tagged w/ Hubble
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1924: Astronomer Edwin Hubble announces that the spiral nebula Andromeda is actually a galaxy and that the Milky Way is just one of many galaxies in the universe.
Before Copernicus and Galileo, humans thought our world was the center of creation. Then (except for a few notable stragglers) we learned that the sun and planets did not revolve around the Earth, and we discovered that our sun — though the center of our solar system and vitally important to us — was not the center of the universe or even a major star in our galaxy.
But we still grandiosely thought our own dear Milky Way contained all or most of the stars in existence. We were about to be knocked off our egotistical little pedestal once again.
Edwin Hubble was born in Missouri in 1889 and moved to Chicago in 1898. In high school, he broke the state record in the high jump, and went on to play basketball for the University of Chicago. He won a Rhodes scholarship and studied law at Oxford. He earned a Ph.D. in astronomy, but practiced law in Kentucky. After serving in World War I and rising to the rank of major, he got bored with law and returned to astronomy.
He trained the powerful new 100-inch telescope at Mount Wilson in Southern California on spiral nebulae. These fuzzy patches of light in the sky were generally thought to be clouds of gas or dust within our galaxy, which was presumed to include everything in the universe except the Magellanic Clouds. Some nebulae seemed to contain a few stars, but nothing like the multitudes of the Milky Way.
Hubble not only found a number of stars in Andromeda, he found Cepheid variable stars. These stars vary from bright to dim, and a very smart Harvard computationist named Henrietta Leavitt had discovered in 1912 that you could measure distance with them. Given the brightness of the star and its period — the length of time it takes to go from bright to dim and back again — you could determine how far away it is.
Hubble used Leavitt’s formula to calculate that Andromeda was approximately 860,000 light years away. That’s more than eight times the distance to the farthest stars in the Milky Way. This conclusively proved that the nebulae are separate star systems and that our galaxy is not the universe.
Cosmic though it was, the news did not make the front page of The New York Times. The paper did notice the following Feb. 25 that Hubble and a public health researcher split a $1,000 prize ($12,500 in today’s money) from the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Hubble went on to discover another couple of dozen galaxies. Before the 1920s were over, he added another astronomical achievement to his reputation. By analyzing the Doppler effect on the spectroscopic signals of receding stars, he established that their red shift was proportional to their distance.
When the 200-inch Mount Palomar telescope was completed in January 1949, Hubble was honored to be the first astronomer to use it. He died in 1953. NASA named its space telescope after him.
http://www.wired.com/thisdayintech/2009/12/1230hubble-first-galaxy-outside-milky-way/1924: Astronomer Edwin Hubble announces that the spiral nebula Andromeda is actually a... more
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The evolutionary message – “what’s really happening” has always come from outcasts, said Dr. Timothy Leary. “The only thing I know is that I know nothing”, is a paradox attributed to Socrates, father of western philosophy. As I read on Sue brushed by headed out to the barbecue with pitchfork in hand, pursuing the perfect piece of grilled chicken and wings for the boy. She’s the cave woman in the family – outdoor cooking, charring, etc. I’m totally short order and more of a George Carlin vegetarian – I only eat animals that died in their sleep.
http://infinitetolerance.com/music-2/waiting-believers-paradox/The evolutionary message – “what’s really happening” has... more
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In an attempt to further tighten the national belt, the U.S. House moved this week to cut the James Webb Space Telescope from the budget, effectively threatening NASA's follow-up to the Hubble, and the future of our eyes-in-space program. There's something poetic (poetically dismaying, that is) about the timing, too: Space shuttle Atlantis launched just this morning—the last launch of a space shuttle probably ever—signaling the demise of NASA's over 30-year-old shuttle program.
All it took was a voice vote by a House appropriations subcommittee to strip funding for the project. Trouble is, the program was already $1.5 billion and change over budget. It's behind schedule, too. The Webb Telescope should've launched in 2014, but it's currently delayed until 2018.
What's the big deal about yanking a space telescope? For starters, the Webb Telescope's actually more than your average collection of curved mirrors and lenses. In fact it's a full-blown infrared space observatory. Its mission: to scan for light from the very first stars, understand galaxy formation and evolution and study the origins of life in terms of planetary systems. It's also the only thing scheduled to follow the Hubble's mission, which ends (and apparently can't be extended) sometime in 2014.
