The year 2009 was named as International Year of Astronomy. During this year, Hubble went overhauling and with new equipment onboard, the goods delivered by HST further helped astronomers in increasing their knowledge about the mysteries of the universe. We made a list of Top 10 Images by Hubble Space Telescope for year 2009 for our readers.
Galactic Core of Milky Way
This infrared image of galactic core of our galaxy, Milky Way unveils new population of massive stars. This is the most sharpest image of galactic core ever taken which measures 300 x 115 light-years. Also, the picture is the combination of the sharp imaging of the Hubble Space Telescope’s Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) with color imagery from a previous Spitzer Space Telescope survey done with Infrared Astronomy Camera (IRAC). NICMOS required about 144 Hubble orbits to make 2,304 science exposures. The picture taken between February 22 and June 5, 2008.
NGC 2818
This famed nebula was brought under limelight once again when HST took striking detailed images of it.
Trio of Galaxies Mix It Up
This is one of the most astounding galaxy smash-up images to date. The spiral galaxy is caught and being swallowed by the neighbouring elliptical galaxies in Hickson Compact Group 90. Hubble took this with the Advanced Camera for Surveys in May 2006.
Galaxy Triplet Arp 274
The above picture was the winning target in “You Decide” competition in celebration of the International Year of Astronomy and was captured by Hubble on April 1-2, 2009. Arp 274 is a system of three galaxies that appear to be somewhat overlapping in the image, although they may be at somewhat different distances. Hubble’s Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 was used to image Arp 274.
Planetary Nebula K 4-55
This picture was taken to pay homage to longest serving camera onboard Hubble named Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2). This Hubble image was taken on May 4, 2009.
Hubble Views New Dark Spot on Jupiter
Above picture is of the spot caused by the impact of a comet or an asteroid on Jupiter. The Hubble picture taken through Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3), taken on July 23, 2009 is the sharpest visible-light picture taken of the impact feature. The dicovery was made by Australian amateur astronomer Anthony Wesley on Sunday, July 19, 2009.
Galaxy on Edge
This magnificent galaxy NGC 4710 is tilted nearly edge-on to our view from Earth. For this reason, astronomers can easily distinguish the central bulge of stars from its flat disk of other stars, dust, and gas.
Festive View of a Grand Star-Forming Region
Spanning about 100 light-years, this image was taken in ultraviolet, visible, and red light by Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3, from Oct 20-27,2009. This nebulae is close enough to Earth that HST can resolve individual stars.
Quadruple Saturn Moon Transit
On February 24, 2009, the HST took a photo of four moons of Saturn passing in front of their parent planet. This rare event called “Ring Plane Crossing” happens only when the tilt of Saturn’s rind plane is nearly edge on when seen from Earth. This crossing occurs every 14-15 years.
Deepest View of Universe
Taken in late August 2009, this is the deepest image of the universe ever taken in infra-red light. Image shows galaxies that formed 600 million years after the Big Bang. The image was taken in the same region as the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF) which was taken in 2004.