Happy B'day Hubble!

[SilentNinja]

Woo i noticed today its hubble's anniversary!

1990-2010 - 20 years, I watched the servcing missions on NASA Tv live it was amazing!!!

"This year Hubble achieves its 20th anniversary, renewed and equipped by the latest servicing mission for many more years of astronomy. More than 30,000 objects have come under the telescope's gaze, each observation slotting another piece into the cosmic puzzle of the universe. Join us as we celebrate one of the world's most successful observatories, even now changing the face of astronomy, its final legacy still in the making. " - HubbleSite -- Out of the ordinary...out of this world.

 

[Retired]

Thank you for remembering. If you ask just about anyone around the world to name just one telescope, they would probably say Hubble. That mission introduced space exploration and astronomy to more people than any other event in recent history. Hubble has deliverd more tha 500,000 images to scientists and has changed our understanding of the solar system, and the universe.

And, the next generation of space telescope, to replace Hubble is the James Webb telescope, scheduled for launch in 2014. It will reside one million miles from the Earth!

I also watched many of the tribute shows on NASA TV commemorating Hubble, yesterday.

:2thumbs:

 

[SilentNinja]

does it tell you how long it would take to get 1 million miles from Earth?

NASA TV is amazing, im never off it, one of the crew i followed closley was STS 125.

Have you seen any of the new photos from the hubble since its Service?

 

[Retired]

Have you seen any of the new photos from the hubble since its Service?

I check them out periodically, though I can't say I follow them closely. Each is very fascinating, and a real pleasure to see, but I enjoy the pictures more when they can be interpreted by a competent scientist in a documentary. Have you ever seen the one they titled The Eye of God?

I'm afraid the last shuttle liftoff I will have seen was the last one, STS 131 because we won't be back in Florida until next October, after Discovery's final launch in September. However the launch of STS 131 was especially memorable as the International Space Station crossed the Central Florida sky, passing just below the moon, minutes before the pre-dawn launch.

Sadly, we missed the return and the usual double sonic boom, as we had left by then.

I have plenty of wonderful memories of launches though, having seen most of them since 1997, including the fateful launch of Columbia on its last mission.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

On Hubble's Anniversary, A Look Up And A Look Back : NPR




Though it had a rocky start, Hubble has become an important tool for amateur and professional astronomers alike.




Thousands of stars forming in the cloud of gas and dust known as the Orion Nebula.



This newly released image from Hubble shows scorching radiation and fast winds from super-hot newborn stars are shaping this pillar of gas and dust. This stellar nursery is called the Carina Nebula and located 7,500 light-years away.

NPR: View Hubble Slideshow