NASA - Hubble Space Telescope updates

[jacqmans]

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope is back in business with a snapshot of the fascinating galaxy pair Arp 147. The science operations were resumed on 25 October 2008, four weeks after a problem with the science data formatter took the spacecraft into safe mode.

Read more at:
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMQOV5BXMF_index_0.html

[rdale]

...and it's part of today's NASA TV Video File too...

[rdale]

Flash Report: NICMOS Recovery to Boot

As of 301/13:03:15.791 UTC, NICMOS successfully completed its stored command recovery to Boot mode via the SA301 SMS.

Flash Report: ESM/PCE Recovery

As of 301/18:12 UTC, Ops Request 18342 has been successfully completed, returning the ESM to its nominal Operate status with the PCE powered on, and placing the NCS CPL in its Standby state. This condition yields far greater telemetry insight into the NCS as a whole than in Safe.

Flash Report: NICMOS Recovery to SAA Operate

As of 302/11:59:47 UTC, NICMOS successfully completed its stored command recovery to SAA Operate mode via the SA301 SMS.

[rdale]

Hubble Status Report
11.04.08
 
Science observations using Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 2 and the Advanced Camera for Surveys’ Solar Blind Channel began last week, and a full schedule of observations are planned for this week.

Hubble engineers remain on track to restart the NICMOS cryocooler around mid-November.

Hubble engineers completed initial testing on Side B of the spare Science Instrument Command and Data Handling (SI/C&DH) system, currently in the cleanroom at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. Over the weekend the team continued troubleshooting the intermittent problem with Side A.

[rdale]

Per yesterday's presser - investigation of new box done by December.

Initial checkout says it is better than box on HST now, so even if nothing changes it's a good enough box for us to fly, so pretty high chance to make it in May.

[jacqmans]

Two of our galaxy's most massive stars, until recently shrouded in mystery, have been viewed by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, unveiling greater detail than ever before.

More at:
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMWHR5DHNF_index_0.html

[jacqmans]

IMAGE ADVISORY: 2008 230                                                                     
Dec. 9, 2008

Hubble Telescope Finds Carbon Dioxide on an Extrasolar Planet

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has discovered carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of a planet orbiting another star. This breakthrough is an important step toward finding chemical biotracers of extraterrestrial life.

The Jupiter-sized planet, called HD 189733b, is too hot for life. But the Hubble observations are a proof-of-concept demonstration that the basic chemistry for life can be measured on planets orbiting other stars. Organic compounds also can be a by-product of life processes, and their detection on an Earthlike planet someday may provide the first evidence of life beyond our planet.

Previous observations of HD 189733b by Hubble and NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope found water vapor. Earlier this year, Hubble found methane in the planet's atmosphere.

"Hubble was conceived primarily for observations of the distant universe, yet it is opening a new era of astrophysics and comparative planetary science," said Eric Smith, Hubble Space Telescope program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "These atmospheric studies will begin to determine the compositions and chemical processes operating on distant worlds orbiting other stars. The future for this newly opened frontier of science is extremely promising as we expect to discover many more molecules in exoplanet atmospheres."

Mark Swain, a research scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., used Hubble's near-infrared camera and multi-object spectrometer to study infrared light emitted from the planet, which lies 63 light-years away. Gases in the planet's atmosphere absorb certain wavelengths of light from the planet's hot glowing interior. Swain identified carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. The molecules leave a unique spectral fingerprint on the radiation from the planet that reaches Earth. This is the first time a near-infrared emission spectrum has been obtained for an exoplanet.

"The carbon dioxide is the main reason for the excitement because, under the right circumstances, it could have a connection to biological activity as it does on Earth," Swain said. "The very fact we are able to detect it and estimate its abundance is significant for the long-term effort of characterizing planets to find out what they are made of and if they could be a possible host for life."

This type of observation is best done on planets with orbits tilted edge-on to Earth. They routinely pass in front of and then behind their parent stars, phenomena known as eclipses. The planet HD 189733b passes behind its companion star once every 2.2 days. The eclipses allow an opportunity to subtract the light of the star alone, when the planet is blocked, from that of the star and planet together prior to eclipse. That isolates the emission of the planet and makes possible a chemical analysis of its atmosphere.

