Hubble news stories on Newser

Hubble Spots Mysterious 'Flying X'

NxBigmouthery — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 15:08:57 CST

An object captured on film by the Hubble telescope has astronomers scratching their heads. The body, named P/2010 A2 after it was discovered in early January, shares comet-like traits, but the head is x-shaped and seems to be disconnected from its tail, reports the New York Daily News .

New Hubble Images Dazzle

Kevin Spak — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 13:46:09 CDT

NASA released the first shots from the recently upgraded Hubble Space Telescope today, and the results are spectacular. Thanks to the new imagers installed in May, Hubble can now see farther, with greater clarity and a wider color spectrum, reports NPR. Officially, NASA calls it a new beginning for the...

Hubble's Back in Action

John Johnson — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 19:15:15 CDT

The Hubble has perfect vision again. NASA today released the first photos taken by the space telescope since an instrumental glitch put it out of commission last month, Space.com reports. Engineers fixed the problem this week, then got photos of a pair of galaxies about 400 million light-years from...

Hubble Glitch Delays NASA Repair Mission

Harry Kimball — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 17:13:22 CDT

A repair mission to the Hubble Space Telescope has been delayed after the apparatus stopped transmitting data Friday, the Orlando Sentinel reports. Shuttle crews will be retrained to deal with the new problem, and the launch rescheduled so NASA can have a second shuttle ready in case a rescue mission...

Upgrade Will Boost Hubble Vision

Peter Fearon — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 02:10:31 CDT

Spectacular images from the Hubble telescope are about to get even more awe-inspiring, thanks to a $900-million upgrade during an upcoming space shuttle mission—the fifth and last mission to the orbiting observatory. Two new high-tech instruments and a series of repairs will make Hubble able to probe even deeper...

Methane Found on Far-off Planet

Nick McMaster — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 16:59:54 CDT

Methane, one of the simplest compounds known to play a role in the chemical genesis of life, was discovered for the first time to exist on a planet outside Earth’s solar system, the BBC reports. The planet, designated HD 189733b, is 63 light years away and also contains water, but...

NASA Plans Daring Hubble Fix

Kevin Spak — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 12:42:03 CST

Astronauts will save—and drastically upgrade—the Hubble Space Telescope in an unprecedented mission this year, NewScientist Space reports. The mission will make the Hubble 90 times more powerful than it originally was, but will require spacewalkers to complete a delicate electronics repair job in zero gravity while wearing bulky...

NASA Finds 'Death Star' Galaxy

Peter Fearon — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 04:02:00 CST

NASA astronomers have discovered a "death star galaxy" with a super massive black hole that is blasting a neighboring galaxy with deadly radiation. It's the first time scientists have witnessed such a phenomenon. The hungry black hole has been zapping a galaxy 20,000 light years away for about a...

New 'Lucky' System Takes Clearest-Ever Space Pics

Sam Gale Rosen — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 03:42:04 CDT

A ground-based optics system has been developed that can take pictures of space twice as sharp as those from the Hubble Telescope. The system uses advanced light detection chips and calculates when the atmosphere is least distorting, the BBC reports. The system gathers together the clear pictures and eliminates distortions...