One Last Trip to Open Hubble's Eyes Even Wider

[n2doc]

By Marc Kaufman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, July 7, 2008; Page A05

By the end of the year, the world's greatest telescope should be able to see deeper into space and further back in time than ever. If all goes as planned, it will be able to detect events closer to the big bang, explore the "cosmic web" of galaxies and intergalactic gas that make up the large-scale structure of the universe, and reveal much more about how and when distant stars and planets were formed.

NASA scientists, engineers and astronauts are finalizing plans to fly the space shuttle this fall on a mission to the Hubble Space Telescope to repair and upgrade the orbiting observatory that revolutionized astronomy. The long-delayed servicing mission will be the last for the Hubble, NASA says, but it will allow the telescope to perform at its highest level ever for the remaining five or six years of its operating life.


"This will be the first time ever that instrument box is full," said Hubble senior scientist David Leckrone last week. "We will have the most powerful imaging capability on Hubble ever, and possibly anywhere."

It is hard to overstate the importance of the Hubble and its insights into the evolution of the universe, the presence of mysterious dark matter and dark energy, and the existence of hundreds (and probably many more) of planets orbiting distant stars.

In a briefing at the Goddard Space Flight Center, scientists said that observations by the telescope have resulted in an average of 12 published discoveries a week for years, and that almost 4,400 principal and co-investigators have produced articles based on its data.

"This is surely the most productive telescope in history," said Charles Mattias "Matt" Mountain, director of the Space Telescope Science Institute on the Johns Hopkins University campus in Baltimore.
more:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/06/AR2008070601550.html

Yea! more images like this!



and..

[Faygo Kid]

1. Thank you, Hubble. A tiny percentage of the war in Iraq, for incalculable benefits.

I weep for my nation when I think about what we spend on the Hubble versus Bush's war.

[Olney Blue]

2. Thank you for posting this!

[CherokeeDem]

3. I guess I am just a science nerd (and proud of it)...

but the images from Hubble just take my breath away. How can we even begin to comprehend the vastness of the first picture posted above and the sheer number of galaxies in view. To quote a favorite show..."The truth is out there". Thank goodness, NASA is giving Hubble a longer life.

[Hokie]

4. Great Photos

Glad Hubble got a reprieve and can keep probing the edges of the universe. It is hard to believe that HST was ever the butt of jokes now isn't it?

[n2doc]

5. Live chat happening now (11 am monday)

excerpt:

Richmond, Va.: G'Day Marc, It's been stated that with the upgraded instruments, Hubble will be able to see "further back" towards the Big Bang. Can you talk about this a little? What type of instruments and "How Close" to the Big Bang can we get?

- Tom

Marc Kaufman: As I understand it, the Wide Field Camera 3 will have unprecedented "panchromatic" capabilities through an instrument that will be able to see across the electromagnetic spectrum from ultraviolet through optical and into near infrared. The near infrared in particular is expected to enable the telescope to "see" several hundred million years back. Current technology has allowed Hubble to see back to nearly 13 billion years, and the new instrumetns will push that back hundreds of millions of years more. The Big Bang is believed to have taken place around 14 billion yearsa go.

_______________________

Dulles, Va.:

How can Hubble see into the past...how is this possible?

Marc Kaufman: Thanks for this question. The Hubble is described as seeing into the past because the light from galaxies it observes are up to 13 billion lightyears away. In other words, the telescope "sees" back to the time when that light/radiation was created, and it has taken that long for it to travel to an observable distance. Without the Hubble, astronomers could never see these super distant galaxies.

More:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2008/07/03/DI2008070302243.html