Tech

The Hubble Space Telescope is celebrating 35 years in orbit with an amazing batch of new images, including everything from seasonal changes on Mars to a moth-shaped planetary nebula and a distant spiral galaxy. Hubble was deployed from the space shuttle Discovery on April 24, 1990, and has delivered unparalleled cosmic views from low Earth orbit. Its history as a tool for science and exploration has led to nearly 1.7 million observations, more than 22,000 peer-reviewed scientific papers, and about 400 terabytes of archival data. This data has continued to provide generations with glimpses of stunning views of distant and often dynamic universes.

Hubble Reveals Mars and a Celestial Moth in Dazzling 35th Anniversary Image Collection

According to a celebratory statement, officials at the European Space Agency (ESA), which jointly runs Hubble with NASA, lauded the observatory as a way to link the past and future knowledge of the cosmos. As per ESA, the updated slate was announced to celebrate the 35th year of the telescope, during which the instrument has proven it can uncover unseen beauty and detail in the cosmos. “No generation before Hubble ever saw such vibrant and far-reaching images,” ESA officials mentioned in the official blog post.

Among the newly unveiled images is a stunning pair of ultraviolet portraits of Mars taken in December 2023, when the Red Planet was about 60 million miles from Earth. The left image reveals the Tharsis volcanic plateau and Olympus Mons rising through thin water-ice clouds, while the right side captures the “shark fin” shape of Syrtis Major and high-altitude evening clouds, coinciding with spring’s arrival in Mars’s northern hemisphere.

Another image shows a haunting view of NGC 2899, a planetary nebula about 4,500 light-years away in the constellation Vela. Sculpted by a dying star and possibly two stellar companions, the nebula glows with hydrogen and oxygen. Its gaseous tendrils appear to point back toward a pair of white stars at the core, illuminating the violent winds and radiation shaping this celestial moth.

Hubble Captures Star Birth in Rosette Nebula and Distant Spiral Galaxy NGC 5335

In a close-up of the Rosette Nebula — a stellar nursery 5,200 light-years away — dark clouds of gas and dust are seen being carved by radiation from massive stars. A young star at the upper right is actively creating and ejecting jets of plasma, which glow bright red due to shock waves from their collision with surrounding gases.

The image shows a continuing process of star birth in a region spanning four light years, part of a much larger 100-light-year expanse. Hubble also snapped NGC 5335, a barred spiral galaxy found 225 million light-years away in the constellation of Virgo. This flocculent galaxy lacks clear spiral arms, instead featuring patchy bursts of star formation scattered across its disk.

A central bar channels gas inward, supporting new star formation in a galactic dance that astronomers say will continue for billions of years before reshaping again.

Despite being a vast and inhospitable planet today, scientists believe Mars, the Red Planet, used to look much like Earth, the Blue Planet. Over the last four years, NASA’s Perseverance rover has wandered across an area of Mars where researchers believe a powerful river once poured into a crater, forming a sizable delta. According to computer models, ancient Mars most likely had frequent snowfall and rain, which shaped the enormous networks of lakes and river basins. In the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, a recent study found that the distribution of these land characteristics is more consistent with precipitation models than with only the consequences of melting ice caps.

Investigating Early Martian Climate Through Modeling

The researchers published their findings April 21 in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets. According to the research by geologists at the University of Colorado in Boulder, our planetary neighbour, on average 140 million miles away in space, was warm and wet billions of years ago. This challenges a long-held belief that early Mars was mostly cold and icy. However, there’s a vital mystery buried in the story: It’s unclear where Mars’ water could have come from, and most climate models predict the world exhibits surface temperatures that are far too cold to sustain liquid water, raising questions about how those visible geological features could have formed.

“It’s very hard to make any kind of conclusive statement,” Amanda Steckel, a postdoctoral researcher at the California Institute of Technology’s Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, said in a statement. “But we see these valleys beginning at a large range of elevations. It’s hard to explain that with just ice,” she further added in the official blog posted by University of Colorado. 

Through computer simulations, Steckel and her team explored what Mars might have looked like during the Noachian epoch, when water may have drastically shaped the planet’s surface, some 4 billion years ago. Initially created for Earth, their model was modified to simulate how Mars’ landscape changed near the equator, where expansive channel networks extend from the highlands and drain into ancient lakes, possibly even an ocean. NASA’s Perseverance rover is currently exploring one of these sites, Jezero Crater, where a once-powerful river poured into the basin.

