Courtesy photo - NASA The Hubble cameras revisited the Pillars of Creation, originally pictured in 1995. The result was clearer sharper images. Stars are forming inside the towering structures of cold gas and dust. The pillars are located some 6,500 light-years away, in the Eagle Nebula, toward the constellation of Serpens.

New Mexico Museuam of Space History Education Director Dave Dooling will discuss the accomplishments that resulted from the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope.

Dooling is familiar Hubble since its inception. He worked as science reporter for Huntsville Times in Alabama and for Perkin-Elmer who built the telescope. He wrote documentation for maintenance and refurbishment of the telescope in space.

Although planning for Hubble started in the early 70s, it wasn't launched until 1990. Since then, the Hubble has sent back more than 45 terabytes of information. For those unfamiliar with a terabyte, one terabyte equals 1,023 gigabytes.

The Hubble space telescope was launched into low Earth orbit on April 24, 1990. It remains operational. With a mirror measuring nearly 8 feet, Hubble's four main instruments observe in the near ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared spectra.

The telescope was named after astronomer Edward Hubble. He proposed the expanding universe theory state. Hubble's findings fundamentally changed the scientific view of the universe.

The Hubble telescope has led to breakthroughs in astrophysics, such as accurately determining the rate of expansion of the universe.

Dooling said he would be hard pressed to pick out what was the most important discovery made. He explained if he were to try and pick out the top 10 at a conference, there would be an outcry as scientists came up with 10 others of equal import.

Dooling said that one of the most stunning occurred when astronomers pointed Hubble at an empty area of sky near Ursa Major, just above the Big Dipper, and discovered hundreds of distant here-to-fore galaxies. "They did this in December of 1995 for a 10-day period," he said. "They stacked the images, taking 342 images with 43 hours of exposure time. Over 900 scientific papers have cited this single discovery."

The portion of sky scrutinized was small yet it not only proved the enormity of the universe but just how crowded a place it was.

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Launch Pad Lecture: Celebrating Hubble's 25th Anniversary

Star cluster - ambient space music universe space pictures hubble telescope
Star cluster - ambient space music universe space pictures hubble telescope. (Music by Patricio Franzi)

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NASA officials have told Congress that the Hubble Space Telescopes successor, the James Webb Space Telescope, is currently on-time and budget after early delays and cost overruns threatened to doom the project. The JWST offers a number of improvements and enhancements over the Hubble, though NASA has said publicly that it prefers to think of the next-generation telescope as a successor rather than a replacement.

The JWSTs primary mirror is far larger than Hubbles, at over 21 feet in diameter, compared with about 8 feet for Hubble. The new telescopes collecting area is more than 7x larger, and it uses a new type of mirror thats never been deployed at this scale in a space-based telescope. Each pane of beryllium (there are 18 in total) can be adjusted independently of the others. Hubble, in contrast, deployed a conventionally ground mirror.

Despite the vast difference in size, Webbs mirror actually weighs a fraction of what Hubbles does. The conventional mirror aboard the Hubble clocks in at 2,200 lbs, compared to just 1,375 lbs for the JWST.

Webbs mirror design and larger gathering area will allow it to peer farther back in time all the way back to 100 million to 250 million years after the Big Bang, compared with 800 million to 1 billion years for Hubble. The Webb isnt optimized for optical wavelengths its specialization is the infrared spectrum but itll be capable of imaging in spectrums friendly to the human eye, and with far greater resolution than what Hubble can achieve. The image below is a simulation of how the Webb is expected to perform compared with Hubble.

The James Webbs detectable spectrum is also much larger than its predecessors. While still tiny next the largest Earth-based telescopes, the deep infrared capabilities of the Webb telescope and its location should allow it to assist in the ongoing search for habitable planets and even alien life.

The James Webb telescope is years behind schedule, and substantially over its originally proposed budget, which raises the question of whether the telescope can overcome these initial obstacles and achieve successful results. Many of these issues originally plagued the Hubble telescope. Originally, the HST was meant to launch in 1983, but a similar morass of technical issues and the unexpected loss of the Challenger delayed deployment until 1990. After launch, NASA discovered that the HSTs main mirror had been incorrectly ground. For three years, Hubbles mission was severely curtailed, as NASA built a corrective lens to be installed over the improperly ground mirror.

