1 00:00:00,612 --> 00:00:04,800 For the first time since astronauts visited it in May 2 00:00:04,801 --> 00:00:07,758 Hubble is opening its upgraded eyes. 3 00:00:07,759 --> 00:00:10,547 Brand new and repaired instruments have facilitated 4 00:00:10,548 --> 00:00:14,816 a spectacular reveal of the observatory's new capabilities. 5 00:00:14,817 --> 00:00:17,820 The moment many have been waiting for has arrived. 6 00:00:17,821 --> 00:00:20,960 Hubble is back and better than ever! 7 00:00:38,481 --> 00:00:40,367 This is the Hubblecast. 8 00:00:40,487 --> 00:00:44,101 News and images from the NASA / ESA Hubble Space Telescope. 9 00:00:44,102 --> 00:00:47,637 Travelling through time and space with our host, Dr. J 10 00:00:47,638 --> 00:00:50,436 EPISODE 30: Rebirth of an icon a.k.a. Dr. Joe Liske. 11 00:00:50,437 --> 00:00:52,461 Hello and welcome back to the Hubblecast. 12 00:00:52,462 --> 00:00:54,114 As I'm sure some of you have noticed, 13 00:00:54,115 --> 00:00:57,485 we haven't seen any new images coming from our favourite telescope lately. 14 00:00:57,586 --> 00:01:00,360 That's, of course, because in May 2009 15 00:01:00,395 --> 00:01:03,577 7 daring astronauts spent 30 space-walking hours 16 00:01:03,612 --> 00:01:06,637 repairing Hubble and replacing some of its instruments. 17 00:01:06,638 --> 00:01:10,236 Hubble is of course unique in that it is the only space telescope 18 00:01:10,271 --> 00:01:12,044 that can be serviced by humans 19 00:01:12,045 --> 00:01:15,408 and the astronauts really made the most of their last visit. 20 00:01:15,409 --> 00:01:19,089 Now, the fruits of their labour are finally ready for everyone to see. 21 00:01:19,144 --> 00:01:22,254 In this episode we're going to show you Hubble's first observations 22 00:01:22,289 --> 00:01:24,068 after the servicing mission. 23 00:01:24,069 --> 00:01:27,573 The new images show us a bunch of different astrophysical phenomena, 24 00:01:27,574 --> 00:01:30,056 ranging from a bug-like planetary nebulae 25 00:01:30,057 --> 00:01:35,263 to one of this huge galaxy clusters that act like a cosmic magnifying glass. 26 00:01:36,280 --> 00:01:38,998 When new instruments are brought from Earth to Hubble, 27 00:01:39,033 --> 00:01:41,663 they need a chance to eliminate any trapped gases 28 00:01:41,698 --> 00:01:44,293 that could cause interference with their performance. 29 00:01:44,294 --> 00:01:46,930 This is a process called out-gassing. 30 00:01:46,931 --> 00:01:50,701 Once that procedure is complete, scientists work with engineers 31 00:01:50,736 --> 00:01:53,196 to ensure that instruments are properly calibrated, 32 00:01:53,231 --> 00:01:56,662 so the quality of the data is top-notch. 33 00:01:57,235 --> 00:01:59,392 After an incredible 16 years of service, 34 00:01:59,393 --> 00:02:03,437 the much celebrated WFPC2, or Wide Field Planetary Camera 2, 35 00:02:03,438 --> 00:02:05,504 has now finally been retired. 36 00:02:05,505 --> 00:02:09,843 Instead, we now have WFC3, the Wide Field Camera 3. 37 00:02:09,844 --> 00:02:12,528 This new camera has imaged a stellar jet 38 00:02:12,529 --> 00:02:15,884 about 7,500 light-years away in the Carina Nebula. 39 00:02:15,885 --> 00:02:18,284 What is going on here is that we have an infant star 40 00:02:18,319 --> 00:02:22,265 about 8 times as massive as the Sun which is causing quite a stir. 41 00:02:22,266 --> 00:02:25,721 What the WFC3 image reveals is a pillar of gas 42 00:02:25,756 --> 00:02:29,456 and is at the center of this gas cloud that the young star is forming. 43 00:02:29,457 --> 00:02:32,209 The star is surrounded by swirling gas and dust 44 00:02:32,210 --> 00:02:36,222 and some of this material is being pulled into the star by its gravity. 