Hubble captures colliding galaxies

Read more: space.newscientist.com Hubble images of colliding galaxies illustrate different stages of the violent events; these are compared with a computer simulation (Courtesy of NASA/ESA/Hubble Heritage Team/stsci/AURA/A Evans/U of Virginia/NRAO/Stony Brook U/K Noll/J Westphal)

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The Hubble Deep Field: The Most Important Image Ever Taken

In 2003, the Hubble Space Telescope took the image of a millenium, an image that shows our place in the universe. Anyone who understands what this image represents, is forever changed by it. How Can the universe be 78 billion LY across? I explain that in this article: www.deepastronomy.com There is also a link to a science paper on the topic, that paper actually states 96 billion LY. arxiv.org

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Facts About Hubble

There is no other space telescope that has brought humanity a key understanding of the beauty in our universe than the one and only Hubble Space Telescope. The Hubble Space Telescope a space telescope with many achievements, and facts. As you read this article, you will learn some interesting facts about the Hubble Space Telescope that orbits Earth.

::: Why Is The Hubble Space Telescope Called Hubble? :::

This is a question that many people have, and want to know why it is called the Hubble Space Telescope. Well the Hubble name is not a scientific term! Though it is attributed with someone import in the field of science. And that is Edwin Hubble.

Edwin Hubble an American astronomer was a doctor who confirmed that the universe is indeed expanding. Edwin Hubble who was born 1889 and lived to 1953, is an important part of what has become the big bang theory. The big bang theory being that the universe started with literally a big bang (13.7 billion years ago), and expanded to what we have today.

::: Key Dates For The Hubble Space Telescope :::

The Hubble Space Telescope was launched on 24 April 1990. The cost was $1.5 billion US dollars, and required the help of hundreds of people to make it so.

Having launched the Hubble Space Telescope on the 24 of April 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope was deployed the next day on April 25 1990. The designated amount of time for the mission was 20 years; which makes the Hubble Space Telescope to come to decommissioning about the year 2010.

The Hubble Space Telescope also has had some important servicing missions. Servicing mission 1 began on December 1993. The second servicing mission – servicing mission 2 began on February 1997. The third servicing mission – called Servicing mission 3A, began on December 1999. And the last servicing mission for the Hubble Space Telescope was on February 2002, and was called Servicing mission 3B.

::: Some More Amazing Facts About The Hubble Space Telescope :::

The Hubble Space Telescope moves at a speed of 5 miles per second, around the planet Earth! It only takes the Hubble Space Telescope 97 minutes to make 1 revolution around the planet Earth. And the Hubble Space Telescope has a speed of 17,500 mph! Nothing on land and sea can approach those speeds, currently that we know of.

The Hubble Space Telescope can look at everything, within its limitations, but it can not view the Mercury or the Sun.

The first image that the Hubble Space Telescope took a picture of, was a star cluster. On the 20th of May 1990, less than a month of being deployed, the Hubble Space Telescope took a picture of Star Cluster NGC 3532. The NGC 3532 star cluster got its nickname “The Wishing Well Cluster” because the twinkling stars in this Open Cluster resembles silver coins shimmering at the bottom of a Wishing Well.

The Hubble Space Telescope has given us so many beautiful pictures of the objects in our universe. With so many discoveries, it is a shame that the Hubble Space Telescope will be decommissioned over the next few years. However, NASA is planning on a new project that will surpass the Hubble Space Telescope, though this is one that will not be taking optical pictures.

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Hubble and James Webb Search for the Edge

Its price tag was 500 million dollars in 1990. It certainly was a lot of money to pay for a telescope that circled the Earth and could not focus. A faulty mirror on the Hubble was the reason the expensive space telescope could not see. The Hubble would quickly become an object of ridicule and the subject of numerous jokes on late night television.

