April 25, 2005

Happy birthday, Hubble!

The Hubble Telescope is 15 years old. (Thanks to peteb for the links. So awesome.)

Here is a portion of the Eagle Nebula, which, honestly, is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen in my life:


eaglenebula.bmp Posted by sheila

Comments

Happy Birthday Hubble, indeed.. The full image of the Eagle Nebula on the Hubble site is astonishingly beautiful - check the 'large' view under the screen images option.. and the images of the M51 whirlpool galaxy aren't too shabby either.

Posted by: peteb at April 25, 2005 7:15 PM

Isn't the Eagle Nebula spectacular? I particularly like the evocative description at your link--obviously written by someone who loves astronomical formations and phenomena.

peteb--Thanks for the link to M51. Just the words "whirlpool galaxy" get my heart jumping. M51 is especially interesting because it offers a perfect side view to us--its whirlpool revealed in all its glory.

Posted by: DBW at April 26, 2005 9:07 AM

DBW

It's a particularly detailed image - and they've got some incredibly high quality images of M51 avaiable to download - what's amazing is just how much it resembles an organism in those views.

Another highlight, IMHO, of the Hubble gallery here (again in the Eagle Nebula) - Pillars of Creation

Posted by: peteb at April 26, 2005 12:21 PM