With the James Webb, there will be no such margin for error. Unlike Hubble, which was placed in Earth orbit and designed to be serviced by the shuttle, the Webb will be placed in Sun-Earth L2 LaGrange points. LaGrange Points are positions in space where the gravitational pull of large masses equal the centripetal force required for a small object (in this case, a telescope) to move with them. An object in Earths L2 point remains in approximately the same position relative to our planet and the Sun, and can maintain its location with minimal use of fuel.

More than 20 years after deployment, the Hubble Space Telescope has become one of the most enduring missions NASA has ever launched. For many people, the images Hubble beams back of our universe are the public face of NASA, and thats a mission every bit as critical as scientific research. The James Webb telescope will inherit that mantle when it launches in 2018 heres hoping for a smooth debut and a long, storied career.

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NASA confirms Hubble telescope successor is on-time, on-budget for 2018

Gordon Lyles - A Star (Acoustic Session)
Copyright 2004 All Rights Reserved BMI Video Footage Provided By: Nasa, International Space Station, The Space Shuttle Endevour The Hubble Telescope.

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Astronomers have used data from NASAs Hubble Space Telescope and the Chandra X-ray Observatory to find that dark matter interacts with itself less than previously thought. In an effort to learn more about dark matter, astronomers observed how galaxy clusters collide with each other -- an event that could hold clues about the mysterious invisible matter that makes up most of the mass of the universe.

As part of a new study, published in the journal Science on Thursday, researchers used the Hubble telescope to map the distribution of stars and dark matter after a collision. They also used the Chandra observatory to detect the X-ray emission from colliding gas clouds.

Dark matter is an enigma we have long sought to unravel, John Grunsfeld, assistant administrator of NASAs Science Mission Directorate in Washington, said in a statement. With the combined capabilities of these great observatories, both in extended mission, we are ever closer to understanding this cosmic phenomenon.

According to scientists, galaxy clusters are made of three main components -- galaxies, gas clouds and dark matter. During collisions, the gas clouds bump into each other and gradually slow down. Galaxies, on the other hand, are much less affected by this process, and because of the huge gaps between the stars within them, galaxies do not slow each other down.

We know how gas and stars react to these cosmic crashes and where they emerge from the wreckage, David Harvey of the cole Polytechnique Fdrale de Lausanne in Switzerland, and the studys lead author, said in the statement. Comparing how dark matter behaves can help us to narrow down what it actually is.

The researchers studied 72 large galaxy cluster collisions and found that, like galaxies, the dark matter continued straight through the collisions without slowing down much, meaning that dark matter do not interact with visible particles.

There are still several viable candidates for dark matter, so the game is not over. But we are getting nearer to an answer, Harvey said.

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What Is Dark Matter? Colliding Galaxy Clusters May Help Find Answer

Hubble Telescope - Space Images
The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990, and remains in operation. With a 2.4-meter (7.9 ft) mirror, Hubble #39;s four main instruments...

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Hubble Telescope - Space Images - Video

A view of the Whirlpool Galaxy taken by the Hubble Telescope. The Bradford Robotic Telescope offers you the chance to search it for supernovas over the next month Photograph: HO/Reuters

The Bradford Robotic Telescope sits more than a mile above sea level on the rim of an old volcano on Tenerife in the Canary Islands. The telescope, part of the Teide Observatory, captures stunning images of the night sky from one of the best sites for astronomy in the world.

From 24th March, for a month, we are making the telescope available free to Guardian readers to look at objects that feature prominently in the sky. To use the telescope yourself, just click here and register for free observing.

So what objects can you take a look at? Below I describe some of the more striking features that the telescope can take images of in the coming month, that you might want to explore.

Jupiter has more than 60 moons. The four largest, Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto are known as the Galilean moons after Galileo Galilei, who observed them in the early 17th century. Through the telescope website, you can submit a number of requests for images that will capture the moons spread out on each side and crossing the face of Jupiter, revealing them as they appeared to Galileo.