"In this way, we are using the eclipse of the planet behind the star to probe the planet's day side, which contains the hottest portions of its atmosphere," said team member Guatam Vasisht of JPL. "We are starting to find the molecules and to figure out how many there are to see the changes between the day side and the night side."

This successful demonstration of looking at near-infrared light emitted from a planet is very encouraging for astronomers planning to use NASA's James Webb Space Telescope after it is launched in 2013. These biomarkers are best seen at near-infrared wavelengths. Astronomers look forward to using the Webb telescope to look spectroscopically for biomarkers on a terrestrial planet the size of Earth or a "super-Earth" several times our planet's mass. 

"The Webb telescope should be able to make much more sensitive measurements of these primary and secondary eclipse events," Swain said.

More information about the Hubble space telescope is at http://www.nasa.gov/hubble .

 

[jacqmans]

RELEASE: 09-020

NASA INVITES PUBLIC TO CHOOSE HUBBLE'S NEXT DISCOVERY

WASHINGTON -- NASA is giving everyone the opportunity to use the
world's most celebrated telescope to explore the heavens and boldly
look where the Hubble Space Telescope has never looked before.

NASA is inviting the public to vote for one of six candidate
astronomical objects for Hubble to observe in honor of the
International Year of Astronomy. The options, which Hubble has not
previously photographed, range from far-flung galaxies to dying
stars. Votes can be cast until March 1. Hubble's camera will make a
high resolution image revealing new details about the object that
receives the most votes. The image will be released during the
International Year of Astronomy's "100 Hours of Astronomy" from April
2 to 5.

Space enthusiasts can cast their vote at:



http://YouDecide.Hubblesite.org


Everyone who votes also will be entered into a random drawing to
receive one of 100 copies of the Hubble photograph made of the
winning celestial body.

NASA also invites teachers and students to participate in an
accompanying Hubble Space Telescope classroom collage activity that
integrates art, science and language arts. Students in participating
classes will select their favorite Hubble images and assemble them in
a collage. Students in each class also will choose their favorite
object from the image voting contest and write essays about why they
made their selections.

The Hubble Space Telescope, launched in 1990, was designed so that it
can be repaired in space by astronauts. The next servicing mission to
the telescope is targeted to launch on space shuttle Atlantis May 12,
2009. Mission objectives include extending Hubble's operational life
by five years, repairing its out-of-commission instruments and
enhancing its scientific power. To do so, astronauts will replace
gyroscopes and batteries on the telescope, repair the Space Telescope
Imaging Spectrograph and the Advanced Camera for Surveys and install
two new instruments -- the Wide Field Camera 3 and the Cosmic Origins
Spectrograph.

For more information about the servicing mission, visit:

http://hubble.nasa.gov/missions/sm4.php

[jacqmans]

A new Hubble image shows three galaxies locked in a gravitational tug-of-war that may result in the eventual demise of one of them.

More at:
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM5S9CDNRF_index_0.html

[jacqmans]

IMAGE ADVISORY: 2009-051                                                       March 17, 2009

Quadruple Saturn Moon Transit Snapped by Hubble

PASADENA, Calif. -- On Feb. 24, 2009, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope took a photo of four moons of Saturn passing in front of their parent planet. The pictures were taken by the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2, developed and built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

In the new view, the giant orange moon Titan casts a large shadow onto Saturn's north polar hood. Below Titan, near the ring plane and to the left, is the moon Mimas, casting a much smaller shadow onto Saturn's equatorial cloud tops. Farther to the left, and off Saturn's disk, are the bright moons Dione and the fainter Enceladus.

These rare moon transits only happen when the tilt of Saturn's ring plane is nearly "edge on" as seen from Earth. Saturn's rings will be perfectly edge on to our line of sight on Aug. 10, 2009, and Sept. 4, 2009. Unfortunately, Saturn will be too close to the sun to be seen by viewers on Earth at that time. This "ring plane crossing" occurs every 14 to 15 years. In 1995 to 1996, Hubble witnessed the ring plane crossing event as well as many moon transits, and even helped discover several new moons of Saturn.