In 1993, astronauts repaired that faulty mirror on the Hubble. Fifteen years later, it is very safe to say that nobody is laughing now. In fact, even though the cost of the telescope has eclipsed 5 billion dollars, it has become a very inexpensive investment in astronomy and our understanding of outer space through time.

For more than a decade, the Hubble telescope has captured many of the most spectacular images of outer space. In addition, it has enabled direct observation of the Universe as it was billions of years ago, discovered black holes at the center of galaxies, provided measurements that helped establish the size and age of the Universe, and offered evidence that the expansion of the Universe is actually accelerating.

However, even though the final planned servicing mission for the telescope is scheduled for October of this year, the Hubble’s best pictures of the Universe may be yet to come. The Hubble is about to receive a powerful upgrade in capability during an eleven day shuttle mission that will feature five space walks. The space walks will be necessary for astronauts to install new scientific instruments to enhance the telescope. NASA intends for the Hubble Telescope to get a wider, more distant, and sharper view of objects.

During the mission, the Hubble will receive a new set of the gyroscopes that will stabilize the telescope, and batteries and thermal blankets to extend Hubble’s operational life until at least the year 2013. In addition, a degrading Fine Guidance Sensor unit, one of three aboard Hubble, will be replaced with a refurbished unit to help maintain the telescope’s ability to point and focus on astronomical objects throughout the Universe.

The Hubble Telescope is responsible for dating the age of the Universe at 12-14 billion years. However, it cannot see back that far in time. It cannot see the period after the big bang when the Universe began an expansion that continues to accelerate to this day. It is important for our increased understanding of the Universe that scientists now see that time in distant space. The years after the Big Bang are known for the formation of the first stars and the creation of the first galaxies. In effect, to see this happen is a scientific search for the edge of the Universe. It is a search that will be undertaken by Hubble’s successor, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

The successor to Hubble, scheduled for launch in 2013, will be designed to see objects even farther in distance, and therefore time, than the Hubble now can. However, in order for the James Webb Space Telescope to see objects at the edge of the Universe after the Big Bang, it will need to be a much different telescope than the Hubble.

Therefore, in 2013, an unmanned spacecraft will release the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) into an orbit 930,000 miles away from Earth. This distance puts the telescope well beyond the reach of space shuttle servicing missions, and therefore the telescope is expected to have a much shorter life than the Hubble.

After entering its orbit, a light shield the size of a tennis court will unfold to hide the JWST from the light of the sun. Finally, powerful cooling systems will help to dramatically lower the spacecraft’s temperature to a -447 degrees Fahrenheit in order to be cold enough to complete its mission.

The James Webb telescope will carry three different types of cameras, all tuned to detect infrared light, which is invisible to the human eye. In contrast, the Hubble was equipped to capture mostly visible light and ultraviolet parts of the spectrum. This difference in light spectrum is due to the fact that the further astronomers look back in time, the redder the light from objects appears to be. Scientist call this phenomenon red shift, and it means that light from the most distant (and therefore oldest) object is deep in the infrared part of the light spectrum, a part of the light ectrum which the Hubble is currently unable to see.

The James Webb Telescope’s primary goal will be to see what happened when the Universe created its first light when it was about one billion years old. It is hoped that the telescope will allow astronomers to observe the birth of galaxies, the physics of star and planet formation, and the entire early development of the Universe. The information might also provide answers about how other solar systems form and evolve.

Hubble was the trailblazer in the search of outer space through time. James Webb is designed to look further back to the point of first light. It is a scientific search to see the edge of the Universe, a view from the distant past that will increase our understanding of space, for the world of tomorrow.

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The Hubble Telescope Pictures Space Through Time

It has been seventeen years since the launch of the Hubble Telescope. The cost to the United States and the European Union was originally projected at about 500 million dollars. The program’s costs are now estimated to be over 5 billion dollars. The Hubble’s costs were criticized prior to its launch and the early problems with the telescope’s imaging system further hurt the public’s initial perception of the project.

