🆕 This relic from our galaxy’s formation has had its history revealed by @ESA_Webb and the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope 🕵️♂️ 1/3
HUBBLE
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HUBBLE
@HUBBLE_space
Official @ESA feed for #Hubble Space Telescope — the space-based observatory which has revolutionised modern astronomy. #BFFinSpace with @ESA_Webb
- Located in the bulge of our Milky Way galaxy, Terzan 5 resembles a globular cluster 🪩 a dense ball of ancient stars. However, observations from Hubble and the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have revealed that it contains four distinct populations of stars. This makesBillions of years ago, similar primordial clumps spread out and merged to form the Milky Way’s bulge, but Terzan 5 remained intact, like a lump in an otherwise well-mixed cake batter! 🍰 Read more: esawebb.org/news/weic2611/ 📷 @NASA , @esa , @csa_asc , STScI, G. Zullo (University
- Our #HubbleTopImage features gravitational lensing 🔍 in Abell 1689! This Hubble image from 2010 shows the galaxy cluster Abell 1689, with the mass distribution of the dark matter in the gravitational lens overlaid in purple. The mass in this lens is made up partly of normal
- Our #HubbleTopImage features a galaxy 😈 which rules the neighbourhood! ESO 306-17 is a large, bright elliptical galaxy in the southern sky of a type known as a ‘fossil group’ due to their isolation. But are they really like fossils – what is left of a once-active community – or
- In the 2026 ESA/Hubble and ESA/Webb calendar, the month of June features the young star cluster Pismis 24, which is found in the Lobster Nebula 🦞✨ approximately 5,500 light-years from Earth. This is one of the nearest sites of massive star birth! Ready to print .pdf here:
- Spiralling towards the innermost reaches of the Virgo Cluster! ↩️ Access more space-themed .gifs at our giphy page: giphy.com/esahubble
GIF - Messier 88 (M88) is on a journey to the innermost reaches of the Virgo Cluster, a collection of more than 1000 galaxies bound by gravity, orbiting the massive elliptical galaxy at the centre 👹🌌 1/3
00:00As M88 approaches, it will experience ram pressure stripping (its gas will be swept away as it pushes through the gas between galaxies in the cluster). This will affect its ability to form stars, and change the course of its evolution! 2/3Read more here: esahubble.org/images/potm260… 📷 @ESA / @Hubble_Space & @NASA , D. Thilker and the MAUVE-HST Team, N. Bartmann (ESA/Hubble) 🎶 Stellardrone - Billions and Billions 3/3 - Our ESA/Hubble Picture of the Month takes a journey to the centre of a galaxy cluster! Messier 88 (M88) is located about 63 million light-years away in the constellation Coma Berenices (Berenice’s Hair). It is a member of the Virgo Cluster, a collection of more than 1000
As they move through space, they also orbit the cluster’s centre of gravity. M88 is on a long, perilous cosmic journey that will bring it into the innermost reaches of the cluster – and draw close to the monstrous galaxy at the centre 👹🌌 2/3M88 will be changed by its journey thanks to ram pressure stripping – a process in which a galaxy’s gas is swept away as it pushes through the gas between galaxies in a cluster. This will affect its ability to form stars, and change the course of its evolution. Read more: - Our #HubbleTopImage weighs up the COSMOS field ⚖️ This image shows the (mostly dark) matter distribution in the COSMOS field, created from data taken by Hubble and ground-based telescopes. 1/2
The study involved Hubble photographing hundreds of overlapping views of the same part of the Universe over nearly 1000 hours of observations! Read more: esahubble.org/news/heic1005/ 📷 @NASA , @esa , P. Simon (University of Bonn) and T. Schrabback (Leiden Observatory) 2/2 - Our #HubbleTopImage features a celestial bauble 🪩 This sphere of gas appears to float serenely through space. Its apparent calm, however, hides an inner turmoil – it formed as a supernova’s expanding blast wave and ejected material tore through the nearby interstellar medium!
Read more: esahubble.org/news/heic1018/ 📷 @NASA , @esa , and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA). Acknowledgement: J. Hughes (Rutgers University) 2/2 - In the 2026 ESA/Hubble and ESA/Webb calendar, the month of May puts the spotlight on Jupiter’s auroras. These auroras, captured here by @ESA_Webb , are hundreds of times brighter than those on Earth. Ready to print .pdf here: esahubble.org/products/calen… 1/2
- Spiralling around through space with NGC 3137! 🫨 Access more space-themed .gifs at our giphy page: ow.ly/EEHy50YS0gr
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