Days after returning to work, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has resumed observing the universe and the first image from its new pointing mode has arrived.
The flying observatory took a stunning image of NGC 1546, a nearby galaxy located in the constellation Dorado, its first new observation since switching to an alternate operating mode that uses a single gyroscope.
The telescope resumed scientific operations on June 14 after being offline for several weeks due to a problem with the gyro, which helps control and orient the telescope.
This new image shows the orientation of NGC 1546, providing a striking view of its dust bands backlit by the galaxy's center. The dust absorbs light from the center, making it appear rusty brown, while the center itself shines in a yellowish glow, indicating an older population of stars.
Bright blue regions of active star formation shine amid the dust, and several background galaxies, including edge-on spirals, are also visible.
This image, taken by Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3, is part of a joint observation program between Hubble and NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, which also uses data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. This multi-wavelength approach allows scientists to obtain a highly detailed view of the formation and evolution of stars.
“This new image of a spectacular galaxy taken by Hubble demonstrates the complete success of our new, more stable pointing mode for the telescope,” said Dr. Jennifer Wiseman, Hubble senior project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
“We're now poised to explore for many years to come, and we'll look at everything from our own solar system to exoplanets and distant galaxies. Hubble plays a powerful role in NASA's astronomical toolkit.”
Launched in 1990, Hubble has been observing the universe for more than three decades, and recently celebrated its 34th anniversary.