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Special Feature
Hubble Makes One-Millionth Science Observation
By NASA’s Amazing Space reporters
Aug. 2011
T
he hubble space
Telescope crossed
another milestone in its space
odyssey of exploration and discovery.
On Monday, July 4, the Earth-orbiting
observatory logged its one-millionth
science observation. Hubble is wellknown for its spectacular images. In
this case, however, special instruments
aboard Hubble were used to search
for water in an extrasolar planet’s
atmosphere 1,000 light-years away.
Hubble’s scrapbook includes images
of celestial objects taken over its 21
years in space as well as observations
used to test that the telescope’s science
instruments are working properly.
Since its launch and deployment in
April 1990, Hubble has been keeping
its “eye” on the universe. Hubble
images have helped expand our view
of the cosmos, allowing us to better
understand our universe.
The telescope’s many science accomplishments include making the first
IMAGE: NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon (STScI)
Planet crossing: This artist’s illustration shows the extrasolar planet HAT-P-7b
passing in front of its sun. The planet is larger than Jupiter and is orbiting a star
that is hotter than our Sun. Astronomers used the Hubble Space Telescope to
study this planet for its one-millionth science observation, hunting for the
presence of water vapor in the alien world’s atmosphere.
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visible-light image of a planet outside
our solar system and taking some of the
deepest views of the universe, revealing
galaxies that existed billions of years ago.
Some Hubble favorites
Hubble’s view of Saturn’s ringed world
Besides its groundbreaking science
discoveries, Hubble also has wowed the
public with its breathtaking images.
Popular favorites include such cosmic
beauties as Saturn and its rings and the
pillars of gas in the Eagle Nebula.
NASA, ESA, and E. Karkoschka (U. of Arizona)
The Hubble Space Telescope was more than 1 billion miles away from
Saturn when it took this image, above. The dark band in the ring system is
actually a large gap between the rings called the Cassini division. The colors
in the Hubble view are what you would see if you could travel to the planet.
The bright icy particles that make up the rings make them appear white.
amazing-space.stsci.edu
The Eagle Nebula
SEE MORE Hubble images
and read more Star Witness
news stories at Amazing
Space, NASA’s awardwinning educational
website for K-12 students
and teachers.
Images: NASA, ESA, S. Beckwith (STScI)
and the HUDF Team
NASA, ESA, STScI, J. Hester and P. Scowen
(Arizona State University)
In this Hubble Space Telescope
image, these eerie, dark pillars are
actually columns of gas and dust
that are incubators for new stars.
They are part of the Eagle Nebula,
a nearby star-forming region 6,500
light-years from Earth. Ultraviolet
light from nearby, young, massive
stars are sculpting and illuminating
the giant pillars. The tallest pillar is
trillions of miles long.
2
The Hubble Ultra Deep Field
www.nasa.gov
In the full Hubble Ultra Deep
Field (above), astronomers
used the Hubble Space
Telescope to find 10,000
galaxies, most of which existed
before the Sun and Earth were
born. The light from these
distant galaxies must travel for
a long time before arriving at
Earth. It takes billions of years
for that light to arrive, so we
are seeing the galaxies as they
appeared when the light left
them billions of years ago.