We Are Made of Stars

20 years seems to be an ongoing theme these days; in a world of fleeting trends and fads and impermanence, 20 years is indeed a benchmark of sorts. This was a confusing and capricious time for beginnings, '89 and '90, as we prepared to enter not just simply another decade but the terminal decade of the century, after which nobody was quite sure what would happen. The Cold War dragged on to its exhausting (and exhausted) end; the Gulf War rose its ugly head; Ireland was awash with sectarian violence; and the first McDonalds in Russia turned on its Golden Arches. Happy 20th Russo-Micky D's! Also celebrating 20 years in orbit: The Hubble, which since its ascension into space has captured and divinely sent back to us hundreds of thousands of images, many if not all of which have led to innumerable papers and research topics (age of the universe, how to detect planets out of our solar system, etcetera), topics that would have been nearly impossible to tackle without the aid and interstellar reach of Hubble's panoptic line of vision. Hubble's journey hasn't been all smooth sailing, though, and were it not for its (and NASA's) resiliency in escaping a few near-death experiences and other unceremonious moments, we'd be on the short end.

This image below is one smaller excised image of an assortment of stars belonging to the much larger globular cluster Omega Centauri. In this sample alone there are over 100,000 stars. The entire Omega Centauri contains nearly 10 million stars. This is just one cluster of stars in one small fraction of space 16,000 light-years away from us. Between 10 billion and 12 billion years old, these stars have witnessed plenty. Think of them like our great, great, great, great, great (multiplied exponentially) grandparents, under whose placid eyes we are allowed to dance and stare up in awe. 

Here: the full star cluster to which the above sample belongs, with the sampled portion outlined in blue.


In honor of its 20th year, a new batch of images has been released from which the above two are samples, along with some other beauties. These are arguably some of Hubble's most probing, precise, and dismaying images, as the satellite has just begun to hit its stride in strength. One image in particular is quite possibly the most wondrous and exciting yet, the world in which it depicts a seemingly unreal vista taken right out of the pages of science ficiton. Also, a list of Hubble's most classically iconic and important images has been compiled, all for our viewing pleasure. Take these fuckers in.

Of the top images over the past two decades, this is easily one of my keepers: the stately and pristine Sombrero Galaxy, whose center is a brilliant and luminous orb, shown like never before.


There's nothing magical about the planet in which we live. But its sheer gorgeousness is pretty fucking stupefying and jaw-dropping nonetheless.