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NASA has released breathtaking new images of the Southern Crab Nebula in honor of the 29th anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope.
According to the European Space Agency (ESA), the southern Crabie nebula, named after its northern counterpart, the Crab Nebula, is distinguished by its "special" hourglass structure.
In the center of the nebula, a giant red star and a white dwarf star form a system of binary stars.
The images document in detail how the red giant continually expels the material absorbed by the white dwarf, in what NASA has described as a "gravitational waltz", which gives the shape of an hourglass.
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NASA has released breathtaking new images of the Southern Crab Nebula in honor of the 29th anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope. The South Crab Nebula takes its name from its resemblance to the Northern Crab Nebula
As the stars continue their heavenly dance, massive amounts of gas are spreading in space, "like a hot air balloon packed," according to NASA.
"When a sufficient amount of this discarded material is attracted to the white dwarf, it also ejects the material outward during an eruption, thereby creating the structures we see in the nebula," explained # 39; ESA.
& # 39; Finally, the red giant will eventually throw away his outer layers and stop feeding his white dwarf companion.
"Before that, there could also be more eruptions, creating even more complex structures," added the agency.
The brightest spots lie on the edges of the nebula, where accumulate bubbles of gas and dust.
This gives the nebula the illusion of having "crab legs", with glowing spots probably composed of hydrogen, sulfur, nitrogen, and oxygen, said NASA.
The southern Crabie Nebula is located about 7000 light-years from Earth and is in the constellation Centaurus.
Scientists can explain how he gets his particular form of crab paw, but this has not always been the case, according to ESA.
The nebula was first documented in 1967, and scientists then assumed that it was only an ordinary star.
However, when it was observed in more detail later in 1989, they realized that it had a much more complex and distinct hourglass formation.
Above, an artistic representation of Southern Crab Nebula formation showing how this structure was obtained. The red giant throws his outer layers into the last phase of his life before living his last years as a white dwarf
In the photo, an image of the Southern Crab Nebula, taken by a wide-field, planetary camera. Scientists did not fully understand its complex and distinctive structure until 1998, when Hubble shot his first images of the star system.
It is only about ten years later, in 1998, when the nebula first appeared at Hubble's sight, that scientists had their first full view of the complex structure of southern crab.
"This image reveals nested internal structures, suggesting that the phenomenon that created the external bubbles has occurred twice in the recent (astronomical) past," ESA said.
Today, more than a decade after Hubble discovered the nebula, she captured new images showing the evolution of the South Crab Nebula.
Of course, the human eye has no way to see this spectacular star formation without capturing Hubble.
The striking images are just one example of the types of interstellar phenomena captured by Hubble since its inception.
Hubble was launched on orbit April 24, 1990 aboard Space Shuttle Discovery and was created as part of a partnership between NASA and the European Space Agency.
The telescope examined more than 43,500 celestial objects and recorded more than 1.5 million observations.
During its 28 years of existence, its Earth surrounded more than 163,500 times and traveled an even greater distance than here to Pluto.
WHAT DOES TELESCOPE HUBBLE SPACE DO?
The Hubble Space Telescope (photo) recently captured a stunning image of a galaxy distant 20 million light years away
The Hubble Space Telescope was launched jointly by NASA and the European Space Agency.
The Hubble is a long-term space observatory.
The Hubble observes ultraviolet wavelengths, which the atmosphere filters, and captures visible light.
"The Hubble Space Telescope has made some of the most spectacular discoveries in the history of astronomy," says a statement on the telescope.
The machines are located more than 370 km above the ground.
It can capture light through its "eyes", five times more focused than telescopes on the ground.
The Hubble focuses on areas located in the depths of outer space "where some of the deepest mysteries are still buried in the mists of time."
Hubble is still considered in good shape and officials said the telescope should continue to run until 2020.
And his successor, the James Webb Space Telescope, is expected to be launched by May 2020.
The James Webb telescope has been described as a "time machine" that could help unveil the secrets of our universe.
The telescope will be used to watch the first galaxies born in the primitive universe there are more than 13.5 billion years and to observe the sources of stars, exoplanets and even moons and planets of our solar system.
When it launches, it will be the largest and most powerful telescope in the world, able to look back 200 million years after the Big Bang.
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