas in purple. Optical light data from Hubble show galaxies in yellow, and filaments of cooler gas where stars are forming in light blue. Outburst generated jets, represented in red, are seen in radio waves by the VLA radio telescope. NASA, CXC, NRAO, ESA, M. McDonald (MIT). A Quirk of Nature
Webb’s capability to detect this specific temperature of cooling gas, around 540,000 degrees Fahrenheit, is in part due to its instrumental capabilities. However, the researchers are getting a little help from nature, as well.
This oddity involves two very different ionized atoms, neon and oxygen, created in similar environments. At these temperatures, the emission from oxygen is 100 times brighter but is only visible in ultraviolet. Even though the neon is much fainter, it glows in the infrared, which allowed the researchers to take advantage of Webb’s advanced instruments.
“In the mid-infrared wavelengths detected by Webb, the neon VI signature was absolutely booming,” explained Michael Reefe, also of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, lead author on the paper published in Nature. “Even though this emission is usually more difficult to detect, Webb’s sensitivity in the mid-infrared cuts through all of the noise.”
The team now hopes to employ this technique to study more typical galaxy clusters. While the Phoenix cluster is unique in many ways, this proof of concept is an important step towards learning about how other galaxy clusters form stars.The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).
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Read the research paper published in Nature.
Media Contacts
Laura Betz – laura.e.betz@nasa.gov
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Hannah Braun hbraun@stsci.edu
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md.
Christine Pulliam – cpulliam@stsci.edu
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md.
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