Close encounter with a cluster - MSNBC

10 Jun 2008 at 2:33pm 

Close encounter with a cluster MSNBC - Jun 10, 2008 ... in its proper context, you can peruse this Digital Sky Survey image of the full cluster, or click on this zoom-in video from the European Space Agency. ...

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Hubble flies over Himalaya - WWW.OLOSCIENCE.COM

27 Mar 2008 at 1:02am Hubble flies over Himalaya - WWW.OLOSCIENCE.COM

15 sec - 2008-03-27

The Hubble Space Telescope (HST; also known colloquially as "the Hubble" or just "Hubble") is a space telescope that was carried into orbit around the Earth by the Space Shuttle Discovery in April 1990. It is named for the American astronomer Edwin Hubble. Hubble's position outside the Earth's atmosphere allows it to take extremely sharp images and, although not the first space telescope to be deployed, Hubble has become one of the most important instruments in the history of astronomy. Hubble's Ultra Deep Field image, for instance, is the most detailed visible-light image of the universe's most distant objects ever made. Many observations made using the telescope have led to breakthroughs in astrophysics. The construction and launch of the Hubble was beset by delays and budget problems. Then, soon after its 1990 launch, it was found that the main mirror suffered from spherical aberration due to faulty quality control during its manufacturing, severely compromising the telescope's capabilities. However, after a servicing mission in 1993, the telescope was restored to its intended quality and became a vital research tool as well as a public relations boon for astronomy. The HST is part of NASA's Great Observatories series, with the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, the Chandra X-ray Observatory, and the Spitzer Space Telescope.[3] Hubble is a collaboration between NASA and the European Space Agency. The Hubble is the only telescope ever designed to be serviced in space by astronauts. To date, there have been four servicing missions, with a fifth and final mission planned for September 2008. Servicing Mission 1 took place in December 1993 when Hubble's imaging flaw was corrected. Servicing Mission 2 occurred in February 1997 when two new instruments were installed. Servicing Mission 3 was split into two distinct missions: SM3A occurred in December 1999 when urgently needed repairs were made to Hubble; and then SM3B followed in March 2002 when the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) was installed. Since SM3B, the Hubble has lost use of two major science instruments and is operating with viewing restrictions because of rate-sensing gyroscope failures. There are six gyroscopes onboard Hubble and three are normally used for observing. However, after further failures, and in order to conserve lifetime, a decision was taken in August 2005 to switch off one of the functioning gyroscopes and operate Hubble using only 2 gyros in combination with the Fine Guidance Sensors. This mode retains the excellent image quality of Hubble, and provides a redundancy should it be needed. Further redundancy is available now that an operational mode requiring only one gyro has been developed and tested. Six new gyroscopes are planned to be installed in SM4. The two instruments that have failed are the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) which stopped working in August 2004 and the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) which ceased operations in January 2007 (operations were later restored for its little used far-ultraviolet mode). Currently (mid-2007) Hubble observations are being taken with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) and the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS). Astrometry is being carried out with the Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS). Without a reboost to increase the diameter of its orbit, drag will cause Hubble to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere sometime after 2010. Following the 2003 Columbia Space Shuttle disaster, the fifth servicing mission (SM4), initially planned for 2004, was canceled on safety grounds. NASA determined that a manned mission would be too dangerous, due to a lack of access to the International Space Station (ISS), which can serve as a safe haven for an astronaut crew. The Shuttle cannot travel between the Hubble and ISS orbits. The organization later reconsidered this position, and, on October 31, 2006, NASA administrator Mike Griffin gave the green light for a final Hubble servicing mission to be flown by Atlantis. The mission is now planned for August 2008.[4][5] As a safety precaution, NASA will have the orbiter Endeavour standing by at Launch Complex 39B to provide rescue in the event of an emergency. The planned repairs to the Hubble will allow the telescope to function until at least 2013, when its successor, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), is due to be launched. The JWST will be far superior to Hubble for many astronomical research programs, but will only observe in infrared, so it will not replace Hubble's ability to observe in the visible and ultraviolet parts of the spectrum.
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ESAC -- Europe's window to space

