Chaotic Astronomy

Hubblecast 22: Hubble Space Telescope Directly Observes Exoplanet Orbiting Fomalhaut.

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has discovered an extrasolar planet, for the first time using direct visible-light imaging. The strange world is far-flung from its parent star, is surrounded by a colossal belt of gas and dust, and may even have rings more impressive than Saturn’s.

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Credit:
- ESA/Hubble (M. Kornmesser & L. L. Christensen)
- Visual design & Editing: Martin Kornmesser
- Animations: Martin Kornmesser & Luis Calçada
- Web Hosting: Leibniz-Rechenzentrum (LRZ)
- Web Technical Support: Lars Holm Nielsen & Raquel Yumi Shida
- Written by: Lee Pullen & Lars Lindberg Christensen
- Host: Dr. J
- Narration: Bob Fosbury
- Cinematography: Peter Rixner
- Music: movetwo
- Footage and photos: A. Fujii, Digitized Sky Survey 2, NASA, ESA, and P. Kalas (University of California, Berkeley). Acknowledgment: Davide De Martin (ESA/Hubble)
- Directed by: Lars Lindberg Christensen

Dr. J is a German astronomer at the ESO. His scientific interests are in cosmology, particularly on galaxy evolution and quasars. Dr. J’s real name is Joe Liske and he has a PhD in Astronomy.

Hubble European Space Agency Information Centre
Garching/Munich, Germany
• http://www.eso.org
• http://www.spacetelescope.org
• http://hubblesite.org
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Duration : 0:5:2

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Understanding Reflector, Refractor, and Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescopes, Alt-Azimuth and Equatorial mounts, benefits, and comparisons.

Duration : 0:7:39

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Reissued in HD. Bad Astronomer Phil Plait explores his favorite images from the early days of Hubble. Visit Phil on http://www.badAstronomy.com. His amazing book “Death from the Skies” is now available in paperback via Amazon.com.

Duration : 0:5:7

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ESOcast 12: VISTA – A Pioneering New Survey Telescope Starts Work.

VISTA (the Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy) is a new telescope that has just started work at ESOs Paranal Observatory in Chile and has made its first release of pictures.

VISTA is a survey telescope working at infrared wavelengths and is the worlds largest survey telescope. Its large mirror, wide field of view and very sensitive detectors will reveal a completely new view of the southern sky.

Spectacular pictures of the Flame Nebula, the Centre of the Milky Way and the Fornax Galaxy Cluster show that it is working very well.

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VISTA is the latest telescope to be added to ESOs Paranal Observatory in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. It is housed on the peak adjacent to the one hosting the ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT) and shares the same exceptional observing conditions.

VISTA’s main mirror is 4.1 metres across and is the most highly curved mirror of this size and quality ever made — its deviations from a perfect surface are less than a few thousandths of the thickness of a human hair — and its construction and polishing presented formidable challenges.

VISTA was conceived and developed by a consortium of 18 universities in the United Kingdom led by Queen Mary, University of London and became an in-kind contribution to ESO as part of the UK’s accession agreement. The telescope design and construction were project-managed by the Science and Technology Facilities Council’s UK Astronomy Technology Centre (STFC, UK ATC).

Provisional acceptance of VISTA was formally granted by ESO at a ceremony at ESO’s Headquarters in Garching, Germany, attended by representatives of Queen Mary, University of London and STFC, on 10 December 2009 and the telescope will now be operated by ESO.

Read more: http://www.eso.org/public/outreach/press-rel/pr-2009/pr-49-09.html

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ESOcast is produced by ESO, the European Southern Observatory. ESO, the European Southern Observatory, is the pre-eminent intergovernmental science and technology organisation in astronomy designing, constructing and operating the worlds most advanced ground-based Telescopes.

• http://www.eso.org/
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Duration : 0:6:26

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To celebrate this stargazing year, amateur astronomers around the world are going to encourage their communities to look to the stars.

Duration : 0:2:55

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The Hubble Space Telescope Is Back – Better Than Ever! The Final Servicing Mission.

“Improved Hubble Shows Evidence of Dark Matter”
• http://www.youtube.com/user/tdarnell#play/uploads/2/3wluv08tDhU [HD]
• http://www.deepAstronomy.com/

“When Hubble Opened its New Eyes”
• http://www.youtube.com/AndromedasWake
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bytNgT7l8k&fmt=22 [HD]

“The Hubble Space Telescope – Rebirth of an Icon (Hubblecast 30)”
• http://www.youtube.com/ESOcast
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hjy7YSIH-GI&fmt=22 [HD]

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The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is a space telescope that was carried into orbit by the space shuttle in April 1990. It is named after the American astronomer Edwin Hubble. Although not the first space telescope, the Hubble is one of the largest and most versatile, and is well-known as both a vital research tool and a public relations boon for astronomy.

The HST is a collaboration between NASA and the European Space Agency, and is one of NASA’s Great Observatories, along with the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, the Chandra X-ray Observatory, and the Spitzer Space Telescope.

Space Telescopes were proposed as early as 1923. The Hubble was funded in the 1970s, with a proposed launch in 1983, but the project was beset by technical delays, budget problems, and the Challenger disaster. When finally launched in 1990, scientists found that the main mirror had been ground incorrectly, severely compromising the telescope’s capabilities.

However, after a servicing mission in 1993, the telescope was restored to its intended quality. Hubble’s orbit outside the distortion of Earth’s atmosphere allows it to take extremely sharp images with almost no background light. Hubble’s Ultra Deep Field image, for instance, is the most detailed visible-light image ever made of the universe’s most distant objects. Many Hubble observations have led to breakthroughs in astrophysics, such as accurately determining the rate of expansion of the universe.

The Hubble is the only telescope ever designed to be serviced in space by astronauts. There have been five servicing missions, the last occurring in May 2009. Servicing Mission 1 took place in December 1993 when Hubble’s imaging flaw was corrected. Servicing missions 2, 3A, and 3B repaired various sub-systems and replaced many of the observing instruments with more modern and capable versions.

However, following the 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia accident, the fifth servicing mission was canceled on safety grounds. After spirited public discussion, NASA reconsidered this decision, and administrator Mike Griffin approved one final Hubble servicing mission. STS-125 was launched in May 2009, and installed two new instruments and made numerous repairs.

The latest servicing should allow the telescope to function until at least 2014, when its successor, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), is due to be launched. The JWST will be far superior to Hubble for many astronomical research programs, but will only observe in infrared, so it will complement (not replace) Hubble’s ability to observe in the visible and ultraviolet parts of the spectrum.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubble_Space_Telescope
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Duration : 0:6:46

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Aspiring astronomers are always told to study the Astronomy star guide before they get to start using the Telescopes to peer at the twinkling points of lights in the skies above. They would be told to be able to read these guides, and when they can comprehend the information inside the charts, only then shall they be able to use telescopes. Read more »