NASA - Hubble Space Telescope updates

[jacqmans]

November 5, 2009:

The spectacular new camera installed on NASA's Hubble Space Telescope during Servicing Mission 4 in May has delivered the most detailed view of star birth in the graceful, curving arms of the nearby spiral galaxy M83.

http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2009/29/

[jacqmans]

MEDIA ADVISORY: M10-019

NASA ANNOUNCES NEWS TELECON TO DISCUSS HUBBLE IMAGES OF PLUTO

WASHINGTON -- NASA will hold a news media telecon at 1 p.m. EST on
Thursday, Feb. 4, to discuss the latest Hubble images of the distant
dwarf planet Pluto. These detailed images will help astronomers
better interpret more than three decades of Pluto observations from
other telescopes.

The panelists are:
-     Marc Buie, scientist, Southwest Research Institute, Boulder,
Colo.
-     Mike Brown, professor of planetary astronomy, Caltech, Pasadena,
Calif.

To reserve a telephone line, journalists should e-mail their name,
media affiliation and telephone number to J.D. Harrington at:


[email protected]


Audio of the teleconference will be streamed live at:


http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudio


For more information about NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, visit:


http://www.nasa.gov/hubble

[cd-slam]

The self-proclaimed "Pluto killer" himself.

Pity it's during working hours, hope it gets replayed on the video file later. Sounds interesting.

[DaveS]

The self-proclaimed "Pluto killer" himself.

Pity it's during working hours, hope it gets replayed on the video file later. Sounds interesting.

It's a media-teleconference, IE audio-only. Not on NASA TV. As usual, I guess any relevant material(s) will be released shortly before the teleconference begins.

[cd-slam]

How do you discuss new images of Pluto over an audio conference?

[dsmillman]

How do you discuss new images of Pluto over an audio conference?

You refer the listeners to a web page.

[marsavian]

Hubble spots Klingon Bird of Prey

http://news.discovery.com/space/asteroid-belt-hypervelocity-impact-hubble.html
http://news.discovery.com/space/asteroid-collision-hubble-xfiles.html
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2010/02feb_asteroidcollision.htm
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2010/feb/HQ_10-029_Hubble_asteroid.html

[DaveS]

How do you discuss new images of Pluto over an audio conference?

Easy, you tell everyone to download the teleconference materials.

[cd-slam]

And here they are:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/science/pluto-20100204.html

[I14R10]

And here they are:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/science/pluto-20100204.html

Somehow, I expected more, I thought that Hubble recently photographed Pluto, but this is also OK. Just wait until New Horizons passes by Pluto.

[eeergo]

And here they are:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/science/pluto-20100204.html

Somehow, I expected more, I thought that Hubble recently photographed Pluto, but this is also OK. Just wait until New Horizons passes by Pluto.

Well, considering the best available image until now was this:

http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/solar-system/pluto/1996/09/

I think it's pretty good progress! Further, they appear to have gained some insight into the frozen atmosphere dynamics.

[cd-slam]

Would love to see something like this for the new discoveries Eris, Sedna, Haumea, et al. But I noticed these photos were taken in 2002 and 2003 before these discoveries and new HST cameras are not as good.

So guess I'll have to wait until JWST is launched. Bring it on!

[seawolfe]

Remember that JWST isn't an optical telescope in the way "pretty pictures", JWST is only in the infrared if I recall.

[eeergo]

There's a nice animation showing the changes in Pluto's surface in this PS blog entry:

http://www.planetary.org/blog/article/00002334/

[marsavian]

Hubble snaps stunning pictures of Saturn edge-on with aurora duets at the planet's poles.

http://news.discovery.com/space/big-pic-saturn-hubble-view.html
http://news.discovery.com/videos/space-hubble-captures-saturns-aurorae.html

[eeergo]

Hubble snaps stunning pictures of Saturn edge-on with aurora duets at the planet's poles.

http://news.discovery.com/space/big-pic-saturn-hubble-view.html
http://news.discovery.com/videos/space-hubble-captures-saturns-aurorae.html

Wonderful views, especially enjoyed the movie and the aurora dynamics it showed. Thanks!

