Hubble Opens New Eyes on the Universe

Scientists have concluded the checkout period for NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and now are revealing images showcasing the power of the much-improved observatory. In this zoom sequence, one of Hubble's new instruments, the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3), sets its eyes on a stellar nursery located 7,500 light-years away in the Carina Nebula. The pillar of gas and dust in the WFC3 visible-light image seems to glow from hot, massive stars in the vicinity. In the WFC3 infrared-light image, the dusty pillar becomes practically invisible, revealing an infant star blasting out a jet of material, evidence of new stars being born.

Credit: NASA, ESA, and the SM4 ERO Team