Hubble Image of Orion Nebula
My wallpaper for the week comes courtesy of the Hubble Space
Telescope. The image is described as the sharpest ever taken
of the Orion Nebula. According to the Hubble site description:
The Orion Nebula is 1,500 light-years away, the nearest star-forming region to Earth. Astronomers used 520 Hubble images, taken in five colors, to make this picture. They also added ground-based photos to fill out the nebula. The ACS mosaic covers approximately the apparent angular size of the full moon.
It is unfortunate, for a telescope that is capable of such magnificent images, that its future is clouded by the small minded political priorities of those now in power in Washington. A pox on those who would drain funding for these kinds of efforts while approving millions for "bridges to nowhere." A pox on those who sustain and encourage a culture of corruption. A pox on those who can't see past their next illegal campaign contribution to gaze upward to the dazzling beauty of the heavens.
Aloha!