Discovered in 1764 by Charles Messier, the Dumbbell Nebula lies 1,360 light years from Earth in the constellation of Vulpecula. The nebula is what remains of a star that once resembled our own sun. The gas stretches across 4.5 light years of space and is heated by an Earth-sized hot central core, called a white dwarf. A spoonful of the core weights a tonne.

A spiral galaxy with arms of stars and dust, the Whirlpool galaxy lies 30 million light years from Earth. The galaxy is in the process of merging with a smaller galaxy, a fate that lies ahead for the Milky Way and the Andromeda galaxy, though not for another two billion years. A supernova was spotted in the outer regions of the Whirlpool galaxy on June 2nd 2011, another one in 2005 and one in 1997. Thats surprising. Perhaps you will spot one too.

A cluster of hundreds of thousands of stars crowded into a region 150 light years across. The cluster is 25,100 light years away and has at its heart a medium-sized black hole which catapults smaller black holes into the depths of space.

Take a number of images and watch it through the month. Where would you like to go on your lunar holiday? The Earth is the best view from the moon: four times the size that the moon appears to us, and much brighter with the cities visible in the dark part. From the moon, the Earth phases look just like those of the moon, but unlike our moon it doesnt appear to move. Instead it is visible in the same place in the sky all the time.

Take the full vista of the beautiful Tenerife sky with the constellations in view. Try Orion, followed by the dog star Sirius with its white dwarf companion. How would you fit the mythical gods into this?

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Search the skies with the Bradford Robotic Telescope

A Hundred Million Stars in 3 Minutes
In January 2015, NASA released the largest image ever of the Andromeda galaxy, taken by the Hubble telescope. Totaling 1.5 billion pixels and requiring 4.3 gigabytes of disk space, this photo...

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Images include theHorsehead Nebula, which is a cold, dark cloud of gas and dust 1,500 light years away Another remarkable image is of NGC 130, one of Hubble's largest images ever made of a complete galaxy Some of the most striking images beamed back from Hubble were created during the death throes of stars

By Ellie Zolfagharifard For Dailymail.com

Published: 20:30 EST, 17 March 2015 | Updated: 10:05 EST, 18 March 2015

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More than any other telescope in orbit, Hubble has expanded the frontiers of human knowledge.

For 25 years, astronomers have used it to peer deep into distant galaxies with unrivalled clarity, revealing the breathtaking beauty of our universe.

In the April issue of National Geographic, some of the most stunning images beamed back for the telescope have been revealed.

The Horsehead Nebula is a cold, dark cloud of gas and dust, silhouetted against the bright nebula IC 434. The bright area at the top left edge is a young star still embedded in its nursery of gas and dust.The nebula is relatively close at 1,500 light years from Earth

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Images showcase how Hubble telescope is transforming our ...

Images include theHorsehead Nebula, which is a cold, dark cloud of gas and dust 1,500 light years away Another remarkable image is of NGC 130, one of Hubble's largest images ever made of a complete galaxy Some of the most striking images beamed back from Hubble were created during the death throes of stars

By Ellie Zolfagharifard For Dailymail.com

Published: 20:30 EST, 17 March 2015 | Updated: 10:05 EST, 18 March 2015

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More than any other telescope in orbit, Hubble has expanded the frontiers of human knowledge.

For 25 years, astronomers have used it to peer deep into distant galaxies with unrivalled clarity, revealing the breathtaking beauty of our universe.

In the April issue of National Geographic, some of the most stunning images beamed back for the telescope have been revealed.

The Horsehead Nebula is a cold, dark cloud of gas and dust, silhouetted against the bright nebula IC 434. The bright area at the top left edge is a young star still embedded in its nursery of gas and dust.The nebula is relatively close at 1,500 light years from Earth

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Images showcase how Hubble telescope is transforming our knowledge of space

The ocean there is thought to extend to 10 times the depth of Earth's oceans

Scientists have also found that Ganymede's surface shows signs of flooding. Credit: NASA/ESA

A salty ocean is lurking beneath the surface of Jupiter's largest moon, Ganymede, scientists using the Hubble Space Telescope have found.

