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The final frontier
Since its launch in April 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope has
been providing us with a fascinating look into the mysterious
depths of the cosmos. Its infrared portrait of the Monkey Head
Nebula on the cover of this issue of trends in automation is a
mosaic composed of many individual images. It was created to
mark the 24th anniversary of Hubble’s launch into orbit.
The image shows the birth of stars, when dark dust clouds are
catapulted into outer space. The great Monkey Head Nebula –
or NGC 2174 and Sharpless Sh2-252 to give it its scientific
names – is formed from red hot gas. Enormous quantities of
energy are produced over 6,400 light years away. Ultraviolet
light from the bright stars helps carve the dust into giant pillars
and bizarre shapes. The radiation ionises the main constituent
of the cloud, hydrogen gas. The hydrogen gas heats up and its
interstellar dust particles begin to glow at infrared wavelengths.
Photo: © NASA, ESA, and the
Hubble Heritage Team