Read more: http://techland.time.com/2011/07/08/house-pitching-death-of-hubble-space-telescope-successor/#ixzz1Rg8w0iSZIn an attempt to further tighten the national belt, the U.S. House moved this week to... more
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The evolutionary message – “what’s really happening” has always come from outcasts, said Dr. Timothy Leary. “The only thing I know is that I know nothing”, is a paradox attributed to Socrates, father of western philosophy. As I read on Sue brushed by headed out to the barbecue with pitchfork in hand, pursuing the perfect piece of grilled chicken and wings for the boy. She’s the cave woman in the family – outdoor cooking, charring, etc. I’m totally short order and more of a George Carlin vegetarian – I only eat animals that died in their sleep.The evolutionary message – “what’s really happening” has... more
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Mysterious "dark matter" could lurk near Earth, according to a new theory to explain a puzzle that has baffled space flight engineers. The suggestion that clumps of the enigmatic matter lie in our cosmic back yard, between the Earth and the Moon, has been put forward to explain a strange phenomenon called the "fly-by anomaly." Almost every spacecraft that has swung around the Earth to speed it on its journey has recorded a velocity change that, according to the well-understood laws of gravity, should not have happened. http://www.makeahistory.com/index.php/submit-an-article/26444-mysterious-dark-matter-may-be-near-earthMysterious "dark matter" could lurk near Earth, according to a new theory to... more
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worrg
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The Hubble Space Telescope has zoomed in on one of the most fascinating, yet mysterious, cosmic objects to be found in recent years. The green gaseous structure is known as Hanny's Voorwerp ("Hanny's Object" in Dutch) and its existence had astronomers confused for some time.
link:http://news.discovery.com/space/big-pic-hannys-voorwerp-star-formation.htmlThe Hubble Space Telescope has zoomed in on one of the most fascinating, yet... more
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This year was the 20th anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope...and she still amazes.
Here are one writer's favourites from among the Hubble photographs NASA released this year; more can be seen in the Abrams book “Hubble: A Journey Through Space and Time,” created in collaboration with the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/photobooth/2010/12/nasa.htmlThis year was the 20th anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope...and she still... more
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October 20th, 2010
06:04 PM ET
Stargazing: A visible comet, the most distant galaxy
... from a galaxy far, far away, a European team of astronomers has measured the distance to the most remote galaxy so far.
Using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope to analyze the faint glow of the galaxy, they discovered that they are seeing it when the Universe was only about 600 million years old, according to an ESO press release.
"We have confirmed that a galaxy spotted earlier using Hubble is the most remote object identified so far in the Universe” said the lead author of the paper reporting the results, Matt Lehnert of the Observatoire de Paris.
The results will appear in the October 21 issue of the journal, Nature.
The NASA/ESA Hubble Telescope took this false color picture of Hartley 2 in September.
The Hartley 2 comet should be visible to the naked eye when it makes its closest pass to Earth tonight.
The mountain-sized ball of ice and dust has been too faint to be seen without a professional telescope since its discovery in 1986 by Australian astronomer Malcolm Hartley.
But as the comet has drawn closer to Earth in the past week, passing the brilliant star Capella in the constellation Auriga, it has become visible above the northeast horizon as a faint, fuzzy patch, according to National Geographic's news blog.
Dark skies away from cities will offer the best views, and binoculars or a telescope will sharpen the detail, National Geographic reported.October 20th, 2010
06:04 PM ET
Stargazing: A visible comet, the most distant... more
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Hold the front page: the big bang was an inevitable consequence of the laws of physics. Or indeed, as the front page of the London Times put it: "Hawking: God did not create universe". Media furore over Stephen Hawking's new book, The Grand Design, has made it the biggest science news story of the day. But it's not like Hawking has suddenly given up a religious belief – let alone proved that God doesn't exist. http://www.makeahistory.com/index.php/submit-an-article/3961-stephen-hawkingHold the front page: the big bang was an inevitable consequence of the laws of... more
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worrg
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There is something strange is lurking in the galactic neighborhood. An unknown object in galaxy M82 12 million light-years away has started sending out radio waves, and the emission does not look like anything seen anywhere in the universe before except perhaps by Ford Prefect. M82 is starburst galaxy five times as bright as the Milky Way and one hundred times as bright as our galaxy's center.
"We don't know what it is," says co-discoverer Tom Muxlow of Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics near Macclesfield, UK. But its apparent sideways velocity is four times the speed of light. This "superluminal" motion occurs usually in high-speed jets of material bursting out by black holes. http://www.makeahistory.com/index.php/submit-an-article/306-mysterious-radio-waves-from-unknown-object-in-m82-galaxy-There is something strange is lurking in the galactic neighborhood. An unknown object... more
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James Webb Telescope, STS-131 and today in space history on your Spacevidcast for March 30th, 2010.
As most of you know, the Hubble Space Telescope has had it's last repair. Which is what much of the new movie Hubble 3D is about. Not to worry though. As Hubble will end it's days sometime around 2020 peacefully, there is a new tele on the block that is just rearing to go! The James Webb Space Telescope. Or JWST for short.
As you can see there is a lot of excitement about this new telescope! Now the JWST will not be a complete successor of Hubble's, because it won't be sensitive to all of the light wavelengths that Hubble is. The main scientific goal is to observe the most distant objects in the universe. Or to steal from some famous words... where no man has seen before.
If you can't wait for the Webb telescope, then fret not... STS-131 is only 6 days away from launch!
