Hubble Space Telescope has revealed many mysteries of the supernatural world of the universe. Recently, Hubble Telescope has captured a spiral galaxy which is swinging back and forth like a pendulum in space. This galaxy has a bright central strip and two spiral arms.
Spiral Galaxies
- Spiral galaxies are curved collections of stars and gas, often with extremely fascinating shapes. They are filled with young and hot stars.
Characteristics
- Spiral structure: The stars, gas, and dust in spiral galaxies are arranged in spiral arms, which extend outward from the center of the galaxy.
- Prominence: Most galaxies discovered so far are spiral, with about 60% of galaxies falling into this category.
- Example: Our Milky Way galaxy is an example of a prominence spiral galaxy.
Structure: The structure of spiral galaxies includes the following major elements
- Central bulge: Most spiral galaxies have a central bulge, made up of old and dim stars. This bulge is located around a supermassive black hole.
- Spiral arms: The disk of stars rotates around and divides the galaxy into arms, which contain a reservoir of gas and dust.
- Young stars: Spiral arms contain young stars, which burn quickly and decrease in brightness.
Dynamics and mass
- Rotation: Most spiral galaxies bend their arms in the direction of rotation.
- Halo: The visible part of spiral galaxies is only a small part of their total mass. They are surrounded by a broad halo, which mostly consists of dark matter.
Hubble Space Telescope
- The Hubble Space Telescope, abbreviated as HST, is an astronomical telescope installed in Earth’s orbit.
- It was launched on 25 April 1990 through the American spacecraft Discovery.
- Hubble is developed by NASA in collaboration with the European Space Agency and is named after the famous American astronomer Edwin Ponwell Hubble.
History
- Launch Plan: Hubble was first planned to be launched in 1983, but was delayed by seven years due to technical flaws and budgetary problems.
- First Flaw: After its launch in 1990, scientists found that its main mirror had some flaws, which prevented it from working to its full potential.
- Servicing Mission: In 1993, during Hubble’s first servicing mission, scientists fixed these flaws. This is a unique aspect of Hubble’s design, which is designed for servicing in space.
Features
- Major Observatory: Hubble is one of NASA’s major astronomical observatories, which has played an important role in unraveling many mysteries of the universe.
- Servicing Mission: Its last servicing mission was completed in 2009, after which it was expected to remain active till 2014.
- Future Plans: Once Hubble is operational, NASA plans to launch the James Webb Space Telescope, which will extend Hubble’s research and provide opportunities for new discoveries.
SOURCE :Times Now Navbharat