NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captures images of two unusual galaxies

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has said that the Hubble Space Telescope returned to full science operations and captured images of two unusual galaxies.

The telescope's operations had been suspended for a month following a computer anomaly. When the main computer failed to receive a signal from the payload computer, it automatically placed Hubble’s science instruments into safe mode.

NASA released Hubble's images of a pair of interacting galaxies in the southern hemisphere, named ARP-MADORE2115-273 and ARP-MADORE0002-503.

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While the former is a rarely observed example of a pair of interacting galaxies in the southern hemisphere. The latter is a large spiral galaxy with unusual, extended spiral arms. While most disk galaxies have an even number of spiral arms, this one has three.

These snapshots, from a program led by Julianne Dalcanton of the University of Washington in Seattle, feature a galaxy with unusual extended spiral arms and the first high-resolution glimpse at an intriguing pair of colliding galaxies.

Other initial targets for Hubble included globular star clusters and aurorae on the giant planet Jupiter.

Hubble has taken more than 600,000 observations, bringing its lifetime total to more than 1.5 million.

“I’m thrilled to see that Hubble has its eye back on the universe, once again capturing the kind of images that have intrigued and inspired us for decades,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.

“This is a moment to celebrate the success of a team truly dedicated to the mission. Through their efforts, Hubble will continue its 32nd year of discovery, and we will continue to learn from the observatory’s transformational vision,” he added.

The Hubble was launched in 1990 and has become a crucial tool in space exploration, observing stars and galaxies from its orbit 350 miles (563 km) above Earth.

(With inputs from agencies)