The Hubble Space Telescope is back in action after returning to science operations, but now with just one working gyroscope. And to prove it’s still got what it takes, the venerable observatory snapped a stunning photo of the dusty spiral galaxy NGC 1546.
Located about 50 million light years far away in the constellation Dorado, the Swordfish, NGC 1546 is a brilliant example of what is called a “flocculent” spiral. Instead of the graceful sweep of curved arms that some spiral galaxies NGC 1546 appears more confused, with star-forming bursts in the arms triggering more star formation nearby, leading to the patchy structure.
The dust we see backlit by the bright core of NGC 1546 is the product of countless generations stars who were born, lived and died throwing up a huge amount of dust in themselves space during their death agonies. The dust, made of particles only microns (millionths of a meter) in size, indicates that the galaxy has a healthy chemistry; this dust will be recycled into new generations of stars and provide the heavy elements for the planets around these new stars. The bright blue regions, more visible on the far side of the galaxy where dust does not obstruct the view, are examples of these hot young stars in newly born star clusters.
although Hubble Space Telescope has taken many impressive pictures like this during his time 34 years of work in The Earth orbit, this image of NGC 1546 taken with the telescope’s Wide Field Camera 3 is one of Hubble’s most important. This is because it removes any doubt about Hubble’s near future.
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During last yearthe space telescope entered multiple times safe mode because one of its last three functional gyroscopes started returning wrong data. Hubble was equipped with six new gyroscopes, which are used to rotate and point the telescope through the latter service mission in 2009. Fifteen years later, only two remain fully operational. While having three working gyroscopes at any one time is preferable for efficiency reasons, Hubble can operate with only one. This was even tested in 2008 when his previous set of gyroscopes broke. With two gyros remaining and no hope of another servicing mission (the space shuttle retired in 2011), Hubble must function of only onewith the remaining gyro kept as a backup if that one fails.
It’s not an ideal solution: Although Hubble can still target anywhere in the celestial sphere, its mobility is more limited with a slower spin and target lock-on speed, meaning the area it can observe in any one time is reduced. Also, it won’t be able to follow any asteroids or comets the interior of the orbit of Mars, because they move too fast for a gyroscope to handle. Overall, NASA estimates that Hubble will see up to a 25% drop in performance from here on out.
Hubble returned to active duty on June 14, and this image of NGC 1546 was its first image since then — and the first of many more to come.
“Hubble’s new image of a spectacular galaxy demonstrates the complete success of our new, more stable pointing mode for the telescope,” Jennifer Wiseman, Senior Project Scientist for NASA’s Hubble Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, said in a statement. “We are now poised for many years of discovery ahead and will be watching everything from ours.” solar system to exoplanets to distant galaxies. Hubble plays a powerful role in NASAastronomical instrument of.”
Over the years, the Hubble Space Telescope has overcome many challenges, from an improperly polished primary mirror requiring the insertion of corrective lenses in a do-or-die rescue mission, to multiple damaged instruments that had to be replaced, and the wear and tear of a spacecraft, which is now in its fourth decade in space. Yet, against all odds, Hubble survives and thrives. Here’s to many more years of this fantastic observatory offering breathtaking views of space.
