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These two images of strange galaxies are some of the first views from the revived Hubble Space Telescope taken on July 17, 2021 after science operations resumed following a month of work to resurrect the observatory from a computer glitch. At right: the three-armed spiral galaxy ARP-MADORE0002-503. Left: An interacting galaxy pair called ARP-MADORE2115-273.
"I'm thrilled to see that Hubble has its eye back on the universe, once again capturing the kind of images that have intrigued and inspired us for decades," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement. "This is a moment to celebrate the success of a team truly dedicated to the mission." NASA and the European Space Agency launched the Hubble Space Telescope in April 1990.
The black-and-white images show different galactic views. On the left is an object called ARP-MADORE2115-273, which is actually two different galaxies caught in an intergalactic tango. It's about 297 million light-years from Earth.
"Astronomers had previously thought this was a "collisional ring" system due to the head-on merger of two galaxies," NASA wrote in an image description. "The new Hubble observations show that the ongoing interaction between the galaxies is far more complex, leaving behind a rich network of stars and dusty gas."
The second view from Hubble (in the right side of the image) shows ARP-MADORE0002-503, a large spiral galaxy located about 490 million light-years from Earth. If you thought this was just another spiral galaxy like our own Milky Way, think again.
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"Its arms extend out to a radius of 163,000 light-years, making it three times more expansive than our Milky Way Galaxy," NASA wrote. "While most disk galaxies have an even number of spiral arms, this one has three."
Since then, Hubble scientists and engineers are snapping test images of galaxies, globular clusters and auroras on Jupiter.
"I'll confess to having had a few nervous moments during Hubble's shutdown, but I also had faith in NASA's amazing engineers and technicians," astronomer Julianne Dalcanton of the University of Washington in Seattle, who led the program that captured the new photos, said in a statement. "Everyone is incredibly grateful, and we're excited to get back to science!"
Email Tariq Malik at [email protected] or follow him @tariqjmalik. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Instagram.
Tariq is the editor-in-chief of Live Science's sister site Space.com. He joined the team in 2001 as a staff writer, and later editor, focusing on human spaceflight, exploration and space science. Before joining Space.com, Tariq was a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times, covering education and city beats in La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. He is also an Eagle Scout (yes, he has the Space Exploration merit badge) and went to Space Camp four times. He has journalism degrees from the University of Southern California and New York University.
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