Hubble captures incredible new panorama...

of the Tarantula Nebula. In a word: Wow.

Happy birthday to...

the Hubble Space Telescope, 21 years old today.  Astronomers used the orbiting observatory to snap the image shown above, two interacting spiral galaxies (Arp 273) that resemble a rose, in order to celebrate the anniversary (click to enlarge).

Wow...

Starry-Eyed Hubble Celebrates 20 Years of Awe and Discovery

First six mirrors polished...

for the next generation James Webb Space Telescope that is expected to launch in 2014 (click to enlarge). There are another 12 mirror segments to finish in the foldable optical array. Here's the NASA press release regarding the achievement.

Let's hope the contractors do a better job than Perkin-Elmer did with the flawed primary mirror for the Hubble Space Telescope.

Happy birthday Pluto...

discovered 80 years ago on this date. Earlier this month NASA released the most detailed images of the distant and diminutive body ever acquired (click to enlarge).

While it's no longer classified as a planet, it is the largest object in the Kuiper belt. Learn more about Pluto here. And here's a previous related post.

Image credit: Hubble Space Telescope (HST).

Hubble's deepest view...

of the universe unveils never before seen galaxies (click on image for full resolution version). This new image was acquired in late August 2009 by the Wide Field Camera 3 on the recently refurbished Hubble Space Telescope (HST) in the same region of space as the Hubble Ultra Deep Field in 2004.

Amazing bit: the cumulative exposure time for this image is 173,000 seconds over a four day period of time. And this:

"The faintest and reddest objects in the image are galaxies that formed 600 million years after the Big Bang."

Star birth in M83...

as imaged by the powerful new Wide Field Camera 3 on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The brightly glowing red regions in the spiral arms of the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy are dense bubbles of hydrogen gas in which fledgling stars are developing. This article describes some of the details:

"Gradually, the young stars' fierce winds (streams of charged particles) blow away the gas, revealing bright blue star clusters. These stars are about 1 million to 10 million years old. The older populations of stars are not as blue."

Link to more information and related images at the Space Telescope Science Institute.

Hubble resumes science operations...

with this jaw-dropping image of a stellar explosion in NGC 6302, a planetary nebula in the constellation Scorpius (click for a hi-res version.) Here's more about the return to service of the HST since Servicing Mission 4.

All I can say, as eloquently as possible, is WOW!

Image credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble SM4 ERO Team.

Incomprehensibly small...

is how I feel after watching this terrific video about, arguably, one of the most significant images ever made by humans: the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. Take a look, look takers.

Recent impact site on Jupiter...

has been imaged by the refurbished Hubble Space Telescope (HST) yesterday (click to enlarge.) Although the space telescope is not in service yet, and is still undergoing instrument checkout and calibration, astronomers siezed the moment and used the newly installed Wide Field Camera 3 to take a close look at the rapidly changing dark spot in the Jovian atmosphere.

Top 10...

Hubble science discoveries in a gallery of related images that resulted in these new insights.

Shuttle to release Hubble...

to space early this morning, at approximately 6:00 am PDT, now that all the repairs have been completed. The space telescope will still undergo a three week period of instrument testing, cooling and calibration before it returns to science operations.

Farewell, Hubble, you're on your own now. If I seem a bit teary-eyed and blubbery today, this is why.

No day of rest...

for the space shuttle Atlantis crew today. Extravehicular activity 4 proceeds momentarily where spacewalking astronauts will repair the Space Telescope Imaging and Spectrograph (STIS) and install the New Outer Blanket Layer (NOBL).

The image shown above (click for hi-res version) was captured yesterday, during EVA 3.

Most ambitious spacewalk yet...

occurs today in order to repair the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) on the Hubble Space Telescope that was never intended to be opened and serviced in space. In addition, astronauts will install the most advanced spectrometer ever flown in space, the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS.) While the first two spacewalks encountered some minor difficulties with equipment installation, all of the new instruments have passed their power and functionality tests according to NASA.

The image shown above (click for hi-res version) was taken yesterday during EVA 2 and shows low level winds above the Cape Verde Islands off the northwestern coast of Africa.

UPDATE: EVA 3 complete (and successful).

EVA 2 commences...

this morning as work continues on the Hubble Space Telescope (click image for hi-res version.) Today, three new Rate Sensor Units (RSUs) will be installed (gyro assemblies) which sense motion and help point the telescope precisely for its science observations. In addition, new battery modules will be swapped for older ones.

Repairs and refurbishment begin...

on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), shown as a simple schematic in the diagram above (click to enlarge.) The first spacewalk began this morning and will replace the WFC2 - in yellow - with the WFC3, exchanging the old camera with a considerably more capable panchromatic imager.

Watch the extravehicular activity on NASA-TV. By the way, the junior spacewalker has degrees in geology and geophysics.

Shuttle grapples Hubble...

and is now placing the school bus-sized telescope in the cargo bay for servicing. Five spacewalks in five days should refurbish the instrument to its most powerful configuration ever.

I've added links to the right column of this blog under NASA MISSION UPDATES that take you to the STS-125 mission as well as detailed information on Servicing Mission 4.

Image credit: NASA-TV

Planetary nebula K 4-55...

is shown in the last image acquired by the soon-to-be decommissioned Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST.) This object, remnants of an exploded star, is located in the constellation Cygnus at a distance of 4,600 light-years (1.4 kiloparsecs.)

Although this imaging instrument will be removed from the HST, it will be replaced by a vastly more capable panchromatic camera among other upgrades during Servicing Mission 4.

Shuttle Atlantis to launch...

today at 11:01 am PDT. All is "go" and there is a 90% favorable weather prediction at the scheduled liftoff time. Watch streaming video of the launch and preparations on NASA-TV.

Link to STS-125 mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope.

UPDATES:

10:50 am PDT: Final clearances are issued. Countdown will resume in two minutes after a scheduled hold.

11:01 am PDT: Off it goes! Perfect launch, and minutes later, in a safe orbit.

What's next after Hubble?

Why the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), of course. It is now under construction and is slated to launch in 2014.

Beryllium mirrors. Interesting.