45 00:02:36,223 --> 00:02:38,250 As a result of this tumultuous process, 46 00:02:38,300 --> 00:02:41,334 a jet is formed and the interaction of this jet 47 00:02:41,369 --> 00:02:43,511 causes shock-waves and intense heat 48 00:02:43,546 --> 00:02:47,241 which ionises the surrounding gas, thus causing it to glow. 49 00:02:49,217 --> 00:02:52,306 Truly the most powerful camera ever sent into space, 50 00:02:52,307 --> 00:02:56,811 the new WFC3's capabilities in both the visible and the infrared 51 00:02:56,846 --> 00:03:01,396 are an unbeatable combination and complement Hubble's other instruments, 52 00:03:01,397 --> 00:03:04,331 especially the Advanced Camera for Surveys. 53 00:03:05,214 --> 00:03:08,921 Moving from visible to infrared in the image of the Carina Nebula 54 00:03:08,956 --> 00:03:13,908 we see the nebulosity fade and the baby star and its emission jets are revealed. 55 00:03:13,909 --> 00:03:18,355 WFC3's impressive infrared capability reveals hundreds of stars 56 00:03:18,390 --> 00:03:23,095 and the jet itself hidden behind the dust and gas. 57 00:03:24,952 --> 00:03:28,364 Stephan's Quintet is a stunning collection of five galaxies. 58 00:03:29,903 --> 00:03:33,490 Four of this galaxies' destinies are literally bound together. 59 00:03:33,491 --> 00:03:36,325 As they crush into each other at break-neck speed, 60 00:03:36,326 --> 00:03:40,325 gas is ripped from the galaxies and produces the distinctive tidal tails. 61 00:03:40,326 --> 00:03:43,787 Astronomers believe that galaxy mergers like we see here 62 00:03:43,788 --> 00:03:47,571 are one of the key processes by which galaxies can grow and evolve 63 00:03:47,636 --> 00:03:49,915 and so studying mergers can help us understand 64 00:03:49,961 --> 00:03:53,943 what shapes many of the galaxies that we see around us today. 65 00:03:54,684 --> 00:03:59,144 The new WFC3 camera's detector is highly sensitive and, 66 00:03:59,145 --> 00:04:01,267 paired with the camera's wide field of view 67 00:04:01,314 --> 00:04:07,723 it improves Hubble's discovery power by 20 to 35 times! 68 00:04:09,630 --> 00:04:14,458 The wide field of view and clear resolution of WFC3 will enable forensic searches 69 00:04:14,459 --> 00:04:18,462 that lead to clues about the collisions and mergers between galaxies 70 00:04:18,463 --> 00:04:23,527 as seen in the beautiful swirling chaos of Stephan's Quintet. 71 00:04:26,457 --> 00:04:30,576 WFC3 has also zoomed in on one very hot cosmic bug. 72 00:04:30,577 --> 00:04:34,398 NGC 6302 is a planetary nebula that is better known 73 00:04:34,399 --> 00:04:37,410 as the Bug Nebula or the Butterfly Nebula, 74 00:04:37,411 --> 00:04:39,764 and is pretty easy to see why. 75 00:04:41,892 --> 00:04:45,063 The source of the nebula is an extremely hot dying star 76 00:04:45,064 --> 00:04:47,976 which was once about five times the mass of the Sun. 77 00:04:48,011 --> 00:04:52,279 It has now evolved into a red giant and its life will soon come to an end, 78 00:04:52,280 --> 00:04:54,503 but it's not going quietly. 79 00:04:54,504 --> 00:04:58,622 The improvement in resolution provided by WFC3 is clear, 80 00:04:58,623 --> 00:05:01,425 but this new image reveals so much more. 81 00:05:01,426 --> 00:05:04,087 WFC3 is equipped with a wide variety of filters 82 00:05:04,135 --> 00:05:08,015 that isolate light emitted by various chemical elements, 83 00:05:08,050 --> 00:05:11,318 allowing astronomers to infer properties of the nebular gas, 84 00:05:11,353 --> 00:05:15,071 such as its temperature, density and composition. 85 00:05:15,072 --> 00:05:19,461 The reddish outer edges of the nebula are due to light emitted by nitrogen, 86 00:05:19,496 --> 00:05:22,605 which marks the coolest gas visible in the picture. 