1 Feb 2008 at 11:07pm ESAC -- Europe's window to space
stevebd1
6 min - 2008-02-02

A video by ESA regarding the ESA's European Space Astronomy Centre. Video date- 30 01 08. Source-
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Monitoring Space Debris ESA

29 Jan 2008 at 10:14pm Monitoring Space Debris ESA
hellgas0
10 min - 2008-01-30

Most telescopes on Earth spend their time unveiling the mysteries of the Universe. But some like the European Space Agency Teide observatory on the Canary Islands are used to search, track, identify and catalogue less glorious aspects of space exploration, like Space Debris. To download this video:
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Europe's Very Large Telescope (VLT)

12 Dec 2007 at 5:21pm Europe's Very Large Telescope (VLT)
Zeptocomp
5 min - 2007-12-13

The European Southern Observatory's (ESO) Very Large Telescope (VLT) located at Cerro Paranal in Northern Chile is constantly pursuing observations based on results from ESA's space missions. At a height of 2600 m, the VLT is the world's highest optical observatory and one of the most powerful. Credit to: European Space Agency tv (ESA)
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Hubblecast 04: Hubble Finds Multiple Stellar

11 Dec 2007 at 6:17pm Hubblecast 04: Hubble Finds Multiple Stellar

5 min - 2007-12-12

Hubblecast 04: Hubble Finds Multiple Stellar 'Baby Booms' in a Globular Cluster New Hubble observations of the massive globular cluster NGC 2808 provide evidence that it has three generations of stars instead of one as current theories predict. Meet the Scientists: Dr. Giampaolo Piotto Dr. Piotto is a professor at the Astronomy Department at University of Padua (Università di Padova) in Italy. He is a researcher and an expert in globular clusters. Link to Dr. Piotto's group page Link to Dr. Piotto's MySpace Page Dr. Luigi Bedin Luigi BEDIN, or just quot;Rolly', is an Italian astronomer who does research in stellar populations and extrasolar planets. In his research he uses high precision astrometric and photometric techniques. Since September 2004 Rolly has been working at the European Organization for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere (ESO) in Garching, Germany, and recently he has joined the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, USA, as an European Space Agency (ESA) astronomer. Link to Dr. Bedin's MySpace Page Credit: ESA/Hubble (M. Kornmesser & L. L. Christensen), Daniel Verschatse - Observatorio Antilhue - Chile Narration: Dr. Robert Fosbury Design: Martin Kornmesser Web Technical Support: Lars Holm Nielsen Raquel Yumi Shida Cinematographer: Peter Rixner (www.perix.de) Script: Lars Lindberg Christensen Director: Lars Lindberg Christensen
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HUBBLE TELESCOPE - Astronomy

21 Aug 2007 at 4:46am HUBBLE TELESCOPE - Astronomy
Pirataraul
4 min - 2007-08-21

The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is a telescope in orbit around the Earth, named after astronomer Edwin Hubble. Its position outside the Earth's atmosphere provides significant advantages over ground-based telescopes ? images are not blurred by the atmosphere, there is no background from light scattered by the air, and the Hubble can observe ultra-violet light that is normally absorbed by the ozone layer in observations made from Earth. Since its launch in 1990, it has become one of the most important instruments in the history of astronomy. With it, astronomers have made many observations leading to breakthroughs in astrophysics. Hubble's Ultra Deep Field is the most sensitive astronomical optical image ever taken. From its original conception in 1946 until its launch, the project to build a space telescope was beset by delays and budget problems. Immediately after its 1990 launch, it was found that the main mirror suffered from spherical aberration, severely compromising the telescope's capabilities. However, after a servicing mission in 1993, the telescope was restored to its intended quality and became a vital research tool as well as a public relations boon for astronomy. The HST is part of NASA's Great Observatories series, with the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, the Chandra X-ray Observatory, and the Spitzer Space Telescope.[1] Hubble is a collaboration between NASA and the European Space Agency.
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