The ocean onGanymedewhich is buried under a thick crust of icecould actually harbor more water than all of Earth's surface water combined, according to NASA officials. Scientists think the ocean is about 60 miles (100 kilometers) thick, 10 times the depth of Earth's oceans, NASA added. The new Hubble Space Telescope finding could also help scientists learn more about the plethora of potentially watery worlds that exist in the solar system and beyond.

"The solar system is now looking like a pretty soggy place," Jim Green, NASA's director of planetary science, said during a news teleconference today (March 12). Scientists are particularly interested in learning more about watery worlds because life as we know it depends on water to thrive. [See amazing photos of Ganymede]

Scientists have also found that Ganymede's surface shows signs of flooding. Youngparts of Ganymede seen in a videomap may have been formed by water bubbling up from the interior of the moon through faults or cryo-volcanos at some point in the moon's history, Green said.

Scientists have long suspected that there was an ocean of liquid water on Ganymedethe largest moon in the solar system, at about 3,273 miles (5,268 kilometers) acrosshas an ocean of liquid water beneath its surface. The Galileo probe measured Ganymede's magnetic field in 2002, providing somedata supporting the theory that the moon has an ocean. The newly announced evidence from the Hubble telescope is the most convincing data supporting the subsurface ocean theory yet, according to NASA.

Scientists used Hubble to monitor Ganymede's auroras, ribbons of light at the poles created by the moon's magnetic field. The moon'saurorasare also affected by Jupiter's magnetic field because of the moon's proximity to the huge planet.

When Jupiter's magnetic field changes, so does Ganymede's. Researchers were able to watch the two auroras "rock" back and forth with Hubble. Ganymede's aurora didn't rock as much as expected, so by monitoring that motion, the researchers concluded that a subsurface ocean was likely responsible for dampening the change in Ganymede's aurora created by Jupiter.

"I was always brainstorming how we could use a telescope in other ways," Joachim Saur, geophysicist and team leader of the new finding, said in a statement. "Is there a way you could use a telescope to look inside a planetary body? Then I thought, the aurorae! Because aurorae are controlled by the magnetic field, if you observe the aurorae in an appropriate way, you learn something about the magnetic field. If you know the magnetic field, then you know something about the moon's interior."

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Jupiter's Moon Ganymede Has a Salty Ocean with More Water Than Earth

My Movie ode to hubble telescope

By: Al Santiano

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A salty ocean is lurking beneath the surface of Jupiter's largest moon, Ganymede, scientists using the Hubble Space Telescope have found.

The ocean onGanymede which is buried under a thick crust of ice could actually harbor more water than all of Earth's surface water combined, according to NASA officials. Scientists think the ocean is about 60 miles (100 kilometers) thick, 10 times the depth of Earth's oceans, NASA added. The new Hubble Space Telescope finding could also help scientists learn more about the plethora of potentially watery worlds that exist in the solar system and beyond.

"The solar system is now looking like a pretty soggy place," Jim Green, NASA's director of planetary science, said during a news teleconference today (March 12). Scientists are particularly interested in learning more about watery worlds because life as we know it depends on water to thrive. [See amazing photos of Ganymede]

Scientists have also found that Ganymede's surface shows signs of flooding. Youngparts of Ganymede seen in a videomap may have been formed by water bubbling up from the interior of the moon through faults or cryo-volcanos at some point in the moon's history, Green said.

Scientists have long suspected that there was anocean of liquid water on Ganymede the largest moon in the solar system, at about 3,273 miles (5,268 kilometers) across has an ocean of liquid water beneath its surface. The Galileo probe measured Ganymede's magnetic field in 2002, providing some data supporting the theory that the moon has an ocean. The newly announced evidence from the Hubble telescope is the most convincing data supporting the subsurface ocean theory yet, according to NASA.

Scientists used Hubble to monitor Ganymede's auroras, ribbons of light at the poles created by the moon's magnetic field. The moon'saurorasare also affected by Jupiter's magnetic field because of the moon's proximity to the huge planet.

