The famous Hubble Space telescope has allowed scientists to solve a 100 million year puzzle in deep outer space. The telescope has beamed back detailed pictures of so called cluster stars which are said to emanate from a ‘black hole' in the galaxy referred to as NGC 1275. Scientists have been unable explain how these gas filaments have been able to survive in some of the more aggressive environments in space without ‘collapsing' into stars.
Images from the Hubble telescope show in fine detail the affects of additional previously unknown magnetic forces in the region which allow these long thin bands of light to survive. The bands of light (which start as cold gases) are dragged from galaxy NGC 1275 as the ‘black hole' at the centre continues to pump out a constant stream of radio waves into outer space. Scientists now hope that they can build up a more detailed understanding of ‘black holes' and how these complex creations are able to influence the area around them.
The Hubble Telescope has been in orbit since 1990 when it was launched by a US space shuttle and while many had questioned the massive funding aimed at the project it has more than paid this back. The Hubble telescope is, and continues to be, the eyes and ears of scientists on the earth and is vital to our understanding of ‘space, the final frontier'. |
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