Hubble Space Telescope | 'Oumuamua: A Mysterious Interstellar Interloper @hubblespacetelescope | Uploaded July 2020 | Updated October 2024, 4 hours ago.
Amaya Moro-Martin, Space Telescope Science Institute
During the formation of our solar system, a tremendous number of asteroids, comets, and planetesimals were ejected into interstellar space by gravitational encounters. If extrasolar planetary systems, which are now known to be quite common, experienced a similar development, then our galaxy should be teeming with these expelled objects. Astronomers were perplexed that none had been found passing through our solar system.
Then, in 2017, the discovery of ‘Oumuamua transformed the situation from puzzlement to bewilderment. Observations with a wide range of telescopes followed the brightness and trajectory of this first interstellar interloper but left important questions about its origin and composition unanswered. Further, what process was responsible for the non-gravitational acceleration found in its unbound orbit?
This cosmic visitor will not return to provide explanations. Thus, the intriguing inquiries ‘Oumuamua left behind will remain as we seek out and study other guests from beyond our solar system.
Host: Frank Summers, Space Telescope Science Institute
Recorded live on Tuesday, July 7, 2020
More information: www.stsci.edu/public-lectures
Amaya Moro-Martin, Space Telescope Science Institute
During the formation of our solar system, a tremendous number of asteroids, comets, and planetesimals were ejected into interstellar space by gravitational encounters. If extrasolar planetary systems, which are now known to be quite common, experienced a similar development, then our galaxy should be teeming with these expelled objects. Astronomers were perplexed that none had been found passing through our solar system.
Then, in 2017, the discovery of ‘Oumuamua transformed the situation from puzzlement to bewilderment. Observations with a wide range of telescopes followed the brightness and trajectory of this first interstellar interloper but left important questions about its origin and composition unanswered. Further, what process was responsible for the non-gravitational acceleration found in its unbound orbit?
This cosmic visitor will not return to provide explanations. Thus, the intriguing inquiries ‘Oumuamua left behind will remain as we seek out and study other guests from beyond our solar system.
Host: Frank Summers, Space Telescope Science Institute
Recorded live on Tuesday, July 7, 2020
More information: www.stsci.edu/public-lectures
![The Orion Nebula: Visible and Infrared Views [UltraHD]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/SSCSC5SWoTY/hqdefault.jpg "The Orion Nebula: Visible and Infrared Views [UltraHD]
This sequence uses infrared (Spitzer) and visible (Hubble) images to reveal the formation of stars within a large cloud of hydrogen gas and dust. The warm gas lights up in the infrared view as red, and the hydrocarbon dust appears in green. The starlight from young stars appears in blue. The flood of starlight provides extra illumination throughout the dusty environment and in front of the cloud. The threads of gas, reminiscent of clouds on Earth, are compressed and pushed into knots by the winds from forming stars throughout the region. The clouds appear as shadows in this visible-light view. However, in areas where the gas has mostly been cleared or thinned, glowing cavities can be seen inside these cocoons. The combined view hints at the nebula’s complex three-dimensional structure.
Video: NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon (STScI)
Image: NASA, ESA, M. Robberto (STScI/ESA) and the Hubble Space Telescope Orion Treasury Project Team (STScI)")
![A Flight Through the CANDELS Ultra Deep Survey Field [Ultra HD]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/SUyDcyHpFhc/hqdefault.jpg "A Flight Through the CANDELS Ultra Deep Survey Field [Ultra HD]
This visualization traverses the CANDELS Ultra Deep Survey (UDS) field to showcase the varied appearances of galaxies and their three-dimensional distribution. The sequence features a dense cluster of galaxies about 6 billion light-years away and extends to galaxies at more than twice that distance. Because the light from these galaxies has travelled for billions of years across space, the images show the galaxies as they appeared billions of years ago. In addition, the expansion of space has redshifted the light of these galaxies toward longer wavelengths (i.e., to the red end of the visible-light region and into the infrared-light region). The changes seen in galaxies during the fly-through illustrate the changes in galaxy structure and appearance over billions of years of cosmic history.
CANDELS is an acronym for the Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey project. One of the largest projects ever done with the Hubble Space Telescope, CANDELS surveyed five fields to study the development of galaxies over time. The CANDELS observations of the UDS field complement ground-based observations from the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope.
Astronomers and visual artists extracted over 26,000 galaxies from the Hubble UDS images and created a computer model based on the measured and estimated properties. Note that the distances used in the visualization are significantly compressed for cinematic purposes.
Credits: NASA, ESA, F. Summers, J. DePasquale, G. Bacon, and Z. Levay (STScI)
Acknowledgement: H. Ferguson, A. Koekemoer, and the CANDELS Team
Music: Rotisserie Graveyard by Doctor Turtle CC BY 4.0
Download movie files at: http://hubblesite.org/video/984/science")