[robertross]

Hubble snaps stunning pictures of Saturn edge-on with aurora duets at the planet's poles.

http://news.discovery.com/space/big-pic-saturn-hubble-view.html
http://news.discovery.com/videos/space-hubble-captures-saturns-aurorae.html

Wicked views

So these views of Saturn only happen every 15 years, and they are requesting more time from Hubble to image this as it also coincides with Cassini observations. Hope they get the added time. Probably means a bump for some researcher, but it's all good.

[jacqmans]

Lockheed Martin-Built Hubble Space Telescope Marks 20 Years of Astronomical Discovery

22-Apr-2010 10:02 AM


SUNNYVALE, Calif., April 22, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ --NASA's Hubble Space Telescope (HST), built and integrated at the Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) Space Systems facility in Sunnyvale, was launched 20 years ago aboard Space Shuttle Discovery, on April 24, 1990, ushering in a new golden age of astronomy. HST was released by the crew into Earth orbit the next day and the universe hasn't looked the same since.

"HST has had a fundamental impact on astronomical research and how we view our universe. It is a source of enormous pride to us all that the HST originated at Lockheed Martin in 1977 when we were awarded the prime contract for building and integrating the spacecraft," said Joanne Maguire, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company (LMSSC). "We've been at NASA's side on this incredible journey ever since."

Since its launch in 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope has established itself as a premier astronomical observatory that continues to make dramatic observations and discoveries at the forefront of astronomy, while opening up the universe to the public through its beautiful and inspiring pictures. Among a long list of achievements:

Hubble's ability to detect faint supernovae contributed to the discovery that the expansion rate of the universe is accelerating, indicating the existence of mysterious "dark energy" in space.

Observations of Cepheid variable stars in nearby galaxies were used to establish the current expansion rate of the universe to better than 10 percent accuracy.

In 2009, Hubble provided our deepest view yet into the universe's distant past. The faintest and reddest objects in the image are galaxies that formed just 600 million years after the Big Bang. No galaxies have been seen before at such early times. This latest deep field view also provides insights into how galaxies grew in their formative years early in the universe's history.

Hubble provided the first direct measurements of the three-dimensional distribution of dark matter in space.

Peering into nearby regions of star birth in the Milky Way galaxy, Hubble has revealed flattened disks of gas and dust that are the likely birthplaces of new planets.

When Sun-like stars end their lives, they eject spectacular nebulae. Hubble has revealed fantastic and enigmatic details of this process.

Hubble made detailed measurements of a Jupiter-sized planet orbiting a nearby star, including the first detection of the atmosphere of an extra-solar planet.

The explosive collision of Comet P/Shoemaker-Levy 9 with Jupiter in 1994 gave Earthlings a cautionary tale of the danger posed by cometary impacts.

Hubble observations have shown that monster black holes, with masses millions to billions times the mass of our sun, inhabit the centers of most galaxies.

Hubble played a key role in determining the distances and energies of gamma-ray bursts, showing that they are the most powerful explosions in the universe other than the Big Bang itself.

During its 20 years in space, HST has traveled more than 2.97 billion miles along its orbit, taken more than 900,000 exposures of over 30,000 celestial objects that have generated over 8,842 peer reviewed scientific publications reporting Hubble results.

Hubble was conceived to tackle scientific goals that could be accomplished only by an observatory in space. Its mission was to spend at least 20 years probing the farthest and faintest reaches of the cosmos. Crucial to fulfilling this objective was a series of on-orbit servicing missions by Space Shuttle astronauts.

The First Servicing Mission took place in December 1993 and the Second Servicing Mission was flown in February 1997. In December 1999, Servicing Mission 3A was performed followed by Servicing Mission 3B in March 2002.

After years of arduous planning and rehearsing, the Space Shuttle Atlantis and the STS-125 crew launched successfully on May 11, 2009 and completed Servicing Mission 4, the final astronaut visit mission to the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope. In an incredible 13-day high wire ballet of humans and machines, the Atlantis crew retrieved, upgraded, sustained and repaired the telescope, then set it free to continue exploring the universe well into the next decade.

During the mission's five dramatic spacewalks, astronauts installed two new science instruments, repaired two others, replaced all six batteries and all six gyros, installed a new science data computer, attached a soft capture mechanism to the Telescope, and fitted new insulation panels to three of Hubble's equipment bays. The two new instruments the crew installed were the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph and the Wide Field Camera 3, both of which will significantly expand Hubble's astronomical observing capability by as much as 70 times.Each mission extended Hubble's scientific power with new instruments, modernized its systems with new technology, and performed critical maintenance and repairs.

