Spooky face in space: NASA Hubble Space Telescope captures ‘ghostly face’ peering at Earth

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has spotted a “ghostly face” peering at Earth from more than 700 million light-years away.

NASA: Hubble Space Telescope captures 'twin galaxies'

A stunning image sent back from the European Space Agency (ESA) and joint telescope which looks as if an alien face is emerging in deep space. The odd-looking structure is created by blueish hue consisting of gas and faint stars making up the shape of the face while two sets of bright clusters of stars make up the eyes. The “ghostly face” is actually two galaxies on a collision course with one another, with Hubble capturing the moment they are about to merge.

The merger has been assigned the name Arp-Madore 2026-424, and is located a staggering 704 million light-years from Earth.

For reference, one light-year is about 5.88 trillion miles (9.5 trillion km).

NASA said on its website: “This new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope captures two galaxies of equal size in a collision that appears to resemble a ghostly face.

“This observation was made on 19 June 2019 in visible light by the telescope’s Advanced Camera for Surveys.

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The galaxies are located 704 million light-years from Earth (Image: NASA, ESA, J. Dalcanton, B.F. Williams, and M. Durbin (University of Washington))

James Webb

The James Webb Space Telescope will take over Hubble in 2021 (Image: GETTY)

“Residing 704 million light-years from Earth, this system is catalogued as Arp-Madore 2026-424 (AM 2026-424) in the Arp-Madore ‘Catalogue of Southern Peculiar Galaxies and Associations’.”

The Hubble telescope is set to be retired in 2021 after more than 30 years of service having been launched in 1990.

However, its successor, the more powerful James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), will take over.

The infrared machine is so powerful it will reach back to the furthest realms and the earliest moments of the universe.

READ MORE: NASA's Hubble snaps a dying star just 1,400 light-years from Earth

nasa hubble

NASA shock: Hubble Space Telescope captures ‘ghostly face’ peering at Earth (Image: NASA, ESA, J. Dalcanton, B.F. Williams, and M. Durbin (University of Washington))

And the JWST, which is named after NASA’s second administrator James Webb who served from 1961-1968 who played a major part in the Apollo missions, has the capability of scanning thousands of planets for alien life – even though those planets are thousands of light years away.

One of the major differences between Hubble and JWST will be how far back in time it will be able to see.

Hubble can see far into space and is essentially looking back in time as light travels to the craft.

Through Hubble, experts have been able to view the formation of the first galaxies, about one billion years after the Big Bang.

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HUBBLE

Hubble in numbers (Image: EXPRESS)

However, as JWST is much more powerful, it will be able to see just 0.3 billion years after the Big Bang to when visible light itself was beginning to form.

WST will also be situated much farther out in space than Hubble.

Hubble is placed in Earth’s orbit just 570,000 kilometres from the surface, but JWST will be placed an astonishing 1.5 million kilometres from Earth, meaning that if it breaks down while it is up there, it will not be able to be fixed.

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