HUBBLE PEERS INSIDE A CELESTIAL GEODE (STScI-PRC04-26)

EMBARGOED UNTIL: 9:00 am (EDT) August 12, 2004

PHOTO NO.: STScI-PRC04-26

HUBBLE PEERS INSIDE A CELESTIAL GEODE

In this unusual image, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope captures a rare
view of the celestial equivalent of a geode -- a gas cavity carved by
the stellar wind and intense ultraviolet radiation from a hot young
star. Real geodes are baseball-sized, hollow rocks that start out as
bubbles in volcanic or sedimentary rock. Only when these inconspicuous
round rocks are split in half by a geologist, do we get a chance to
appreciate the inside of the rock cavity that is lined with crystals. In
the case of Hubble's 35 light-year diameter "celestial geode" the
transparency of its bubble-like cavity of interstellar gas and dust
reveals the treasures of its interior.

This image of the N44F interstellar bubble was taken with Hubble's
Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 in March 2002, using filters that isolate
light emitted by sulfur (shown in blue, a 1,200-second exposure) and
hydrogen gas (shown in red, a 1,000-second exposure).

Credit: NASA, ESA, Y. Nazé (University of Liège, Belgium) and
Y.-H. Chu (University of Illinois, Urbana)

To see and read more, please visit:
http://hubblesite.org/news/2004/26
http://www.spacetelescope.org/news/html/heic0413.html

The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) is operated by
the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc.
(AURA), for NASA, under contract with the Goddard Space Flight
Center, Greenbelt, MD. The Hubble Space Telescope is a project
of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space
Agency (ESA).

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