Recently in Hubble Category

Panel Discussion: U.S. Leadership in Astronomy: Space Telescopes Today, Tomorrow and Beyond

"Featuring: Eric Smith, NASA Headquarters, Dr. John Grunsfeld, Deputy Director of the Space Telescope Science Institute, Dr. Meg Urry, Yale University, and Pam Whitney, House Committee on Science & Technology (invited)."

House Science, Space & Tech Committee Hearing - Assessing the James Webb Space Telescope

"Witnesses:
- [Statement] Rick Howard, Program Manager, James Webb Space Telescope, NASA,
- [Statement] Roger Blandford, Professor of Physics, Stanford University,
- [Statement] Garth Illingworth, Professor & Astronomer, UCO/Lick Observatory, University of California, Santa Cruz,
- [Statement] Jeffrey D. Grant, Sector Vice President & General Manager, Space Systems Division, Northrup Grumman Aerospace Systems"

Hubble Zooms In on a Space Oddity

"One of the strangest space objects ever seen is being scrutinized by the penetrating vision of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. A mysterious, glowing, green blob of gas is floating in space near a spiral galaxy. Hubble uncovered delicate filaments of gas and a pocket of young star clusters in the giant object, which is the size of our Milky Way galaxy."

"For the past decades we have been posting the HST Daily Status Reports to this newsgroup for interested readers, and those people who use the HST as part of their daily work both in industry and academia. We have been notified that our usual method for receiving these reports will be terminated on October 8th. We can still get to the information and post it here, but there will be more work involved. As such, we have decided it would be appropriate to determine if there is still a need for the reports to be published here. If you are a regular reader of this newsgroup (sci.astro.hubble) and would like to continue to see the HST Daily Reports published here, please email me back at the email address at the top of this post. Thanks in advance."

Paul Scowen Research Professor, ASU paul.scowen (at) asu.edu

Breaking Waves in the Stellar Lagoon

"A spectacular new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image reveals the heart of the Lagoon Nebula. Seen as a massive cloud of glowing dust and gas, bombarded by the energetic radiation of new stars, this placid name hides a dramatic reality. The Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) on the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured a dramatic view of gas and dust sculpted by intense radiation from hot young stars deep in the heart of the Lagoon Nebula (Messier 8). "

Hubble Space Telescope Celebrates 20 Years of Discovery

"As the Hubble Space Telescope achieves the major milestone of two decades on orbit, NASA and the Space Telescope Science Institute, or STScI, in Baltimore are celebrating Hubble's journey of exploration with a stunning new picture and several online educational activities. There are also opportunities for people to explore galaxies as armchair scientists and send personal greetings to Hubble for posterity."

Lockheed Martin-Built Hubble Space Telescope Marks 20 Years of Astronomical Discovery

"NASA's Hubble Space Telescope (HST), built and integrated at the Lockheed Martin Space Systems facility in Sunnyvale, was launched 20 years ago aboard Space Shuttle Discovery, on April 24, 1990, ushering in a new golden age of astronomy. HST was released by the crew into Earth orbit the next day and the universe hasn't looked the same since."

What's next for NASA?, Mario Livio, Baltimore Sun

"In recent days, some of those criticizing NASA's proposed budget have tried to paint a picture of an agency without a vision. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. NASA's far-reaching ambitions in space science have been, and will continue to be, truly inspiring"

Keith's note: While Livio does make a number of cogent points about space science, I find it a little odd that he can make statements about the agency's overall "vision" while making zero mention of human spaceflight. If some members of Congress have their way, NASA will need to find more money somewhere - and that somewhere may well be space science. Perhaps then he'll take the time to look at the other things that NASA does. I am rather certain that Livio was in the audience last night at the Air and Space Museum for the premiere of Hubble IMAX 3D - a movie that was equally balanced between human and robotic spaceflight. I guess he missed all of those space suited astronauts working on the gem of his institute's research - one of whom works down the hall from him at STScI ...

Astronaut John Grunsfeld Appointed Space Telescope Science Institute Deputy Director, NASA

"Dr. John M. Grunsfeld has been appointed Deputy Director of the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Md., effective January 4, 2010. He succeeds Dr. Michael Hauser, who stepped down in October. STScI is the science operations center for NASA's orbiting Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope planned to be launched in 2014."

Keith's note: I am deliberately posting this press release - in advance of the embargo claimed by STScI - given that NASA HQ PAO has repeatedly told me - officially - that official agency policy is that no news releases regarding NASA research or news are ever to be issued under media embargo. Moreover, two NASA civil servant PAO officers are listed on this release, John Grunsfeld is a NASA employee, and STScI is wholly funded by NASA.

If NASA PAO is going to claim that a policy regarding embargoes exists, then it needs to enforce that policy. Otherwise their "policy" is hollow and pointless - and also not in the best interest of the taxpayers who pay for this research in the first place. Oh, by the way, I already have several press releases regarding wholly NASA-funded research that are under embargo - in direct contravention to stated agency policy. Again, where is the "transparency"? Where is the "openness"?

As for John's selection itself? Superlative - amazingly so.

Hubble Project Pioneer Rodger Doxsey Passes Away

"Dr. Rodger Doxsey, head of the Space Telescope Science Institute's (STScI) Hubble Mission Office, passed away on October 13 after a prolonged illness. The New York native was 62 years old. Doxsey oversaw Hubble science operations at STScI in Baltimore, Md., for nearly three decades."

The Shape and Surface Variation of 2 Pallas from the Hubble Space Telescope, Science (subscription required)

"Fig. 1 Deconvolved 336-nm WFPC2 images of Pallas from 8 September 2007. We observed Pallas at an angular size of 0.326 arc sec and a phase of 4.2°, resulting in a scale of ~75 km/pixel. Pallas' spin pole (pointing upward) and south pole () are marked, and the corresponding sub-Earth longitude is labeled; north is up and east is right in this panel."

Keith's note: Cool and unprecedented high resolutions images of asteroid 2 Pallas appear in this week's issue of Science - images taken by Hubble way back in 2007. Up until now this world has been just a point of light. Why has NASA not released these images before? Why is there no press release now? Why do people need to go to a for-fee site to see them? How many more is SMD sitting on? It would seem that UCLA and/or Science selectively gave advanced notice of this story and NASA-funded imagery to a hand picked group - but not the rest of the media - or the general public. What does this have to say about the Administration's call for transparency and openness? Not much, it would seem.

Custom Eyeballs Can Tailor Your Eyesight to Your Career, io9

"Need to see a thousand meters in the dark? Want one eye that's perfect for reading and another for long distances? Some eye surgeons are already at work reshaping corneas not only to fix patients' vision, but fit their careers. ... What do we have to thank for this custom technology? The space program. Wavefront technology, which was developed by NASA to improve the focus of the Hubble Space Telescope, has translated neatly to the human eye. The technology allows physicians to map the cornea and iris, enabling surgeons to make small, specific tweaks to the eye that result in custom eyesight made to order."

Wavefront Sensing, NASA IPP