The Carina Nebula: Star Birth in the Extreme

April 24, 2007 9:00AM (EDT)Release ID: 2007-16
mosaic of the Carina Nebula

Summary

In celebration of the 17th anniversary of the launch and deployment of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, a team of astronomers is releasing one of the largest panoramic images ever taken with Hubble's cameras. It is a 50-light-year-wide view of the central region of the Carina Nebula where a maelstrom of star birth – and death – is taking place. This image is a mosaic of the Carina Nebula assembled from 48 frames taken with Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys. The Hubble images were taken in the light of neutral hydrogen during March and July 2005. Color information was added with data taken in December 2001 and March 2003 at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. Red corresponds to sulfur, green to hydrogen, and blue to oxygen emission.

Full Article

BACKGROUND INFORMATION: HUBBLE'S TOP SCIENCE FINDINGS (An interactive version of this document is available in the "Related Links" section of this release.)When Galileo used his homemade telescope 400 years ago to view mountains on the Moon, satellites circling Jupiter, and myriad stars in our Milky Way Galaxy, he launched a revolution that changed our view of an Earth-centered universe.The launch of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope aboard the space shuttle Discovery 15 years ago initiated another revolution in astronomy. For the first time, a large telescope that sees in visible light began orbiting ...

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