However, the problems of the Hubble mission have long been corrected. In addition, the early critics were wrong as the cost of the project has provided an incredible return on money spent. The ongoing Hubble mission has provided a source of information to the world’s scientific community that could not have been obtained through any telescope on Earth. Indeed, over the last decade, the Hubble Telescope has delivered hundreds of amazing pictures from the farthest reaches of the Universe.

One reason that the cost of the Hubble is so high is that it is the only telescope ever designed to be serviced in orbit 330 miles above the Earth by astronauts. To date, there have been four servicing missions, with a fifth and final mission event planned for September 2008. In the launch of the fifth space shuttle mission to the Hubble Space Telescope, seven astronauts are scheduled to repair and improve the observatory’s capabilities. The mission will make the telescope operational through the year 2013.

Of course, the reason for the final mission and the extension of the Hubble Telescope’s capability is the incredible scientific success of the project over the last fifteen years. Hubble does not travel to stars, planets, and galaxies. It snaps pictures of them as it orbits the Earth. The pictures that the Hubble Telescope has stored and transmitted to Earth have resolved some long standing problems in astronomy. It has also created questions that require scientists to produce new theories of explanation.

Consider that the Hubble Telescope has looked through space to provide pictures of regions where gas, dust, and other materials combined to form stars thousands of years ago. These star forming areas are called nebula by scientists. The remaining materials after a star is born are believed to further expand and form planets. Pictures provided by the Hubble Telescope have given scientists an improved understanding of the processes inside a nebula. Hubble has provided incredible pictures from space of the Ant Nebula, Eskimo Nebula, Cats Eye Nebula, Cone Nebula, Perfect Storm Nebula and Triffid Nebula.

The Hubble Telescope has also greatly expanded scientists understanding of black holes. Scientists have theorized that black holes have a deep and profound connection with galaxies. Work conducted with the Hubble indicates that black holes are probably common to the centers of all galaxies. Hubble has also established that the masses of the nuclear black holes and properties of the galaxies are closely related.

Hubble is responsible for the dating of the age of the Universe at 12-14 billion years. This is a much closer date than the 10 to 20 billion year range that scientists estimated prior to the Hubble launch.

While Hubble helped to refine estimates of the age of the Universe, it also cast doubt on theories about its future. Astronomers used the telescope to observe distant supernovae and uncovered evidence that, far from decelerating under the influence of gravity, the expansion of the Universe may in fact be accelerating. This acceleration was later measured more accurately by other ground-based and space-based telescopes which confirmed Hubble’s finding, but the cause of this acceleration is currently very poorly understood.

The ultimate legacy of Hubble may well be the Hubble Deep Field and the Hubble Ultra Deep Field images. The images of distant galaxies, around ten billion years ago, were a result of Hubble’s unmatched sensitivity at visible wavelengths to create images. These images have generated many scientific papers and provided a new window into the development of the Universe.

Hubble also teamed up with a fleet of X-ray, gamma-ray, and visible-light observatories in a quest to analyze the sources of gamma-ray bursts. Gamma-ray bursts may represent the most powerful explosions in the Universe since the Big Bang. Before 1997 astronomers were stumped: although they had observed more than 2,000 “bursts,” they couldn’t determine whether these fireballs occurred in our galaxy or at remote distances. Hubble images showed clearly that the bursts actually reside in far away galaxies rife with star formation.

The Hubble has given us pictures of merging galaxies, asteroids, new galaxies, the rings around Uranus, and other planets. It has given scientists insights into star formation and star death. The Hubble Deep Field has produced pictures of distant galaxies nearly ten billion years ago. Hubble has produced information on Black Holes, Gamma-Ray bursts, as well as other scientific mysteries of the Universe.

To date, the Hubble’s contribution to astronomy and science has been astounding. The understanding of the origins and functions of the Universe increase with each picture.

In 2008, astronauts will install upgraded equipment which will would boost the telescope’s observing capability by at least a factor of 10. Pictures from the Hubble Telescope will continue until the year 2013.

