Top Ten Most Amazing Pictures Taken by the
Hubble Space Telescope in the Last 16 Years
"...they illustrate that our universe is not only deeply strange,
but also almost impossibly beautiful."
Michael Hanlon/AH (Nov 25th, 2006)
After correcting an initial problem with the lens, when the Hubble Space Telescope was first launched in 1990,
the floating astro-observatory began to relay back to Earth, incredible snapshots of the "final frontier" it was perusing.
Recently, astronauts voted on the top photographs taken by Hubble, in its 16-year journey so far.
Remarking in the article from the Daily Mail, reporter Michael Hanlon says
the photos "illustrate that our universe is not only deeply strange, but also almost impossibly beautiful."

To design your own "custom watch" with the top ten Hubble Space photographs, CLICK HERE.

Sombrero Galaxy
The Sombrero Galaxy - 28 million light years from Earth - was voted best picture taken
by the Hubble telescope.
The dimensions of the galaxy, officially called M104, are as spectacular as its appearance.
It has 800 billion suns and is 50,000 light years across

Ant Nebula
The Ant Nebula, a cloud of
dust and gas whose technical name is Mz3, resembles
an ant when observed using
ground-based telescopes.
The nebula lies within our galaxy between 3,000 and 6,000 light years from Earth.

Eskimo Nebula
In third place is Nebula NGC 2392, called Eskimo because it looks like a face surrounded by a furry hood. The hood is, in fact, a ring of comet-shaped objects flying away from a dying star. Eskimo is 5,000 light years from Earth.

 

Cats Eye Nebula
At four is the Cat's Eye Nebula, which looks like the eye of disembodied sorcerer Sauron from Lord of the Rings.
Click the Image For A Larger View


Hourglass Nebula
The Hourglass Nebula, 8,000 light years away, has a
pinched-in-the-middle look because the winds that shape it
are weaker at the center.


Cone Nebula
In sixth place is the
Cone Nebula.
The part pictured
here is 2.5 light years
in length which is the
equivalent of 23 million
return trips to the Moon.


The Perfect Storm
The Perfect Storm, a small region in the Swan Nebula, 5,500 light years away, described as a bubbly ocean of hydrogen and small
amounts of oxygen,
sulphur and other elements.


Starry Night
In 8th place is Starry Night,
so named because it reminded astronomers of the
Van Gogh painting.
It is a halo of light around
a star in the Milky Way

 

Canis Major Constellation
The glowering eyes from 114 million light years away are the swirling cores of two merging galaxies called NGC 2207 and IC 2163 in the distant Canis Major constellation.


Trifid Nebula
The Trifid Nebula is a
"stellar nursery", 9,000
light years from here,
it is where new stars
are being born.