The Hubble Space Telescope released newly processed images on Friday – each of the galaxies, star clusters and nebulae imaged can be seen through a telescope in the backyard.
They won’t look as great as these Hubble photos, but they can be spotted. Some can be seen binoculars or with the naked eye.
The newly processed images were released as a late celebration of their 30th birthday. Hubble celebrated its 30th birthday on April 24th.
More on 30 years in space: Hubble still sends out images that remove the flash of stars
The items shown in the newly released photos are part of a group known as the Caldwell Catalog. According to a NASA press release, the catalog was compiled by the British amateur astronomer and science reporter Sir Patrick Caldwell Moore. It was published by Sky & Telescope magazine in December 1995.
Caldwell’s catalog was inspired by Messier’s. Messier’s catalog was compiled by French comet hunter Charles Messier and includes 110 relatively bright but enigmatic objects one of which could be mistaken for comets. Caldwell’s catalog highlights 109 galaxies, star clusters, and nebulae that are not included in Messier’s catalog but are also bright enough for amateur astronomers to see.
With newly released images, captured throughout Hubble’s career but not preprocessed and released to the public, Hubble’s collection includes 87 of 109 Caldwell’s creatures. For each list in Hubble’s Caldwell Catalog, a star chart shows when and where this object can be found in the night sky.