"All of the past and present members of the HST team here at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), and in Sunnyvale and Denver, feel a profound sense of satisfaction as we look back on our roles in building, testing, deploying, operating and servicing this magnificent observatory," said Tony Cruz, Lockheed Martin Space Systems HST program manager. "It really is not boasting to say we've all helped make history with our contributions to HST and its continuing legacy."



The Lockheed Martin Hubble servicing mission team included individuals from Lockheed Martin Space Systems and Lockheed Martin Information Systems & Global Services and was responsible for:


Spacecraft Systems Engineering and Design Integration

Payload Integration and Test at GSFC and Kennedy Space Center

Astronaut Training Support

Replacement Satellite Hardware Design and Development

Space Shuttle Support Equipment Design and Development

Spacecraft Mission Operations and Control

Ground Software

Spacecraft Flight Software

Servicing Mission Planning and Timeline Development.



The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. manages the HST program for the Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters. The Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Md. selects observing programs from numerous proposals and analyzes, archives and disseminates incoming astronomical data. The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency.

Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company (LMSSC), a major operating unit of Lockheed Martin Corporation, designs and develops, tests, manufactures and operates a full spectrum of advanced-technology systems for national security and military, civil government and commercial customers. Chief products include human space flight systems; a full range of remote sensing, navigation, meteorological and communications satellites and instruments; space observatories and interplanetary spacecraft; laser radar; ballistic missiles; missile defense systems; and nanotechnology research and development.

[jacqmans]

RELEASE: 10-092

NASA'S STARRY-EYED HUBBLE TELESCOPE CELEBRATES 20 YEARS OF DISCOVERY

WASHINGTON -- As the Hubble Space Telescope achieves the major
milestone of two decades on orbit, NASA and the Space Telescope
Science Institute, or STScI, in Baltimore are celebrating Hubble's
journey of exploration with a stunning new picture and several online
educational activities. There are also opportunities for people to
explore galaxies as armchair scientists and send personal greetings
to Hubble for posterity.

NASA is releasing a new Hubble photo of a small portion of one of the
largest known star-birth regions in the galaxy, the Carina Nebula.
Three light-year-tall towers of cool hydrogen laced with dust rise
from the wall of the nebula. The scene is reminiscent of Hubble's
classic "Pillars of Creation" photo from 1995, but even more
striking.

To view the photo, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/hubble


NASA's best-recognized, longest-lived and most prolific space
observatory was launched April 24, 1990, aboard the space shuttle
Discovery during the STS-31 mission. Hubble discoveries
revolutionized nearly all areas of current astronomical research from
planetary science to cosmology.

Over the years, Hubble has suffered broken equipment, a bleary-eyed
primary mirror, and the cancellation of a planned shuttle servicing
mission. But the ingenuity and dedication of Hubble scientists,
engineers and NASA astronauts allowed the observatory to rebound and
thrive. The telescope's crisp vision continues to challenge
scientists and the public with new discoveries and evocative images.

"Hubble is undoubtedly one of the most recognized and successful
scientific projects in history," said Ed Weiler, associate
administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA
Headquarters in Washington. "Last year's space shuttle servicing
mission left the observatory operating at peak capacity, giving it a
new beginning for scientific achievements that impact our society."

Hubble fans worldwide are being invited to take an interactive journey
with Hubble by visiting http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/Hubble20/.
They can also visit http://www.hubblesite.org to share the ways the
telescope has affected them. Follow the "Messages to Hubble" link to
send an e-mail, post a Facebook message, or send a cell phone text
message. Fan messages will be stored in the Hubble data archive along
with the telescope's science data. For those who use Twitter, you can
follow @HubbleTelescope or post tweets using the Twitter hashtag
#hst20.

The public also will have an opportunity to become at-home scientists
by helping astronomers sort out the thousands of galaxies seen in a
Hubble deep field observation. STScI is partnering with the Galaxy
Zoo consortium of scientists to launch an Internet-based astronomy
project where amateur astronomers can peruse and sort galaxies from
Hubble's deepest view of the universe into their classic shapes:
spiral, elliptical, and irregular. Dividing the galaxies into
categories will allow astronomers to study how they relate to each
other and provide clues that might help scientists understand how
they formed.