The banded structure in Saturn's atmosphere is similar to Jupiter's.

Early 2009 was a favorable time for viewers with small telescopes to watch moon and shadow transits crossing the face of Saturn. Titan, Saturn's largest moon, crossed Saturn on four separate occasions: January 24, February 9, February 24, and March 12, although not all events were visible from all locations on Earth.

These pictures were taken with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 on Feb. 24, 2009, when Saturn was roughly 1.25 billion kilometers (775 million miles) from Earth. Hubble can see details as small as 300 kilometers (190 miles) across on Saturn. The dark band running across the face of the planet slightly above the rings is the shadow of the rings cast on the planet.

For images, video, and more information, visit http://hubblesite.org/news/2009/12 and http://heritage.stsci.edu/2009/12 .

[jacqmans]

RELEASE: 09-176

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE CAPTURES RARE JUPITER COLLISION

BALTIMORE -- NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has taken the sharpest
visible-light picture yet of atmospheric debris from an object that
collided with Jupiter on July 19. NASA scientists decided to
interrupt the recently refurbished observatory's checkout and
calibration to take the image of a new, expanding spot on the giant
planet on July 23.

Discovered by Australian amateur astronomer Anthony Wesley, the spot
was created when a small comet or asteroid plunged into Jupiter's
atmosphere and disintegrated. The only other time such a feature has
been seen on Jupiter was 15 years ago after the collision of
fragments from comet Shoemaker-Levy 9.

"Because we believe this magnitude of impact is rare, we are very
fortunate to see it with Hubble," said Amy Simon-Miller of NASA's
Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "Details seen in the
Hubble view shows a lumpiness to the debris plume caused by
turbulence in Jupiter's atmosphere."

The new Hubble images also confirm that a May servicing visit by space
shuttle astronauts was a big success.

"This image of the impact on Jupiter is fantastic," said U.S. Sen.
Barbara A. Mikulski, D-Md., chairwoman of the Commerce, Justice and
Science Appropriations Subcommittee. "It tells us that our astronauts
and the ground crew at the Goddard Space Flight Center successfully
repaired the Hubble telescope. I'm so proud of them and I can't wait
to see what's next from Hubble."

For the past several days, Earth-based telescopes have been trained on
Jupiter. To capture the unfolding drama 360 million miles away, Matt
Mountain, director of the Space Telescope Science Institute in
Baltimore, gave observation time to a team of astronomers led by
Heidi Hammel of the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.

"Hubble's truly exquisite imaging capability has revealed an
astonishing wealth of detail in the impact site," Hammel said. "By
combining these images with our ground-based data at other
wavelengths, our Hubble data will allow a comprehensive understanding
of exactly what is happening to the impact debris."

Simon-Miller estimated the diameter of the impacting object was the
size of several football fields. The force of the explosion on
Jupiter was thousands of times more powerful than the suspected comet
or asteroid that exploded over the Siberian Tunguska River Valley in
June 1908.

The image was taken with the Wide Field Camera 3. The new camera,
installed by the astronauts aboard space shuttle Atlantis in May, is
not yet fully calibrated. While it is possible to obtain celestial
images, the camera's full power has yet to be seen.

"This is just one example of what Hubble's new, state-of-the-art
camera can do, thanks to the STS-125 astronauts and the entire Hubble
team," said Ed Weiler, associate administrator of NASA's Science
Mission Directorate in Washington. "However, the best is yet to
come."

To view the image and obtain more information about Jupiter's new
spot, visit:



http://www.nasa.gov/hubble

[jacqmans]

The checkout and calibration of the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has been interrupted to aim the recently refurbished observatory at a new expanding spot on the giant planet Jupiter. The spot, caused by the impact of a comet or an asteroid, is changing from day to day in the planet’s cloud tops.

