ASU Research E-Magazine: Stellar Stamps

What is 11 trillion miles high and fits on a birthday card? And the answer is…a “star nursery” in the Eagle Nebula that was imaged by Arizona State University astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. The picture, along with four other Hubble images, appeared on U.S. postage stamps this spring. The stamps were created in honor of astronomer Edwin Hubble (1889-1953) and the 10-year anniversary of the telescope named after him.

The picture also will appear on one of two full-color posters produced by the Postal Service for the 2000 stamp program. As part of a NASA science team, ASU astronomers Jeff Hester and Paul Scowen helped build the camera that produced the pictures. The Eagle Nebula image was taken during the team’s observation time.

The image shows “a big column of interstellar gas and dust within which new stars are forming,” explains Hester. A star is born when the gas and dust collapses under the force of gravity, igniting a fusion reaction.

“It’s very possible that our own sun formed in an environment like the one you see in the image,” Hester says.

The ASU researcher says he had no idea that the image—which has appeared in magazines, movies, and on television—would become so famous.

“There’s no way you predict something like that,” he says. “We knew that it would be seen here and there, but we had no idea that it would become as widespread as it has.”

One reason for all the attention may be timing, Hester speculates.

“This compelling image and story hit the streets about the time that people were waking up to the fact that the Hubble telescope was becoming a success. It kind of became an icon of that success.”

Orbiting 380 miles above Earth, the Hubble telescope provides much clearer images of space than any ground-based telescope. It has provided astronomers with clues about the nature of black holes, galaxies, and other solar systems.

Like his mechanical namesake, astronomer Edwin Hubble contributed greatly to our understanding of the universe. He found the first evidence that other galaxies exist outside the Milky Way. He also discovered that the universe is expanding—key information supporting the Big Bang theory.

“This is a fascinating time to be alive for this kind of thing,” Hester adds. “We are living in a time when humankind has taken steps off the planet of our birth. The stamps are commemorating Edwin Hubble, but what they’re commemorating goes beyond Edwin Hubble and the telescope. The stamps commemorate the closing of a century that saw an incredible leap in understanding about our universe.”—Diane Boudreau