After 2013, the James Webb Telescope will replace the Hubble in space. Until then, scientists and astronomers throughout the world should continue to be amazed by the pictures transmitted by the Hubble Telescope as it continues to picture space through time.

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The Last Mission to the Hubble Telescope

The Hubble has given us pictures of merging galaxies, asteroids, new galaxies, the rings around Uranus, and other planets. It has given scientists insights into star formation and star death. The Hubble Deep Field has produced pictures of distant galaxies nearly ten billion years ago. Hubble has produced information on Black Holes and Gamma-Ray bursts, as well as other scientific mysteries of the Universe.

In fact, the news of pictures of distant space taken by the Hubble Telescope has now become a common occurrence. In fact, a recently released Hubble picture by NASA called “Clash Of Clusters” has provided new scientific evidence of the mysterious material in the Universe known as “dark matter”.

“Clash Of Clusters” is just the latest Hubble success story in a remarkable record that has now spanned seventeen years. Over the years, the pictures that the Hubble Telescope has stored and transmitted to Earth have helped resolve some long standing questions in astronomy.

Hubble is also responsible for the dating of the age of the Universe at 12-14 billion years. This is a much closer date than the 10 to 20 billion year range that scientists estimated prior to the Hubble launch.

Indeed, the Hubble Telescope’s contribution to our understanding of the Universe has been remarkable. That is why the last NASA mission to the Hubble Telescope is a final opportunity for NASA to revitalize the Telescope. In fact, the final servicing mission is intended to enhance Hubble’s capabilities until it is replaced by its successor, the James Webb Telescope in about five years.

The NASA Mission is currently scheduled for launch on October 8, 2008. Veteran Shuttle Commander Scott Altman and astronauts Megan McArthur, Michael Good, Gregory C. Johnson, John Grunsfeld, Michael Massimino, and Andrew Feuste will use the Atlantis Orbiter for the Hubble Mission.

The astronauts will transport 23,000 pounds of hardware to the Hubble Telescope. The eleven-day shuttle mission will feature five dangerous space walks. The space walks will be necessary so that astronauts can install two new science instruments, the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph and Wide Field Camera 3 to enhance the telescope.

The Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS), is a new spectroscope that will study the large-scale structure of the Universe and how galaxies, stars, and planets form and evolve. The Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3), is a new camera that will study early and distant galaxies that are currently beyond Hubble’s reach, as well as galaxies in our own cosmic neighborhood.

In addition to the new equipment, another important goal of the Mission is to repair equipment that is out of service and in need of repair. During the Mission, the ACS and STIS scientific instruments are scheduled to be repaired in place on the Hubble Telescope. The repair of the equipment will be a difficult aspect of the Servicing Mission since the equipment was not designed for complicated repairs in space.

The Hubble Telescope will also receive a new set of gyroscopes that will stabilize the telescope, and batteries and thermal blankets will be replaced to extend Hubble’s operational life until at least the year 2013.

In addition, a degrading Fine Guidance Sensor unit, one of three aboard Hubble, will be replaced with a refurbished unit to help maintain the telescope’s ability to point and focus on astronomical objects throughout the Universe. A successful completion of the Mission will result in the Hubble Telescope’s ability to get a wider, more distant, and sharper view of objects.

NASA intends to upgrade the Hubble Telescope, so that it will have more capability than ever before. It is a servicing mission with considerable danger to the astronauts, but one that has the potential to provide science and astronomy with dramatic rewards.

It is NASA’s final mission to the remarkable Telescope and the hope is that, with an enhanced Hubble, there will be more amazing pictures and discoveries of the Universe in the years immediately ahead.

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Hubble Space Telescope – Chapter 1

Part 1 in a series of videos produced by the ESA for public distribution about the Hubble Space Telescope and much more. This video is Copyright Free material with some restrictions. Find out more at: www.spacetelescope.org

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