When Jupiter's magnetic field changes, so does Ganymede's. Researchers were able to watch the two auroras "rock" back and forth with Hubble. Ganymede's aurora didn't rock as much as expected, so by monitoring that motion, the researchers concluded that a subsurface ocean was likely responsible for dampening the change in Ganymede's aurora created by Jupiter.

"I was always brainstorming how we could use a telescope in other ways," Joachim Saur, geophysicist and team leader of the new finding, said in a statement. "Is there a way you could use a telescope to look inside a planetary body? Then I thought, the aurorae! Because aurorae are controlled by the magnetic field, if you observe the aurorae in an appropriate way, you learn something about the magnetic field. If you know the magnetic field, then you know something about the moon's interior."

Hunting for auroras on other worlds could potentially help identify water-rich alien planets in the future, Heidi Hammel, executive vice president of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, said during the teleconference. Scientists might be able to search for rocking auroras on exoplanets that could potentially harbor water using the lessons learned from the Hubble observations of Ganymede.

Astronomers might be able to detect oceans on planets near magnetically active stars using similar methods to those used by Saur and his research team, Hammel added.

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Jupiter's largest moon has an ocean, say scientists

Traci Watson, Special for USA TODAY 1:32 p.m. EDT March 12, 2015

Photo of Ganymede, taken from NASA's Galileo spacecraft.(Photo: NASA)

The biggest moon in the solar system harbors a salty ocean beneath its frozen surface, according to a study that examined the moon's flickering auroras to probe its interior.

A number of worlds in our solar system are thought to have oceans. But this is the first clear-cut data of its kind to suggest that a sea lies hidden under the icy shell of Jupiter's moon Ganymede, which is 50% bigger than our own moon. Scientific models predicted an ocean on Ganymede, and when NASA's Galileo spacecraft visited Ganymede in the 1990s, it collected data that hinted at an ocean. But new images from the Hubble Space Telescope offer strong confirmation of a liquid body of water inside Ganymede, scientists say.

Galileo's observations "provide inconclusive evidence for the ocean," says study co-author Joachim Saur of the University of Cologne. "The Hubble data require an ocean."

Finding an ocean on a celestial body hundreds of millions of miles from Earth is no easy feat. Saur and his team turned to the space-going Hubble, which trained its keen eyes on Ganymede in 2010 and again in 2011. The Hubble focused on Ganymede's two auroras, shimmering patterns in the sky similar to the earthly phenomenon known as the Northern Lights. A person standing on Ganymede's surface and looking up would see a red glow, Saur says.

Ganymede has two auroras, one around its north pole and one around its south pole, both created in part by the moon's own magnetic field. These auroras don't stay fixed in place. Instead, they wander slightly across Ganymede's face. With the help of supercomputers, the scientists calculated how much Ganymede's auroras would shift if the moon had a salty sea. A layer of salty water could carry electrical current, generating another magnetic field that would affect the auroras.

Illustration of the interior of Ganymede, Jupiter's largest moon.(Photo: NASA)

The researchers found that the aurora shift witnessed by Hubble nicely matched the prediction of what should happen if Ganymede has an ocean. Just as importantly, the Hubble data did not match the prediction for an ocean-less Ganymede, the scientists reported online last month in the Journal of Geophysical Research.

Ganymede's ocean is sandwiched between two layers of ice. That's not particularly hospitable to life, says planetary scientist William McKinnon of Washington University in St. Louis, who didn't work on the new study. But Saur says it's still possible that Ganymede's waters are habitable.

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Hubble telescope spots ocean on Jupiter moon Ganymede

Ode to Hubble-Barinica
Video created as part of the ESA Ode to Hubble Competition in celebration of Hubble #39;s 25th year in orbit. Credit space images and videos: NASA/ESA,HUBBLE TELESCOPE.

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Ode to Hubble-Barinica - Video

Lindsey Caldwell

The possibility of life on other planets just became more probable with NASA's Hubble telescope's latest discovery. Hubble uncovered evidence of a giant underground ocean on Jupiter's largest moon, Ganymede. Ganymede is the largest moon in our entire solar system and has long drawn the focus of astronomers as they search for conditions that could be hospitable to life on other planets. The theory of underground oceans on Ganymede was first proposed on in the 1970's, but it wasn't until now that scientists uncovered solid evidence.