More at:
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMY3AE3GXF_index_0.html

[rdale]

Hubble is getting closer to completing the calibrations for most of its instruments.

The Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) still has a few checkouts to complete, but it is now taking science images on a regular basis. STIS is completing its work in support of Hubble’s Early Release Observations (EROs), which will be shared with the public in September. The Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) is in the final phases of its calibrations for both its near-ultraviolet and far-ultraviolet channels.

The cooling system for the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) has cooled the instrument down to operational levels. Engineers and scientists will begin the several-week calibration process for NICMOS.

[rdale]

NOVA scienceNOW (on PBS) will air a show about SM4 on August 25. See the preview at http://tinyurl.com/kwgdp9

[Analyst]

The cooling system for the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) has cooled the instrument down to operational levels. Engineers and scientists will begin the several-week calibration process for NICMOS.

Great. The cooling system has been down since last September. Five working instruments plus FGS. Full house.

Analyst

[rdale]

Set your alarms! The first new Hubble images are due to be released Wed., Sept. 9 on NASA TV at 11 am. Don't miss it!!

[jacqmans]

MEDIA ADVISORY: M09-166

NASA BRIEFINGS TO UNVEIL HUBBLE'S NEW OBSERVATIONS

WASHINGTON -- NASA will hold news briefings at 11 a.m. and noon EDT
Wednesday, Sept. 9, to release and discuss the first images from the
newly refurbished Hubble Space Telescope. NASA Television and the
agency's Web site will provide live coverage of the briefings from
NASA Headquarters in Washington.

Space shuttle Atlantis' STS-125 mission upgraded the telescope in May
with state-of-the-art science instruments, leaving it more powerful
than ever and extending its life into the next decade.

Charlie Bolden, NASA administrator and pilot of space shuttle
Discovery on the STS-31 mission that launched Hubble in 1990, will
join U.S. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, D-Md., in the unveiling of the
Hubble images during the 11 a.m. briefing. A panel of scientists then
will discuss Hubble's new and refurbished instruments and the images
they produced.

The participants are:
-- Ed Weiler, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate at
NASA Headquarters
-- Bob O'Connell, chair of the science oversight committee for the
Wide Field Camera 3 at the University of Virginia
-- James Green, the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph principal investigator
at the University of Colorado
-- David Leckrone, senior project scientist for Hubble at NASA's
Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
-- Heidi Hammel, senior research scientist at the Space Science
Institute in Boulder, Colo.

The briefings will be held in the James E. Webb Memorial Auditorium,
300 E St. S.W., Washington. Reporters also may ask questions from
participating NASA locations by phone. To reserve a phone line,
journalists should send an e-mail to J.D. Harrington at
[email protected] with their name, media affiliation and
telephone number.

The second briefing immediately follows at noon. The STS-125
astronauts will discuss how they enabled Hubble's new capabilities
during their historic servicing mission.

Scott Altman commanded Atlantis' crew, which included Pilot Gregory C.
Johnson and Mission Specialists Andrew Feustel, Michael Good, John
Grunsfeld, Megan McArthur and Mike Massimino.

For more information about NASA TV downlinks and streaming video,
visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For more information about Hubble, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/hubble

[jacqmans]

RELEASE: 09-205

SEN. MIKULSKI UNVEILS FIRST IMAGES FROM REJUVENATED HUBBLE

WASHINGTON -- Astronomers declared NASA's Hubble Space Telescope a
fully rejuvenated observatory with the release Wednesday of
observations from four of its six operating science instruments. Sen.
Barbara A. Mikulski, D-Md., unveiled the images at NASA Headquarters
in Washington.

Topping the list of new views are colorful, multi-wavelength pictures
of far-flung galaxies, a densely packed star cluster, an eerie
"pillar of creation," and a "butterfly" nebula. Hubble's suite of new
instruments allows it to study the universe across a wide swath of
the light spectrum, from ultraviolet all the way to near-infrared. In
addition, scientists released spectroscopic observations that slice
across billions of light-years to probe the cosmic-web structure of
the universe and map the distribution of elements that are
fundamental to life as we know it.

