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The stunning pictures of Saturn, the deep field, the Eagle, Crab, and Butterfly nebulae—in its 20 years of operation, the Hubble Space Telescope has taken what are now some of the most famous images in astronomy. But you've seen those over and over. As NASA prepares to mark the telescope's two-decade anniversary on April 24, we thought we'd bring you a selection of the Hubble's slightly less famous—but still gorgeous—contributions. These ravishing images come from the new book by Edward J. Weiler, Hubble: A Journey Through Space and Time, published by Abrams Books in collaboration with NASA. may not be immediately obvious the first time you see this image, but notice the ring of slightly darker color around the center. That's a simulated map of the dark matter halo around galaxy cluster Cl 0024+17, superimposed on a Hubble picture. The ring may have been formed when two galactic clusters collided. Images like this are one of the ways researchers detect dark matter through its effects. In this case, Hubble observed how the gravity of this cluster distorted the light from more distant galaxies, and determined that the cluster's ordinary matter couldn't account for all of the distortion. |
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view Happy Birthday, Hubble: The Telescope's Most Underrated Images as presented by: Discover Magazine |
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Some fish scorn the easy life of the shoreline, and instead spend most of their lives out to sea, wandering in the wild blue yonder. In a new book from the University of Chicago Press, Fishes of the Open Ocean, author Julian Pepperell lets readers get up close and personal with these impressive and mysterious ocean denizens. This gorgeous picture shows a flying fish gliding towards touchdown on the smooth sea. The flying fish achieves takeoff by flapping its tail at speeds of 50 to 70 beats per second, and spreading its "wings," or modified fins. Scientists have observed flying fish traveling more than 400 yards in a single flight, though Pepperell writes that such distances are only achieved when the fish dips its whirring tail back into the water a few times for extra bursts of propulsion. ale sharks' habits are still poorly understood, but electronic tagging is beginning to reveal their secrets. Scientists recently realized that whale sharks aren't slow, lumbering creatures as previously thought; instead they leverage their massive weight to dive-bomb through the water like a hawk falling through the sky. he black marlin is a giant of the ocean, measuring up to 13 feet in length and weighing up to 1,500 pounds. The fish cruises the Pacific and Indian oceans in search of smaller fish to devour, and sometimes uses its spear-like upper jaw to stun its prey. |
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view Serpents, Flyers and Hammers: Strange Fish That Rule the Open Sea as presented by: Discover Magazine |
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