This latest discovery was made Joachim Saur and his team at the University of Cologne in Germany. Ganymede has its own magnetic field which produces aurorae, not unlike earth's aurora borealis. Ganymede's magnetic field interacts with Jupiter's magnetic field. Whenever Jupiter's field changes Ganymede's is changed as well. Hubble measured that Ganymede's magnetic field did not react as predicted. Ganymede's field seemed to resist the changes from Jupiter's magnetic field. This could be explained mathematically if Ganymede had a saltwater ocean that resisted any changes from Jupiter's magnetic field.

Scientists were even able to calculate the size and depth of this newly discovered ocean. Ganymede's underground ocean is suspected to be over ten times deeper than any ocean on earth. The ocean would have more water than all of the combined oceans on earth. The ocean is likely buried under a 95-mile frozen crust of ice.

When scientists search for conditions conducive to life on other planets, they look for water. When Hubble identified Ganymede's underground ocean, scientists found a moon within our own solar system that has at least one of the quality necessary to sustaining life. I wouldn't wait for the alien mothership just yet, but we can look forward to other exciting discoveries from Hubble and NASA.

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Hubble finds an underground ocean on Jupiters largest moon

New Hubble Telescope images show star exploding 4 times
PROVIDED BY http://CNNNEXT.COM Astronomers observed the exciting and rare cosmic spectacle of a star exploding four times at different points across the gala...

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Hubble Telescope : The Eagle Nebula : Hubble Space Telescope
Combining Images and clips from NASA / ESA to create a stunning video that explores on the the Universes most amazing places: The Eagle Nebula Bringing you the BEST Space and Astronomy ...

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Hubble Telescope : The Eagle Nebula : Hubble Space Telescope - Video

By Kate Seamons

Newser

The universe is smiling down on usalmost literally. The Hubble Telescope has captured a "smiley face" in space: two bright yellow eyes (a cluster of galaxies called SDSS J1038+4849), a white nose, and a faint smile and incomplete circle around the entire face.

But those curving lines "don't existor at least not in the form that we see them in the photo," writes Michelle Starr at CNET. As SpaceTelescope.org reports, galaxy clusters have a mammoth gravitational pull, and at Slate, astronomer Phil Plait explains why in pretty easy-to-understand terms: The cluster holds trillions of stars, which is "a lot of mass, and a lot of gravity." J1038 is roughly 4.5 billion light-years away, and past it, at a distance of 7.5 billion light-years, are additional galaxies.

When those galaxies' light passes through the area that's been altered by the cluster's gravity, the light is bent. The phenomenon is called gravitational lensing, and the "strongest" example of it is called an Einstein ring, as in the Hubble image.

As Starr writes, such rings "only occur when the source of the original light, gravitational lens, and observer are in exact alignment in a straight line." Though the observer in this case was Hubble, the image surfaced thanks to Judy Schmidt, who submitted the image via the "Hubble's Hidden Treasures" effort, which invites armchair astronomers to search the massive Hubble archive for "iconic" photos the public has never seen.

This image was released by NASA yesterday. The phenomenon of seeing non-existent faces in thingsit's known as face pareidoliahas been known for centuries, and last year, researchers confirmed that it's perfectly normal and relates to how our brains are wired.

Among the better-known instances of this occurring: the "Virgin Mary tree," "Google Earth Jesus," and "Griddle Virgin."

This article originally appeared on Newser: The Hubble Spots 'Smiley Face' in Space

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Hubble telescope finds a smile in space

HUBBLE Telescope: A Look at ARP 273 - The Rose Galaxy Hubble Space Telescope
Combining existing videos and images from NASA and ESA with new footage , we take a new and closer look at ARP 273 the Rose Galaxy Bringing you the BEST Space and Astronomy videos online....

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HUBBLE Telescope: A Look at ARP 273 - The Rose Galaxy Hubble Space Telescope - Video