Hubble Appreciation Thread

[beam me up scottie]

Since I first saw the black and white pictures taken by Hubble in 1990, I have been in awe of the incredible power and beauty of the universe captured in its images.
I posted one of my favorite images from Hubble below in the hopes that others will do the same.

The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is a space-based telescope that was launched in 1990 by the space shuttle. From its position 380 miles above the Earth’s surface, the HST has expanded our understanding of star birth, star death, and galaxy evolution, and has helped move black holes from theory to fact. It has recorded over 100,000 images in the past eight years.

The telescope’s instruments are the astronomer’s eyes to the universe. Its instruments include the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2), Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS), Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS), Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), and Fine Guidance Sensors (FGS).

When first launched, the HST’s primary mirror was out of shape on the edges by 1/50 of a human hair. This very small defect made it difficult to focus faint objects being viewed by the Hubble. Because the HST is in low Earth orbit, it could be serviced by a shuttle. The defect was corrected in one such servicing mission. It will continue to be serviced about every three years until it is retrieved in 2010. Perhaps you will be able to visit the Hubble Space Telescope at the National Air and Space Museum someday.
http://hubblesite.org/

On the right is part of the first image taken with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope's (HST) Wide Field Planetary Camera. It is shown with a ground-based picture from a Las Campanas, Chile, observatory of the same region of the sky. The Las Campanas picture was taken with a 100-inch telescope and its typical of high-quality pictures obtained from the ground. All objects seen are stars within the Milky Way galaxy.

Burst of Star Formation Drives Bubble in Galaxy’s Core

[mike_c]

1. the Hubble 'scope is one of the great triumphs...

...of the space program, IMO. It has endlessly proven that great data and great beauty are not exclusive.

[beam me up scottie]

5. You're absolutely right.

The beauty of the natural world is far more beautiful than anything man could invent.

[Emperor_Norton_II]

2. Let's not forget the Deep Field

[beam me up scottie]

3. That's one of my favorites as well. nt

[mike_c]

7. "my god, it's full of stars...."

:applause:

[Beetwasher]

37. Love That Pic!

:thumbsup:

[Captain Hilts]

4. I love the Hubble too. (nt)

[beam me up scottie]

6. Any favorite images ?

Unfortunately, this is going to be a killer thread for those with dial up.

[mike_c]

9. there are so many....

Here's one of my favorites-- not as colorful as the nebulae shots, but THIS IS TWO GALAXIES COLLIDING! It blows my mind. Can you imagine the black holes at the centers of those spirals chewing through each galaxy?

[beam me up scottie]

10. I've never seen that one.

I can barely wrap my mind around what it is we're seeing.

And just think, the stupidest administration we've ever had wanted to kill this before its time.

[Emperor_Norton_II]

13. Still does, still might

So if anybody hasn't done their part...

http://www.savethehubble.com/
http://savehubble.org/

[beam me up scottie]

15. Excellent reminder to SIGN THE PETITION !

[shireen]

17. not colliding

Actually, they're not colliding. One is in front of the other, and they're separated by a huge distance. But it's a cool effect! :-)

[seriousstan]

20. Want collisions? Here you go......

[beam me up scottie]

21. I making the sound kids make

when they're watching fireworks...

[seriousstan]

22. Try this, not a collision but very "fireworky"....

[beam me up scottie]

23. Those are fantastic.

THis is why I started this thread, I could look at these for hours and hours and I figured I wasn't the only one.

[seriousstan]

24. One for the adults......God giving the finger.......

[beam me up scottie]

27. Do they call that one

a salute to gwb ?

[beam me up scottie]

8. And another:

Cone Nebula/NGC 2264 (ACS Full Field Image)

[Bill McBlueState]

11. best view ever of Pluto

I think it's pretty cool how much closer Pluto is than the other objects in this thread, but we can't see it any better because it's just *so* small and faint. Whatever people decide about what to call Pluto, Clyde Tombaugh's success in finding it is nose-to-the-grindstone science at its best.

[beam me up scottie]

12. I never realized how difficult it was to view.

This is the clearest view yet of the distant planet Pluto and its moon, Charon, as revealed by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The image was taken by the European Space Agency's Faint Object Camera on February 21, 1994 when the planet was 2.6 billion miles (4.4 billion kilometers) from Earth; or nearly 30 times the separation between Earth and the sun.

[micrometer_50]

14. How about a picture of the instrument itself:

Us humans sure build some neat stuff.

:applause:

[beam me up scottie]

16. Isn't it amazing what scientists

can do when the government funds them and then leaves them alone to create ?

[shireen]

18. but they're not leaving us alone

> Isn't it amazing what scientists
> can do when the government funds them and then leaves them alone to create ?

28 people just got laid off at the Space Telescope Science Institute. All of them very good competent people with unique skills.

All of Space Sciences in NASA is suffering. I guess we saw it coming when Bush decided to go to the Moon and Mars. But it's hit us now, it hurts.

The prospect of reviving another shuttle servicing mission is looking more promising now that we have a new administrator. But I'll believe it when I see it.

