Tag

Hubble Space Telescope

All articles tagged with #hubble space telescope

space4 days ago•10 min saved

Hubble Survives on One Gyro, Extending Its Watch into the 2030s

NASA has reconfigured the Hubble Space Telescope to operate on a single healthy gyroscope, preserving two spare units to extend its life into the mid‑2030s after gyro faults and a 2024 safe mode. The one‑gyro mode, developed in the 2000s, slows slews and restricts targets (notably near Mars and Earth‑bound observations), reducing scheduling efficiency by about 12% and overall scientific productivity by roughly 20–25%. The root cause is corrosion of gyro fluid; there are no funded plans to replace gyros or pursue servicing. Hubble now sits alongside JWST and the Roman Space Telescope in a complementary lineup, continuing science until it gradually winds down.

via Space Daily|

#gyroscopes #hubble-space-telescope #mission-extension

space4 days ago•72 min saved

Europa plume claims lose steam after reanalysis

A 14-year reanalysis of Hubble data casts doubt on Europa’s previously claimed water vapor plumes, lowering confidence from about 99.9% to under 90% and suggesting the earlier detections may have been due to data placement noise; the team says plumes can’t be ruled out, but the question may be settled by NASA’s Europa Clipper mission expected to arrive in 2030.

via Space|

#europa #europa-clipper #hubble-space-telescope

science6 days ago•6 min saved

Europa plumes under doubt as reanalysis lowers confidence

A fresh reanalysis of 14 years of Hubble data weakens the case for intermittent water vapor plumes on Jupiter’s moon Europa, reducing certainty from 99.9% to below 90% and leaving open the possibility that plumes exist but not yet definitively confirmed; future missions like Europa Clipper are expected to settle the question.

via The Daily Galaxy|

#astronomy-and-astrophysics #europa #europa-clipper

space11 days ago•6 min saved

Hubble survey hints Milky Way’s core formed later than previously believed

A new Hubble study of the Milky Way’s crowded galactic bulge suggests its stars may be younger than the traditional 10-billion-year figure, potentially revising the timeline of the galaxy’s growth. The survey will catalog 20–30 million objects in the bulge to map dust obscuration and star ages, complementing upcoming Roman Space Telescope observations that will monitor lensing events and stellar motions across millions of objects.

via Mashable|

#astronomical-survey #galactic-center #hubble-space-telescope

space14 days ago•6 min saved

Hubble Reveals the Biggest Chaotic Planet-Forming Disk Yet

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captured the sharpest visible-light images yet of a colossal, highly irregular protoplanetary disk around a young star about 1,000 light-years away, nicknamed Dracula’s Chivito. The disk spans roughly 400 billion miles (about 40 times the solar system’s diameter to the Kuiper Belt) and is filled with massive, uneven filaments and wisps, suggesting turbulent accretion or external influences. With a mass estimated at 10–30 Jupiter masses, it could form several giant planets, underscoring that planet formation can be far more chaotic and dynamic than traditional models suggest. Future observations may reveal whether the central star is single or binary and shed light on how such extreme environments shape emerging planetary systems.

via The Daily Galaxy|

#disk-asymmetry #draculas-chivito #hubble-space-telescope

science15 days ago•8 min saved

Hubble Preps Roman for the Milky Way's Bulge Microlensing Hunt

Hubble's precursor imaging of the Milky Way's galactic bulge will calibrate and guide NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope’s upcoming Galactic Bulge Time-Domain Survey, enabling precise mass measurements and a census of microlensing events, rogue planets, and compact objects, with six 72‑day seasons and high-cadence observations ahead of Roman's 2026 launch.

via NASA Science (.gov)|

#exoplanets #galactic-bulge #hubble-space-telescope

science19 days ago•33 min saved

Hubble captures glittering star nurseries in a nearby spiral galaxy

NASA’s Hubble image reveals the nearby spiral galaxy NGC 3137, about 53 million light-years away in the Antlia constellation, showcasing bright blue star clusters and red gas clouds around a massive central black hole—offering insight into stellar birth and the structure of a Local Group–like galaxy system.

