Images From Hubble, Chandra To Be Released Nationwide
Galileo first turned his telescope to the heavens in 1609,
marking the dawn of modern astronomy. To commemorate 400 years of
exploring the universe, 2009 has been designated the International
Year of Astronomy.
In conjunction with Galileo's birthday on February 15, NASA is
releasing images from its Great Observatories -- the Hubble Space
Telescope, Spitzer Space Telescope, and Chandra X-ray Observatory
-- to more than 100 planetariums, museums, nature centers and
schools across the country.
The selected sites will unveil a large, 9-square-foot print of
the spiral galaxy Messier 101 that combines the optical view of
Hubble, the infrared view of Spitzer, and the X-ray view of Chandra
into one colorful, multiwavelength picture. "It's like using your
eyes, night vision goggles and X-ray vision all at the same time,"
said Hashima Hasan, lead scientist for the International Year of
Astronomy at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
Participating institutions will display a matched trio of
Hubble, Spitzer, and Chandra images of Messier 101. Each image
shows a different wavelength view of the galaxy that illustrates
not only the different science each observatory conducts, but also
how far astronomy has come since Galileo.
Messier 101 is a spiral galaxy about 22 million light-years away
in the constellation Ursa Major. It is larger than our own Milky
Way galaxy, but similar in many ways.
Hubble's visible-light view shows off the swirls of bright stars
and glowing gas that give Messier 101 its nickname "the Pinwheel
Galaxy." In contrast, Spitzer's infrared-light image sees into the
spiral arms and reveals the glow of dust lanes where dense clouds
can collapse to form new stars. Chandra's X-ray view uncovers the
high-energy features in the galaxy, such as remnants of exploded
stars or matter zooming around black holes. The juxtaposition of
observations from these three telescopes provides an in-depth view
of the galaxy for both astronomers and the public.
"The amazing scientific discoveries Galileo made four centuries
ago are continued today by scientists using NASA's space
observatories," said Denise Smith, the unveiling's project manager
at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, MD. "NASA's
Great Observatories are distributing huge prints of spectacular
images so the public can share in the exploration and wonder of the
universe."
The unveilings will take place February 14 to 28 at 76 museums
and 40 schools and universities nationwide, reaching both big
cities and small towns. Sites are planning celebrations involving
the public, schools and local media.
The images will also be available online at the FMI links
below.
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