Meanwhile, $8 billion remains unaccounted for in Iraq ....

[beam me up scottie]

19. I meant left them alone

as they did before the bush cabal took over.

That was my point, it's despicable.

As I said before, anyone who is unable to see the beauty in these images does not deserve to have a say in what happens to Hubble.

[Pallas180]

25. Hi Beam Me Up - long time - :) - what is so interesting about

the pictures of the galxies colliding and burning is that they , to me, demonstrate the axiom "as above, so below" ...some look like the
seed embedding and starting birth...some look like explosions of birth - fetuses,,,and the brown ones look like decay -seriously...birth and death of stars and galaxies and energy...

fascinating.

What has happened to Hubble? It's no more?

[beam me up scottie]

26. Hi Pallas180

Aren't they breathtaking ?
I never get tired of looking at them.
Hubble still is alive but this administration wants to kill her before her time.
If you haven't signed the petition it will help:

http://www.savethehubble.com/

[Desertrose]

40. Thanks for the link bmus

Signed the petiton

I sure hope they keep Hubble going....

[beam me up scottie]

41. You're welcome.

Thanks for signing, this belongs to all of us.

[A HERETIC I AM]

36. Think about this when you look at that tool.....

Everything it is made of came out of the ground.

Mans ability to take raw materials and with them fashion such delicate items is truly amazing.

[beam me up scottie]

38. Yes, good point.

Using science, we made this.
Using science, we took those pictures.
If we had a government that valued knowledge and funded scientific research, what else could we do ?

[ebayfool]

28. TY for these, scottie - my grandson & I went to the site. I think we have

a new favorite website to visit. Stunning shots - I had no idea that Hubble had taken such beauties!

(And I signed at the petition links!)

[beam me up scottie]

29. You're welcome !

Thanks for signing and I hope your grandson never stops looking to the stars.

[trotsky]

30. Just gorgeous. Thanks, everyone, for the pics.

I wonder about the feasability of putting a new telescope on the moon? Since G.W. Dumbshit wants to go there, why not bring along a Hubble 2?

[Bill McBlueState]

31. *that* would be cool

I can imagine a day in the future when a large expanse of the far side of the moon is covered in radio telescopes. It'd be like the Atacama desert, only better. :o

Precipitable H20? Zero.

[Anarcho-Socialist]

32. Awesome thread, awesome pictures

I couldn't resist kicking this one.

[beam me up scottie]

33. Another awesome pic

HST/WFPC2 Image with Location of Pulsar

[rman]

34. best source for Hubble pictures: STSI Press Release Archive

(in my humble opinion)

Space Telescope Science Institute
http://oposite.stsci.edu/

Press Release Archive
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/

[Kraklen]

35. Hoag's Object.

A rare ring galaxy. Notice a more distant second ring galaxy visible through the halo.

[beam me up scottie]

39. The nebulae are my favorites:

Demise in Fire and Ice

Credit: NASA, ESA and A.Zijlstra (UMIST, Manchester, UK)

[OxQQme]

42. Awesome pictures

I have my own collection that are some of these posted. Subscribed to Sky and Telescope many years ago. My Air sign, astrologically, perhaps, has made me fascinated by our ventures away from the globe we reside upon in this age.
I was wondering if any here has heard of the collision that ripped a part of this earth globe and scattered it upon the moon and far away, coagulating into what are known as the Van Allen belt. Said collision caused the earth's crust to be very thin (some places just a couple of miles thick) throughout the Pacific Basin, while the crust on the remainder of the planet is very many miles thick.
Too bad we don't have a 'reverse' hubble eye that could look deep into the center of this planet.

[beam me up scottie]

43. Interesting question.

I'll ask Bill McBlueState, that's his line of work.

[Bill McBlueState]

44. Van Allen Belts

hi- It's great that you're interested in space science, and I can assure you that all sorts of people share your interest, regardless of which constellation the sun appeared to be in when they were born. :)

You're right that the leading hypothesis for the origin of the moon is the collision theory -- that some other object collided with Earth around 4 billion years ago, and the resulting debris eventually coalesced to form the moon.

The Van Allen belts, however, are a different story. Those are two belts of charged particles -- protons and electrons -- that come from the sun and are trapped by Earth's magnetic field. These belts extend from 4,000 to 28,000 miles above Earth's surface, while the moon is an average of 250,000 miles away.

One common source of confusion about these belts is that in diagrams (like the one below), they're always shown in a solid color that makes them look like thick, visible rings around the Earth, when in fact they're made up of protons and electrons that are too small to see.

[beam me up scottie]

45. Fireworks Near a Black Hole in the Core of Seyfert Galaxy NGC 4151

[Taxloss]

46. When Galaxies collide

Extraordinary.

And of course, the pillars of creation.

[beam me up scottie]

47. Stunning.

I believe the second one is the Eagle Nebula ?
I had it as my wallpaper for a while.

[beam me up scottie]

48. Hubble Snaps Picture of Remarkable Double Cluster