"This marks a new beginning for Hubble," said Ed Weiler, associate
administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate at NASA
Headquarters in Washington. "The telescope was given an extreme
makeover and now is significantly more powerful than ever,
well-equipped to last into the next decade."

"I fought for the Hubble repair mission because Hubble is the people's
telescope," said Mikulski, chairwoman of the Commerce, Justice and
Science Appropriations Subcommittee that funds NASA. "I also fought
for Hubble because it constantly rewrites the science textbooks. It
has more discoveries than any other science mission. Hubble is our
greatest example of our astronauts working together with scientists
to show American leadership and ingenuity. I want to salute Team
Hubble -- everyone who worked on Hubble from the Goddard Space Flight
Center and Space Telescope Science Institute scientists in Maryland,
to the ground crew at the Kennedy Space Center, to the Johnson Space
Center where the astronauts train, and to the astronauts who were
heroes in space."

The new instruments are more sensitive to light and, therefore, will
improve Hubble's observing efficiency significantly. It is able to
complete observations in a fraction of the time that was needed with
prior generations of Hubble instruments. The space observatory today
is significantly more powerful than it ever has been.

"We couldn't be more thrilled with the quality of the images from the
new Wide Field Camera 3 and repaired Advanced Camera for Surveys, and
the spectra from the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph and the Space
Telescope Imaging Spectrograph," said Keith Noll, leader of a team at
the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, which planned the
early release observations. "The targets we've selected to showcase
the telescope reveal the great range of capabilities in our newly
upgraded Hubble."

These results are compelling evidence of the success of the STS-125
servicing mission in May, which has brought the space observatory to
the apex of its scientific performance. Two new instruments, the Wide
Field Camera 3 and Cosmic Origins Spectrograph, were installed, and
two others, the Advanced Camera for Surveys and Space Telescope
Imaging Spectrograph, were repaired at the circuit board level.
Mission scientists also announced Wednesday that the Near Infrared
Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer was brought back into operation
during the three months of calibration and testing.

"On this mission we wanted to replenish the 'tool kit' of Hubble
instruments on which scientists around the world rely to carry out
their cutting-edge research," said David Leckrone, senior project
scientist for Hubble at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in
Greenbelt, Md. "Prior to this servicing mission, we had only three
unique instrument channels still working, and today we have 13. I'm
very proud to be able to say, 'mission accomplished.' "

For the past three months, scientists and engineers at the Space
Telescope Science Institute and Goddard have been focusing, testing,
and calibrating the instruments. Hubble is one of the most complex
space telescopes ever launched, and the Hubble servicing mission
astronauts performed major surgery on the 19-year-old observatory's
multiple systems. This orbital verification phase was interrupted
briefly July 19 to observe Jupiter in the aftermath of a collision
with a suspected comet.

Hubble now enters a phase of full science observations. The demand for
observing time will be intense. Observations will range from studying
the population of Kuiper Belt objects at the fringe of our solar
system to surveying the birth of planets around other stars and
probing the composition and structure of extrasolar planet
atmospheres. There are ambitious plans to take the deepest-ever
near-infrared portrait of the universe to reveal never-before-seen
infant galaxies that existed when the universe was less than 500
million years old. Other planned observations will attempt to shed
light on the behavior of dark energy, a repulsive force that is
pushing the universe apart at an ever-faster rate.

The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation
between NASA and the European Space Agency. Goddard manages the
telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute conducts Hubble
science operations. The institute is operated for NASA by the
Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy Inc. in
Washington, and is an International Year of Astronomy 2009 program
partner.

For images and more information about the Hubble Space Telescope,
visit:



http://www.nasa.gov/hubble

       
-end-

[rdale]

New images: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/multimedia/ero/index.html

[jacqmans]

Newly released images, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope before the recent Servicing Mission, highlight the ongoing drama in two galaxies in the Virgo Cluster affected by a process known as 'ram pressure stripping', which can result in peculiar-looking galaxies.

More at:
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMFOLKIWZF_index_0.html