via Yahoo|

#antlia #hubble-space-telescope #ngc-3137

space27 days ago•2 min saved

Vantor Satellite Captures Ultra-Close Portrait of Hubble on 36th Birthday

A Vantor WorldView Legion satellite photographed the Hubble Space Telescope from about 61.8 km away on April 23, 2026, capturing a rare close-up view that shows Hubble's cylindrical body, thermal shielding, solar arrays, and the open front aperture, as the telescope marks its 36th birthday and continues to inspire in an era of newer observatories like the Roman Space Telescope.

via PetaPixel|

#hubble-space-telescope #satellite-imaging #space

space1 month ago•64 min saved

Hubble spots an expanding newborn jet in the Trifid Nebula on its 36th anniversary

Hubble re-imaged the Trifid Nebula (Messier 20) about 5,000 light-years away in Sagittarius for its 36th anniversary, revealing an active jet (HH-399) from a young star that has expanded since the 1997 image, offering clues to jet speeds and the energy young stars inject into their surroundings, alongside ultraviolet-lit gas and cleared dust around newly formed stars.

via Live Science|

#hh-399 #hubble-space-telescope #messier-20

space1 month ago•74 min saved

WorldView Legion shoots intimate Hubble portrait for 36th birthday

To celebrate Hubble Space Telescope's 36th birthday, Vantor's WorldView Legion satellite captured a close-up image of Hubble from about 61.8 km away, revealing its cylindrical body, thermal shielding, extended solar arrays and the open front aperture. Collected on April 23, 2026, the shot provides a rare up-close view of the iconic instrument that launched in 1990 (aboard Space Shuttle Discovery) and continues to contribute to astronomy; NASA is hopeful Hubble can operate through 2035 despite its aging hardware.

via Space|

#hubble-space-telescope #nasa #satellites

space1 month ago•76 min saved

Hubble marks 36th anniversary with a vivid new view of the Trifid Nebula

To celebrate 36 years in space, the Hubble Space Telescope released a new high‑resolution, color image of the Trifid Nebula (Messier 20), focusing on a small region at the end of one of its dust lanes. The scene features a dense gas pillar with a recently formed star at its tip and a separate, leftward spike that is the Herbig–Haro jet HH 399 from a growing protostar. The image illustrates how intense radiation and stellar winds sculpt star‑forming regions, offering a detailed look at the ongoing process of star birth, and adds to Hubble’s long legacy of observations since its 1990 launch.

via Space|

#herbig-haro-399 #hubble-space-telescope #messier-20

science1 month ago•2 min saved

Hubble’s 36th Anniversary Reveals a New View of the Trifid Nebula, the Cosmic Sea Slug

NASA marks Hubble’s 36th year in orbit with a sharper image of the Trifid Nebula, showcasing the telescope’s 1.7 million observations, 22,000+ papers, and 1.3 million citations while highlighting its role in studying star formation and nebular dynamics.

via New York Post|

#astronomy #cosmic-sea-slug #hubble-space-telescope

science1 month ago•21 min saved

Roman Space Telescope readies to outpace Hubble with a 300MP sky survey

NASA has completed assembly and testing of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, a 300‑megapixel instrument with 18 4K sensors designed to image a sky patch 100 times larger than Hubble’s and observe more infrared light. It could launch as early as September 2026 on a SpaceX rocket, several months ahead of the May 2027 target, and at 42 feet tall it’s the largest telescope built at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. NASA says Roman will accomplish in about a year what Hubble would take around 2,000 years, enabling deep views of hundreds of millions of stars; the project even featured a drone in the clean room to illustrate its scale.

via Digital Camera World|

#hubble-space-telescope #infrared-astronomy #nancy-grace-roman-space-telescope

space1 month ago•73 min saved

Hubble’s Sea-Slug View of the Trifid Nebula Marks Hubble’s 36th Anniversary

Hubble revisits the Trifid Nebula (Messier 20) about 5,000 light‑years away, capturing a sea‑slug–like view with a dust‑and‑gas “body” and a plasma‑jet “horn” from a young protostar—29 years after its first image, and as part of the telescope’s 36th anniversary with views enhanced by the 2009 camera upgrade.

via Space|

#astronomy #hubble-space-telescope #messier-20

science1 month ago•13 min saved

Atlas Interstellar Comet Suggests Cold-Edge Origin in the Milky Way

New Hubble observations of interstellar comet 3I/Atlas suggest it formed in a cold, distant region of the Milky Way and was ejected into interstellar space, supporting the idea that other star systems can send comets our way.

via AP News|

#astronomy #atlas-3i #hubble-space-telescope