87 00:05:22,606 --> 00:05:25,657 The white areas emanating from the hidden central star 88 00:05:25,692 --> 00:05:27,578 are sulfur-emitting regions, 89 00:05:27,613 --> 00:05:31,905 where fast and slow-moving gases collide and cause shock-waves. 90 00:05:31,906 --> 00:05:37,113 The image also shows numerous finger-like projections pointing back to the star, 91 00:05:37,114 --> 00:05:39,107 which may mark denser blobs in the outflow 92 00:05:39,172 --> 00:05:42,431 that have resisted the pressure from the star. 93 00:05:42,952 --> 00:05:45,791 Hubble's newly-repaired Advanced Camera for Surveys 94 00:05:45,842 --> 00:05:49,634 has eyed a fascinating galaxy cluster called Abell 370. 95 00:05:49,635 --> 00:05:51,419 This is one of the places in the Universe 96 00:05:51,487 --> 00:05:55,472 where Einstein's Theory of General Relativity really comes to life. 97 00:05:57,115 --> 00:06:00,813 The image captures the phenomenon of gravitational lensing. 98 00:06:00,814 --> 00:06:05,209 If you have a galaxy that sits behind a really massive object like a galaxy cluster, 99 00:06:05,210 --> 00:06:08,019 then the light from that background galaxy gets bent 100 00:06:08,064 --> 00:06:10,745 by the gravitational pull of the foreground cluster 101 00:06:10,786 --> 00:06:12,997 as the light passes the cluster. 102 00:06:12,998 --> 00:06:16,358 This process can seriously distort the image of the background galaxy, 103 00:06:16,405 --> 00:06:18,743 often making it look like an arc. 104 00:06:18,744 --> 00:06:21,203 It also magnifies the image of the galaxy 105 00:06:21,204 --> 00:06:25,363 and so the cluster acts sort of like cosmic magnifying glass. 106 00:06:26,842 --> 00:06:30,976 Although Abell 370 has been imaged by other telescopes, 107 00:06:30,977 --> 00:06:34,433 this Hubble ACS image is the most detailed yet. 108 00:06:34,434 --> 00:06:39,102 In the large, striking orangeish arc, the curvature of the arc abruptly changes 109 00:06:39,160 --> 00:06:44,041 to turn around the smaller galaxies as the light is warped by their gravity. 110 00:06:44,042 --> 00:06:47,467 This prominent arc seems to appear several times in the image 111 00:06:47,504 --> 00:06:51,327 as if copied and pasted onto other parts of the sky. 112 00:06:52,574 --> 00:06:55,783 Another incredible example of the level of detail 113 00:06:55,784 --> 00:06:59,533 is in the arms of a spiral galaxy at the bottom right in the image. 114 00:06:59,612 --> 00:07:04,557 The arm is strongly bent or distorted by a foreground galaxy. 115 00:07:06,213 --> 00:07:08,380 The new Cosmic Origin Spectrograph, COS, 116 00:07:08,381 --> 00:07:11,630 and the repaired Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph, STIS, 117 00:07:11,631 --> 00:07:16,086 are providing us with the capability of taking spectra in ultraviolet light. 118 00:07:16,087 --> 00:07:20,290 Astronomers have pointed this instruments towards Eta Carina, 119 00:07:20,325 --> 00:07:24,331 which is a rather large and unstable binary star system. 120 00:07:24,332 --> 00:07:27,937 This pair of stars has a tendency towards violent outbursts 121 00:07:27,938 --> 00:07:30,160 and astronomers have used COS and STIS 122 00:07:30,161 --> 00:07:32,565 to identify some of the elements in the material 123 00:07:32,639 --> 00:07:36,789 that is forcefully being ejected by this duo. 124 00:07:38,912 --> 00:07:42,727 Hubble also captured the aftermath of the death of a massive star 125 00:07:42,762 --> 00:07:47,471 in the Large Magellanic Cloud, an irregular galaxy close to our own Milky Way. 126 00:07:47,546 --> 00:07:53,871 The object, known as N132D, lies roughly 170,000 light-years away 127 00:07:53,906 --> 