High-Tech Telescopes Yield New Galactic Photos: Gallery

Some of the most important telescopes ever created are now floating in space. A freshly repaired Hubble Space Telescope is again snapping pictures, NASA's Kepler telescope is orbiting Earth fresh off its first light and Herschel—the largest space telescope ever—has taken its first images since its May 14th launch. While astronomers using ground-based telescopes are finding exoplanets at an impressive rate, thanks to refined techniques and collaborative efforts, space telescopes operating from beyond Earth's atmosphere have a geographic edge: With no interference, they can get a clearer view of the universe. The following images show some of the spectacular sights astronomers have been able to glimpse through the new hardware.

By Lisa Merolla

Published on: June 25, 2009

« Previous Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next »

Buzz up!
this story

ALSO SEE...

Retrieving stories...

Section Archive

KEYWORDS

Spitzer Space Telescope

(Photograph by S. V. Ramirez (NExScI/Caltech), D. An (IPAC/Caltech), K. Sellgren (OSU))

This is an infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. It shows three baby stars in the center of the Milky Way galaxy. They are the first new stars to be discovered there, because other telescopes had difficulty seeing through all the dust in our galaxy's core.

(Photograph by NASA/JPL-Caltech)

This image, captured at the end of April, 2009, is of spiral galaxy NGC 2841. It is located in the constellation Ursa Major, about 46 million light-years from Earth. Blue represents the shortest wavelengths, and shows the older stars in the galaxy, as well as stars in the foreground. Red means cooler temperatures, showing the dusty, gaseous areas of the NGC 2841 galaxy.


CLICK FOR MORE High-Tech Telescopes Yield New Galactic Photos
1. Herschel	2. Kepler Space Telescope	3. Spitzer Space Telescope
4. Galaxy Evolution Explorer	5. Hubble Space Telescope and Chandra X-Ray Observatory	6. Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope

• GALLERY: The World's 10 Most Powerful Telescopes

• HOW-TO: Build Your Own Dobsonian Telescope

• EARLIER: The ALMA Telescope Construction

• PLUS: Solving the Biggest Explosion in History

• FOLLOW US: Popular Mechanics is Now on Twitter!

• FRIEND US: Find PM on Facebook

« Previous Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next »

Reader Comments (--)

Retrieving comments...

Add Comment

Comment Title
Your Name
Email Address
Website	make public
Comment
Please enter the characters shown below:


	Make sure your comment is relevant to the topic discussed. Comments not relevant to the topic will be deleted. Neither you nor Popular Mechanics has the ability to make your e-mail address public. However, we ask that you submit your e-mail address to us just in case we need to contact you. Thank you for your understanding--The Editors.

Sports

ESPN's Innovation Lab

Researchers at the ESPN Innovation Lab have developed an easy way for ESPN’s on-air analysts to interact with virtual NBA players.

Not Just Oil, Pennzoil.®

· Want a clean-running engine?
· Find Pennzoil near you

2009 PM Car Makeover

Eco-Muscle
Almost everyone agrees that hybrid cars are the next big step on our way to an all-electric future. But what if we use two parallel powertrains, gas and electric, to drive a full size car? That way, we can offer the muscular V8 performance that buyers crave, yet still produce zero emissions around town.

Current Issue

Out Now: Crash Course

In December, PM tackles plane crashes. What happened to Air France Flight 447, and what new technologies can help prevent similar disasters? Also look for 20 Macgyver repair tips, and our annual holiday gift guide.

Solar Thermal Power May Make Sun-Powered Grid a Reality
It's solar's new dawn. Now new innovations are exiting the lab and plugging into the grid - turning sunlight into serious energy.

Automotive

2010 Mercedes AMG SLS

Behind its intimidating stance, there's 563 hp and 479 lb-ft of torque available from the 6.2-liter V8, with all the performance you'd expect from a $200,000 aluminum spaceframe supercar.