Issue #11 (April 2015)
Celestial fireworks mark Hubble’s 25th
The brilliant tapestry of young stars flaring to life resemble a glittering fireworks display in the 25th anniversary Hubble Space Telescope image, released to commemorate a quarter century of exploring the solar system and beyond. “Hubble has completely transformed our view of the universe, revealing the true beauty and richness of the cosmos” said John …
Hubble’s Top 100 images
During its 25 years of peering out at the farthest depths of the Universe, the Hubble Space Telescope has enabled humanity to witness countless amazing sites from here on Earth. Here we present the Hubble Top 100 list. It has been compiled, and is regularly reviewed, by staff of ESA/Hubble. A couple of quick notes …
Hubble Space Telescope: Showing humanity the Universe for 25 years
Since launching in 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has awed and inspired the public with a dazzling array of images. More than just pretty pictures, Hubble has collected 25 years of data, providing unprecedented views and insights into the universe. By observing objects from neighboring planets to the most distant galaxies, Hubble has captured …
Hubble’s greatest discoveries
During its 25 year long mission the Hubble Space Telescope has changed our view of the Universe significantly. Some of the most ground-breaking discoveries made in astronomy in the 20th century were made by Hubble, which allows astronomers to better understand the world we live in and investigate its mysteries even further. The Hubble Deep …
Edwin P. Hubble: The man behind the name
When talking about the Hubble Space Telescope one man is often forgotten: That man who gave the space telescope its name: Edwin Powell Hubble. Today, most astronomers see him as the most important observational cosmologist in the 20th century and he played a crucial role in establishing the field of extragalactic astronomy. As a result …
How they do it: Processing Hubble images from B&W into stunning full-color
Everyone has seen the dramatic images produced by the Hubble Telescope from the iconic Pillars of Creation to the hundreds of galaxies in one shot, but how are these images created? The Hubble Telescope captures images in monochrome, just like the old black and white photographs with no color, but the images we see are …
Hubble, bubble, toil and trouble
Vocabulary • Focal Length: The distance between a curved mirror and its Focal Point • Focal Point: The position where all reflected light inside the telescope focuses to a point of light • Focal Surface: The place where the Focal Point converges to • Primary Mirror: The larger of the two curved mirrors that reflect …
Making house calls to Hubble
Servicing Mission 1 STS-61 Endeavour • December 2-13, 1993 Servicing Mission 1, launched in December 1993, was the first opportunity to conduct planned maintenance on the telescope. In addition, new instruments were installed and the optics of the flaw in Hubble’s primary mirror was corrected. After Hubble’s deployment in 1990, scientist realized that the telescope’s …
STS-125 Mission: Last visit to Hubble
For a mission that was almost never to be, STS-125 will be remembered in years to come as a resounding success story, one of NASA’s great missions and a tribute to the ingenuity of engineers and astronauts alike. Rejuvenating the world’s most famous telescope and setting it free to make more scientific discoveries the mission …
An explosive quartet: Supernova ‘multiplied’ by galaxy
Whilst looking closely at a massive elliptical galaxy and its associated galaxy cluster MACS J1149+2223 — whose light took over 5 billion years to reach us — astronomers have spotted a strange and rare sight. The huge mass of the galaxy and the cluster is bending the light from a much more distant supernova behind …