00:07:57,600 and provides an exceptional opportunity for forensic analysis 128 00:07:57,635 --> 00:08:00,489 of the life and demise of a massive star. 129 00:08:00,490 --> 00:08:02,849 In addition to the stunning visual image 130 00:08:02,850 --> 00:08:06,858 that highlights a cloud of pink emission gas and soft purple wisps, 131 00:08:06,859 --> 00:08:09,002 the COS instrument gives astronomers clues 132 00:08:09,066 --> 00:08:12,928 to the chemical processes deep inside the star. 133 00:08:14,519 --> 00:08:18,059 Another object spied by two of Hubble's new and repaired instruments 134 00:08:18,060 --> 00:08:22,044 is the barred spiral galaxy Markarian 817. 135 00:08:22,045 --> 00:08:24,932 This galaxy has a very bright nucleus and that's because 136 00:08:24,967 --> 00:08:27,820 it harbours a super-massive black hole right at its center, 137 00:08:27,855 --> 00:08:30,796 which is being fueled with gas from the galaxy. 138 00:08:30,855 --> 00:08:34,354 This is called an active galactic nucleus, or AGN. 139 00:08:34,355 --> 00:08:37,257 In many other galaxies, the AGN can be so bright 140 00:08:37,313 --> 00:08:40,936 that it outshines the whole rest of the galaxy. 141 00:08:42,005 --> 00:08:44,949 Looking like a brightly decorated Christmas tree, 142 00:08:45,010 --> 00:08:50,999 this image is actually a small part of the huge globular cluster called Omega Centauri. 143 00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:53,100 Although held together by gravity, 144 00:08:53,101 --> 00:08:56,682 the stars in this cluster are at different stages of life 145 00:08:56,683 --> 00:09:01,621 and thanks to WFC3's sensitivity we are treated to a twinkling array 146 00:09:01,622 --> 00:09:07,060 from yellow-white "mid-life" stars, like our own Sun, to retiring red giants. 147 00:09:07,061 --> 00:09:09,110 Although the stars are close together, 148 00:09:09,171 --> 00:09:14,773 WFC3's sharpness can resolve each of them as individual stars. 149 00:09:17,145 --> 00:09:20,002 Hubble is well into its 19Th year of observations 150 00:09:20,003 --> 00:09:23,144 but it continues to keep a watchful eye on the Universe. 151 00:09:23,145 --> 00:09:25,879 Although Hubble may be middle-aged by spacecraft standards, 152 00:09:25,932 --> 00:09:28,316 it is definitely not slowing down. 153 00:09:28,317 --> 00:09:31,402 Equipped with a powerful set of new and repaired instruments, 154 00:09:31,403 --> 00:09:34,038 this scientific icon is continuing its quest 155 00:09:34,073 --> 00:09:36,190 to unravel the secrets of the cosmos, 156 00:09:36,269 --> 00:09:38,264 to link us to our distant past 157 00:09:38,265 --> 00:09:41,370 and to give us a reason for another episode. 158 00:09:41,371 --> 00:09:44,106 This is Dr. J signing off for the Hubblecast. 159 00:09:44,107 --> 00:09:48,228 Once again, nature has surprised us beyond our wildest imagination... 160 00:09:48,229 --> 00:09:50,229 Hubblecast is produced by ESA / Hubble 161 00:09:50,230 --> 00:09:52,230 at the European Southern Observatory in Germany. 162 00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:55,600 The Hubble mission is a project of international cooperation 163 00:09:55,635 --> 00:09:57,635 between NASA and the European Space Agency. 164 00:10:06,605 --> 00:10:08,776 Now that you've caught up with Hubble 165 00:10:08,777 --> 00:10:11,316 make sure to get the latest from the ground too. 166 00:10:11,317 --> 00:10:15,289 The ESOCast highlights the best of the European Southern Observatory 167 00:10:15,290 --> 00:10:19,372 and its powerful telescopes that observe from high in the Chilean Andes 168 00:10:19,373 --> 00:10:24,579 at the southern hemisphere's best known sites for astronomical observations.