The Hubble Space Telescope Has Captured Images of Gas Collisions in The "Running Man" Nebula

Jan, 2022 - By SMI

NASA publishes photos of the birth of a new star in a section of the ‘Running Man’ nebula captured by the Hubble telescope.

NASA’s Hubble telescope is famous for capturing some stunning photos of deep space. The data collected by the telescope has helped many researchers discover and acknowledge new information about the field of space. The recent picture taken by the telescope has indicated collisions between some gas clouds in the ‘Running Man’ nebula. The image clearly depicts a shockwave of luminous gases colliding on each other, which is the primary indicator of the birth of a new star in the "Running Man" nebula.

The image has been logged as HH 45, indicating the Herbig-Haro object, which is a kind of nebula that appears when any kind of gas collision or star birth occurs. The Herbig-Haro does not easily occur in space. The Running Man nebula is a complicated structure of three sub-nebulas located in the Great Orion Nebula. This nebula is approximately 5,000 light years away from Earth.

The photo posted by NASA shows two different sets of ionized sparkling gases with purple and blue colors. The purple color shows the ionized magnesium in the gas, and the blue gas shows the signs of oxygen ions. Scientists are working especially on these elements because the presence of these gases indicates a shockwave and collision of other organic matter on a massive scale.

The Hubble telescope has been a joint project between NASA and ESA and has been in service since 2009. NASA is now set to launch another powerful telescope into space in December. This successor of the Hubble telescope has been termed the James Webb telescope. According to NASA, the capabilities of both telescopes are vastly different. Hubble is studying optical and ultraviolet technology, while the James Webb Space Telescope is studying radio waves. The James Webb telescope will focus on the study of the universe using infrared wavelengths. The data collected from both telescopes is going to make additions to space knowledge even faster.