[AZ-Observing] Fw: Top Ten Most Amazing Pictures Taken by the HST

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Subject: Top Ten Most Amazing Pictures Taken by the HST


A friend sent this to me and I thought our Members might enjoy the =
pictures....

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Joe Goss

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  Astronomers Select Top Ten Most Amazing Pictures Taken by Hubble Space =
Telescope in Last 16 Years=20

  "...they illustrate that our universe is not only deeply strange, but =
also almost impossibly beautiful."=20
         Michael Hanlon/AH (Nov 25th, 2006)=20

  After correcting an initial problem with the lens, when the Hubble =
Space Telescope was first launched in 1990, the floating =
astro-observatory began to relay back to Earth, incredible snapshots of =
the 'final frontier' it was perusing.=20

  Recently, astronauts voted on the top photographs taken by Hubble, in =
its 16-year journey so far. Remarking in the article from the Daily =
Mail, reporter Michael Hanlon says the photos 'illustrate that our =
universe is not only deeply strange, but also almost impossibly =
beautiful.'=20
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    Enjoy!=20
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  The Sombrero Galaxy - 28 million light years from Earth - was voted =
best picture taken by the Hubble telescope.  The dimensions of the =
galaxy, officially called M104, are as spectacular as its appearance. It =
has 800 billion suns and is 50,000 light years across.=20
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  The Ant Nebula, a cloud of dust and gas whose technical name is Mz3, =
resembles an ant when observed using ground-based telescopes.  The =
nebula lies within our galaxy between 3,000 and 6,000 light years from =
Earth.=20
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 In third place is Nebula NGC 2392, called 'Eskimo' because it looks =
like a face surrounded by a furry hood.  The hood is, in fact, a ring of =
comet-shaped objects flying away from a dying star.  Eskimo is 5,000 =
light years from Earth.=20
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  At four is the Cat's Eye Nebula.=20
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The Hourglass Nebula, 8,000 light years away, has a =
'pinched-in-the-middle' look because the winds that shape it are weaker =
at the centre.=20
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In sixth place is the Cone Nebula.  The part pictured here is 2.5 light =
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in length (the equivalent of 23 million return trips to the Moon).=20
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The Perfect Storm, a small region in the Swan Nebula, 5,500 light years =
away, described as 'a bubbly ocean of hydrogen and small amounts of =
oxygen,=20
sulphur, and other elements'.=20
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 Starry Night, so named because it reminded astronomers of the Van Gogh =
painting.  It is a halo of light around a star in the Milky Way.=20
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The glowering eyes from 114 million light years away are the swirling =
cores of two merging galaxies called NGC 2207 and IC 2163 in the distant =
Canis Major constellation.=20
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The Trifid Nebula. A 'stellar nursery', 9,000 light years from here, it =
is where new stars are being born.=20
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