\tScience & Exploration<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t20\/04\/2026
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The NASA\/ESA Hubble Space Telescope looked at a scene it first captured in 1997 in honour of 36th anniversary: a small portion of a star-forming region about 5000 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius, known as the Trifid Nebula. The image shows changes over incredibly short timescales and instills a sense of awe and wonder about our ever-changing Universe.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTrifid Nebula (Wide Field Camera 3 Image)<\/a><\/p>\n The colors in Hubble\u2019s<\/a> visible light image of this shimmering region of star-formation are reminiscent of an underwater scene filled with fine-grained sediments fluttering through the ocean\u2019s depths.<\/p>\n Several massive stars, which are outside this field of view, have shaped this region for at least 300\u00a0000 years. Their powerful ultraviolet winds continue to blow an enormous bubble, a small portion of which is shown here, that pushes and compresses the cloud\u2019s gas and dust, triggering new waves of star formation.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tTrifid Nebula (annotated)<\/a><\/p>\n This isn\u2019t the first time Hubble has gazed at this scene. The telescope observed the Trifid in\u00a01997<\/a>\u00a0and now, 29 years later, it has leveraged almost its full operational lifetime to show us\u00a0changes<\/a>\u00a0in the nebula on human time scales. Why look at the same location again? In addition to seeing changes over time, Hubble is also equipped with an improved camera with a wider field of view and greater sensitivity that was installed during the fourth servicing mission.<\/p>\n \tStar formation in the \u2018Cosmic Sea Lemon\u2019<\/p>\n Hubble\u2019s view of the Trifid Nebula (also known as Messier 20 or M20) focuses on a ‘head’ and undulating ‘body’ of a rusty-coloured cloud of gas and dust that resembles a marine sea lemon, or sea slug, that appears as if it is gliding through the cosmos.<\/p>\n The Cosmic Sea Lemon\u2019s left ‘horn’ is part of Herbig-Haro 399, a jet of plasma periodically ejected over centuries by a young protostar\u00a0[1]<\/a>\u00a0embedded in the head of the sea lemon.\u00a0Watch the jet expand<\/a>. Changes observed allow researchers to measure the speeds of the outflows and determine how much energy the protostar is injecting into these regions. The measurements will provide insights into how newly formed stars interact with their surroundings.<\/p>\n To the immediate lower right is evidence of the counter jet: jagged orange and red lines that ‘run’ down the back of the sea lemon\u2019s neck, where a natural V appears in the brown dust.<\/p>\n The darker, more triangular ‘horn’ on the right of the ‘head’ hosts another young star at its tip. Zoom in to see a faint red dot with a tiny jet. The green arc above it may be evidence that a\u00a0circumstellar disc<\/a>\u00a0is being eroded by the intense ultraviolet light from nearby massive stars. The clearer the area around this protostar suggests it may be almost finished forming.<\/p>\n To the immediate left of the Cosmic Sea Lemon is a small, faint pillar. Much of this pillar\u2019s gas and dust has been blown away, but the densest material at the top persists.<\/p>\n Streaks and sharp lines offer more clues about other young stars\u2019 activities. Spy an example by looking near the center for a rippling angled line that begins in a bright orange and ends in a blazing red. In the image comparison, it appears to move, which means it may be a jet shot out by another actively forming star buried deeply in dust.<\/p>\n \tPrismatic \u2018sea\u2019 of colour<\/p>\n \t\t\tExplore the Trifid Nebula In Hubble\u2019s visible light observations, the clearest view is toward the top left, where it\u2019s bluer. Strong ultraviolet light from massive stars, not in the field of view, stripped electrons from nearby gas, creating a glow, with winds sculpting a bubble by clearing out surrounding dust.<\/p>\n At the top of the Cosmic Sea Lemon\u2019s head, bright yellow gas streams upward. This is an example of ultraviolet light plowing into the dark brown dust, stripping and dismantling the gas and dust.<\/p>\n Many ridges and slopes of dark brown material will remain for a few million years, as the stars\u2019 ultraviolet light slowly eats away at the gas. The densest areas are home to protostars\u00a0[1]<\/a>, which are obscured in visible light.<\/p>\n The far-right corner is nearly pitch black. This is where the dust is the densest. The stars that appear here may not be part of this star-forming region\u00a0\u2013 they might be closer to us, in the foreground.<\/p>\n Now, scan the scene for bright orange orbs. These stars have fully formed, clearing the space around them. Over millions of years, the nebula\u2019s gas and dust that make up the nebula will disappear\u00a0\u2013 and only stars will remain.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tFull Trifid Nebula (Rubin & Hubble)<\/a><\/p>\n \tUnprecedented longevity, nonstop discoveries<\/p>\n Hubble\u2019s varied instruments and the expansive range of light it collects\u00a0\u2013\u00a0from ultraviolet to near-infrared\u00a0\u2013\u00a0have helped researchers make ground-breaking discoveries for decades and supply new data daily that will inevitably lead to more.<\/p>\n In the last year, Hubble has enabled discoveries ranging from\u00a0a relic of early galaxy formation<\/a>, to a galaxy\u00a0so faint it’s nearly invisible<\/a>, to\u00a0unknown cosmic anomalies<\/a>\u00a0found with the help of AI. Researchers spotted\u00a0asteroids colliding in another star system<\/a>\u00a0for the first time, while in our own Solar System Hubble serendipitously\u00a0captured a comet breaking up<\/a>. The long-held prediction that our Milky Way galaxy will collide with Andromeda in the distant future was\u00a0challenged by a new study<\/a>, using data from Hubble and ESA\u2019s\u00a0Gaia<\/a>. Hubble also tracked the interstellar comet\u00a03I\/ATLAS<\/a>\u00a0that unexpectedly appeared in the Solar System last year, contributing with a rapid\u00a0estimation of its size<\/a>.<\/p>\n Hubble\u2019s 36th year of operations has also brought more impressive views of the cosmos. Among these were the\u00a0star-forming region N11<\/a>\u00a0in the Large Magellanic Cloud, the shells of stardust that make up the\u00a0Egg Nebula<\/a>, the\u00a0Cat\u2019s Eye Nebula<\/a>\u00a0together with ESA\u2019s\u00a0Euclid<\/a>, and a brand-new image of the famous\u00a0Crab Nebula<\/a>. Hubble also showcased the smouldering\u00a0heart of M82<\/a>, swirling spiral galaxies\u00a0UGC 11397<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Arp 4<\/a>, dust rings around galaxy\u00a0NGC 7722<\/a>, the glittering stars of\u00a0globular cluster NGC 1786<\/a>, and the immense\u00a0galaxy cluster Abell 209.<\/a><\/p>\n The telescope has taken over 1.7 million observations to date. Almost 29\u00a0000 astronomers have published peer-reviewed science papers using Hubble data collected over the telescope\u2019s 36-year lifetime, resulting in more than 23\u00a0000 publications, with almost 1100 in 2025 alone. Since 2022, researchers have regularly combined Hubble\u2019s observations with those from the\u00a0NASA\/ESA\/CSA\u00a0James Webb Space Telescope<\/a>\u00a0to push opportunities for discovery further.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tNotes<\/p>\n \n[1]\u00a0A protostar is a mass of interstellar gas and dust in the process of collapsing to form a star.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n More information<\/p>\n
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