To visit the Galaxy Zoo page, go to:

http://www.hubble.galaxyzoo.org

For educators and students, STScI is creating an educational website
called "Celebrating Hubble's 20th Anniversary." It offers links to
facts and trivia about Hubble, a news story that chronicles the
observatory's life and discoveries, and the IMAX "Hubble 3D"
educator's guide. An anniversary poster containing Hubble's
"hall-of-fame" images, including the Eagle Nebula and Saturn, also is
being offered with downloadable classroom activity information.

Visit the website at:

http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/hubble_20

To date, Hubble has observed more than 30,000 celestial targets and
amassed more than a half-million pictures in its archive. The last
astronaut servicing mission to Hubble in May 2009 made the telescope
100 times more powerful than when it was launched.
For Hubble 20th anniversary image files and more information, visit:

http://hubblesite.org/news/2010/13

http://www.spacetelescope.org/news/heic1007/


-end-

[jacqmans]

RELEASE: 10-167

NASA FINDS SUPER HOT PLANET WITH UNIQUE COMET-LIKE TAIL

WASHINGTON -- Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have
confirmed the existence of a baked object that could be called a
"cometary planet." The gas giant planet, named HD 209458b, is
orbiting so close to its star that its heated atmosphere is escaping
into space.

Observations taken with Hubble's Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS)
suggest powerful stellar winds are sweeping the cast-off atmospheric
material behind the scorched planet and shaping it into a comet-like
tail.

"Since 2003 scientists have theorized the lost mass is being pushed
back into a tail, and they have even calculated what it looks like,"
said astronomer Jeffrey Linsky of the University of Colorado in
Boulder, leader of the COS study. "We think we have the best
observational evidence to support that theory. We have measured gas
coming off the planet at specific speeds, some coming toward Earth.
The most likely interpretation is that we have measured the velocity
of material in a tail."

The planet, located 153 light years from Earth, weighs slightly less
than Jupiter but orbits 100 times closer to its star than the Jovian
giant. The roasted planet zips around its star in a short 3.5 days.
In contrast, our solar system's fastest planet, Mercury, orbits the
sun in 88 days. The extrasolar planet is one of the most intensely
scrutinized, because it is the first of the few known alien worlds
that can be seen passing in front of, or transiting, its star. Linsky
and his team used COS to analyze the planet's atmosphere during
transiting events.

During a transit, astronomers study the structure and chemical makeup
of a planet's atmosphere by sampling the starlight that passes
through it. The dip in starlight because of the planet's passage,
excluding the atmosphere, is very small, only about 1.5 percent. When
the atmosphere is added, the dip jumps to 8 percent, indicating a
bloated atmosphere.

COS detected the heavy elements carbon and silicon in the planet's
super-hot 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit atmosphere. This detection
revealed the parent star is heating the entire atmosphere, dredging
up the heavier elements and allowing them to escape the planet.

The COS data also showed the material leaving the planet was not all
traveling at the same speed. "We found gas escaping at high
velocities, with a large amount of this gas flowing toward us at
22,000 miles per hour," Linsky said. "This large gas flow is likely
gas swept up by the stellar wind to form the comet-like tail trailing
the planet."

Hubble's newest spectrograph has the ability to probe a planet's
chemistry at ultraviolet wavelengths not accessible to ground-based
telescopes. COS is proving to be an important instrument for probing
the atmospheres of "hot Jupiters" like HD 209458b.

Another Hubble instrument, the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph
(STIS), observed the planet in 2003. The STIS data showed an active,
evaporating atmosphere, and a comet-tail-like structure was suggested
as a possibility. But STIS wasn't able to obtain the spectroscopic
detail necessary to show a tail, or an Earthward-moving component of
the gas, during transits. The tail was detected for the first time
because of the unique combination of very high ultraviolet
sensitivity and good spectral resolution provided by COS.

Although this extreme planet is being roasted by its star, it won't be
destroyed anytime soon. "It will take about a trillion years for the
planet to evaporate," Linsky said.

The results appeared in the July 10 issue of The Astrophysical
Journal.

The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation
between NASA and the European Space Agency. NASA's Goddard Space
Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., manages the telescope. The Space
Telescope Science Institute, operated for NASA by the Association of
Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. in Washington, conducts
Hubble science operations.