Photo Credit: NASA, ESA, STScI, S. Beckwith & the HUDF Working Group
Take a close look at this picture. How many individual stars do you see? Hundreds? Thousands?
When I looked carefully at this picture, I saw three individual stars. All the other shiny spots were galaxies, each containing billions of stars.
This picture is known as the "Hubble Ultra Deep Field" or "HUDF". Imagine focusing a camera on a small section of the sky, a section that's perhaps as big as the head of a pin -at arm's length. Now look at this picture. This is a low resolution version. The high resolution version allows you to zoom in to reveal more and more galaxies. It's mind-blowing!
We have discovered more about our universe than could ever be imagined, all thanks to the HST. This modestly sized telescope has the advantage of being above our atmosphere allowing it the bring in the sharpest possible images. Also advantageous is the fact that it can operate nearly continually, 24 hours a day. Needless to say, professional astronomers around the world are overjoyed when their requests to use the HST are approved
For a few weeks now, the main camera of the Hubble Space Telescope has been shut down due to a technical fault. Just today, HST operators tried recycling the power to the "Advanced Camera for Surveys" also known as the "ACS". I'm happy to report that the camera appears to be back in operation. Very soon though, the Hubble will need to be serviced if it is to remain functional. That means sending up astronauts or a very smart robot to perform the maintenance. Until then, I'll keep my fingers crossed.
Would you like to see more HST pictures? You can find them at www.hubblesite.org .
Join the Durham Region Astronomical Association on Sunday, October 15th at the Parkwood Estate in Oshawa for astronomy displays and weather permitting, views of storms on our sun.
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