Greenbelt, Maryland – In a celebration of the 34th anniversary of the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have captured a stunning image of the Little Dumbbell Nebula, also known as Messier 76 or M76, located 3400 light-years away in the northern circumpolar constellation Perseus. This photogenic nebula, a favorite among amateur astronomers, is classified as a planetary nebula, an expanding shell of glowing gases that were ejected from a dying red giant star.
The intricate structure of the Little Dumbbell Nebula, composed of a ring and two lobes, tells the story of a red giant star on the verge of burning out, ejecting gas and dust that eventually forms the nebula. This ring formation is believed to have been shaped by the presence of a binary companion star, leading to the creation of a thick disk of dust and gas along the orbital plane of the companion.
Notably, the image captured by the Hubble Space Telescope reveals a white dwarf star at the center of the nebula, one of the hottest stellar remnants known, emitting light at a temperature of 120,000 degrees Celsius, 24 times the surface temperature of our Sun. The visible lobes escaping from the star’s rotation axis travel at a speed of two million miles per hour, causing the gases to glow in striking red and blue colors.
Over its three decades of operation, the Hubble Space Telescope has made significant contributions to modern astronomy, conducting 1.6 million observations and generating over 44,000 scientific papers. The telescope’s groundbreaking discoveries include finding water in the atmosphere of exoplanets, observing cosmic explosions, and providing unique insights into phenomena such as gravitational lensing and dark energy.
As Hubble continues to make profound discoveries, it is complemented by the newer James Webb Space Telescope, offering synergies in areas such as protostellar discs, exoplanet composition, and the chemistry of the distant Universe. Together, these space telescopes are expanding our understanding of the cosmos and reshaping our fundamental knowledge of the Universe.