Starting late on April 4th and going in to April 5th Spacevidcast will be streaming live coverage of STS-131's launch in High Definition. Not only is Spacevidcast.com the only place on the planet that you can get live high definition streaming of shuttle launches, but you can also ask your questions of astronauts, reporters and crew working down at KSC during the launch. If you can't watch one of the final 4 launches in person, then at least watch it in HD with us!
Today in space history: Rocketdyne was awarded in 1964 a contract for the production of 76 F-1 rocket engines to be used on the first stage of the Saturn V launch vehicle. The F-1 engine was the most powerful single nozzle, liquid fueled rocket engine, ever used in service. These are the engines that were used to first get humans to the moon and were the driving force of the most powerful rocket ever built.
And of course, don't forget to join us this Friday at 2 am Coordinated Universal Time for a live interview with Ed Buckbee. Mr. Buckbee was NASA PAO working with the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo astronauts and is also the founder of Space Camp. Grab a copy of his book "The Real Space Cowboys" from Apogee books and join us to ask your questions of Ed live!James Webb Telescope, STS-131 and today in space history on your Spacevidcast for... more
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Is that a smashed comet or an X-Wing fighter? Scientists are offering up their own theories as to what created the striking star-inspired image, which was captured by NASA's Hubble telescope in January. The object - dubbed “P/2010 A2” after it was discovered in early January by the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research program sky survey - has traits similar to a comet, but the x-shape appears disconnected from the tail. Sci-fi lovers may instead go for a more fantastical theory, believing it to be the "Last Starfighter" or, perhaps, a Kilrathi dreadnought from the Wing Commander video game. .... http://www.makeahistory.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=154:hubble-telescope-captures-image-of-mysterious-x-shaped-object-in-space&catid=30:the-community&Itemid=51Is that a smashed comet or an X-Wing fighter? Scientists are offering up their own... more
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worrg
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really amazing composite image of the Milky Way released by NASA. They combined infra red, visible, and x-ray images taken by Spitzer, Hubble, and Chandra to create one beautiful image to commemorate the 400 years since 1609, when Galileo looked up.
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/universe/features/milkyway_heart.htmlreally amazing composite image of the Milky Way released by NASA. They combined infra... more
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Efforts to free the stuck Spirit rover on Mars have been dragging on since May, and one NASA official now says the robot may never get free.
"We are proceeding very cautiously and exploring all reasonable options," John Callas, NASA project manager for Spirit and its twin, Opportunity, said in a status report issued Monday. "There is a very real possibility that Spirit may not be able to get out, and we want to give Spirit the very best chance."
Callas and colleagues at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory have been testing ideas on a twin of Spirit at the California facility, in a pit designed to simulate the surface of Mars. It's tricky though, because of the difference in gravity of the two planets. The rover team is also refining a detailed computer model of rover mobility, calibrated with results from testing and measurements from Mars.Efforts to free the stuck Spirit rover on Mars have been dragging on since May, and... more
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A refurbished U.S. space telescope is showing Earth the sharpest photos yet of cosmic beauty, complete with heavenly glows. NASA on Wednesday (Sep. 9) unveiled the first deep space photos taken by the Hubble telescope since its billion dollar repair mission earlier this year. That work included installing two new cameras, other science instruments and replacing broken parts. The images of galaxies and nebulas are sharper than previous photos taken of the same places by Hubble before the upgrade. Some of the colorful images have brilliant glows of light that give them halos that to some people can appear heavenly. Here is a look at some of the most recent images from Hubble and some of the images taken earlier by the telescope.A refurbished U.S. space telescope is showing Earth the sharpest photos yet of cosmic... more
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A refurbished Hubble Space Telescope is showing Earth the sharpest photos yet of cosmic beauty, complete with heavenly glows.A refurbished Hubble Space Telescope is showing Earth the sharpest photos yet of... more
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Showing 10,000 galaxies, the overwhelming Hubble Ultra Deep Field is the most amazing, most humbling image in history, demonstrating how tiny and precious we are. This video explains how it was taken, and shows it in three dimensions.Showing 10,000 galaxies, the overwhelming Hubble Ultra Deep Field is the most amazing,... more
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A comet 50 - 100 miles across created a spot in Jupiter's atmosphere the size of planet earth.
Testing of the Hubble telescope was interrupted to take pictures of the fleeting mass.
What new discoveries will come from studying the disruption?A comet 50 - 100 miles across created a spot in Jupiter's atmosphere the size of... more
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The Hubble Space Telescope was repaired and enhanced during the STS-125 mission of Space Shuttle Atlantis. Launched on May 11, 2009, the 11 day mission included some five spacewalks to make repairs and upgrades to the telescope, leaving it more capable and hopefully prepared to last another five years.
This educational video will explain astronomy for kids in a fun and engaging style with exciting computer animation and breath-taking images from the Hubble Telescope.The Hubble Space Telescope was repaired and enhanced during the STS-125 mission of... more
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