Posted by Davin Flateau on 26 Apr 2005 at 1:21 pm.
Filed under Astronomy.
Monday marked the 15th anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope - and what a 15 years it’s been. The school bus-sized orbiting observatory has been described as the most productive scientific instrument ever produced. Inside its tubular spacecraft, a two meter diameter primary mirror and its kaleidoscope of associated optics and electronics have been in the hands of the world’s most talented astronomers. For a decade and a half their hard work and dedication has produced spectacular results. We’ve learned that the Universe around us is even more wild, violent, bizarre and mysterious than we thought. But when the history of Hubble is written, it will most likely be told in the form of pictures. For the past 15 years, we’ve been swept away in a wash of cosmic vistas spanning an unimaginable scale.
As a “birthday present” to us all, the team at the Hubble Space Telescope revealed two of the largest images ever produced by the telescope. The images of M51 (The Whirpool Galaxy) and a closeup of the Eagle Nebula are so huge and sharp, you can zoom in and feel like you’re flying through space! See how many background galaxies you can spot in the M51 picture!
The pictures are also on display in person (4 feet x6 feet and 3 feet x6 feet respectively) in Exploration Place’s CyberDome lobby (no admission required to see the pictures). But if you really want to feel like you are there, the pictures are now featured in Exploration Place’s astronomy show Stars Over Kansas. It’s quite an experience to see these images spinning above your head — 60 feet across!
Four very successful manned servicing missions over the years by the Space Shuttle have fixed worn out parts (as well as an initial mirror defect discovered after launch), while supplying the observatory with a new array of instruments. A fifth — and presumably final — servicing mission is currently being discussed by NASA and Congress.
Hubblesite.org is a fantastic place to browse the massive and beautiful body of work produced by Hubble.
Davin Flateau