Comparing Climate Models and Implications for Planetary History

The group explored two major simulation models, the ice-melt model and the wet and warm model for how precipitation might have created the valleys on Mars: one in which the planet was warm and humid, and another in which ice briefly melted at the edge of a huge ice cap, signifying a cold, arid climate. With valley roots showing up in radically diverse places, each scenario produced a very different Mars.

Their goal was to determine whether ancient Mars may have had a more Earth-like climate, at least for a while. While more evidence is needed and answers to questions, such as how the planet stayed warm enough for rain or snow, are part of an ongoing investigation. Still, Hynek said the study offers valuable clues, not just about Mars, but about the early history of Earth as well.

SpaceX added to its growing Starlink mega-constellation with a launch to orbit and booster recovery. A Falcon 9 rocket launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Launch Complex-40 at 9:52 p.m. EDT (0152 GMT on April 25), carrying 28 new satellites into low Earth orbit. The spacecraft were stacked vertically inside the rocket’s nose cone, where they sat on the Falcon 9’s nine first-stage Merlin engine stack that blasted them into the sky over Florida’s Space Coast.

Falcon 9 Booster Lands on Droneship as 28 Starlink Satellites Reach Orbit

According to a SpaceX mission update, the Falcon 9’s first stage, booster B1069, separated from the upper stage about 2.5 minutes after launch. Roughly six minutes later, it executed a precise landing on the autonomous droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas, stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. This marked the 23rd successful flight for B1069 and the 19th time it supported a Starlink mission. The rocket’s second stage continued on its course, deploying the 28 satellites into low Earth orbit one hour into the mission.

These satellites come as new additions to the mission (Starlink 6-74), which is now amplifying an extensive network of no less than 7000+ operational units established in orbit. Starlink’s gates are inching open, as each new flight strengthens global service, and the company aims to beam high-speed internet to nearly every location on Earth, except the polar region. In the days to come, the new arrivals will gradually drift into their assigned orbital slots.

SpaceX Marks 47th Falcon 9 Launch, Expands Global Starlink Coverage

SpaceX is still maintaining a breakneck launch tempo for 2025, with Thursday’s flight being the 47th Falcon 9 mission of the year and the 30th carrying Starlink satellites only. The timeline reflects the firm’s determination to broaden satellite broadband deployment, particularly to rural and poorly served parts of the world. Each new batch enhances service reliability and builds resilience into the constellation’s structure.

The Starlink program continues to reshape global internet accessibility, backed by the Falcon 9’s proven reusability and precision recovery. As they tick off their successful booster landing and payload deployment, SpaceX continues to redefine both space travel logistics and satellite-powered access on Earth.

Landline, a thriller-based genre story which is led by Zainab Balogun, is now available for streaming on popular OTT platform in India. The movie is directed by Dele Doherty and produced in collaboration with Prime Video. The director Doherty saved this production by showing Prime Video a pitch of three minutes video to ignite curiosity. This actually worked, and the OTT agreed to its production in 2022. The shoot of the film was completed within eight days. This psychological thriller is a unique concept to watch.

Where and When to Watch Landline

This awaited thriller genre movie has been released on April 25, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video. After its first glimpse on April 3, 2025, there has been a lot of buzz on social media about it. 

Trailer and Plot of Landline

The trailer delves into a call by a pregnant woman who is talking to her husband, Kola, a military sergeant, asking for his company till she falls asleep on the phone. Her husband couldn’t be with her for around two months. She hangs up to attend to someone at the door who rang the bell.

As she opens the door, there is someone with a gun pointing at her head. Meanwhile, her husband receives a call from her, and then she again says the same thing that she had already said. Further, when she told her husband there was someone inside attacking her, her husband tried to help her. This film takes us into a glimpse of a mysterious thriller by toggling our minds.

Cast and Crew of Landline

The cast of Landline features Zainab Balogun and Gabriella Lucia in the lead, directed and written by Dele Doherty. The film has also been produced by Doherty in collaboration with Prime. The performances of all the stars under a minimalist backdrop are exceptional.

Reception and Buzz of Landline

Although the film has gained good attention as one of the most anticipated Nollywood movies of this month. It has a mysterious theme where the line blurs between trust and deception. Earlier reactions are intriguing due to the time loops and psychological pressure.

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who’sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Vivo X200 FE to Launch in India Soon With Purported Dimensity 9400e Chip, 6.31-inch OLED Display: Report