Editorial
Dear Hubble Users,
Having just celebrated the 24th anniversary of the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, we marvel at the impact that this observatory has had and is still having on science and society.
The impact on science is measurable, with Hubble observations having populated more than 101 Terabytes of archived data, generated more than 12 000 refereed publications, engaged a community of more than 5000 astronomers worldwide and reached at least six million students. But in parallel to this Hubble has had a profound, and less tangible, impact on humanity.
Over the years Hubble has become a household name. It is the people’s telescope and its journey from the initial disaster of the flawed mirror to becoming the most powerful observatory in space, has touched and inspired many. Hubble’s name now appears in poetry and art, on CD covers, clothing and bags, and in visual media from advertisements to films. The Oscar winning film Gravity even includes in its opening scenes a Hubble look-a-like being smashed into pieces! Scary...
At the recent Hubble conference in Rome, it was remarkable to meet the younger generation of students and astronomers who were born with Hubble already in orbit, and who already make up a powerful and strong contingent. For some of them, Hubble was the inspiring force that convinced them to study astronomy and pursue a scientific career. For those of us, who followed this mission from the very beginning, it is both rewarding and humbling to have played a role in a project that has made such a difference on such a huge scale, because Hubble now belongs to all of us.
Antonella Nota
ESA HST Project Scientist/STScI Baltimore
Email: HubbleNewsEurope@stsci.edu
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16 May 2014: During the week of 9 June 2014, approximately 150 astronomers from all over the world — 15% of whom are European — will meet at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, US, to discuss and rank this year’s proposals for Hubble observing time. 1135 proposals were received in response to the Call for Proposals for Cycle 22, between ...
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16 May 2014: At ESA/Hubble we do not only write press releases and process astronomical images for circulation. We also develop award-winning visuals, from artists’ impressions, animations, and illustrations, to our video podcast: the Hubblecast. What exactly is a Hubblecast? Hubblecasts are short videos lasting less than ten minutes that present Hubble research to a public audience in a more visual way. ...
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16 May 2014: We have just wrapped up and recovered from the fourth Science with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST4) conference, held in Rome from 17-–20 March and organised by ESA in collaboration with NASA and STScI. What an amazing four days! With the beautiful backdrop of the Accademia dei Lincei, it was an immersion in Hubble science, spanning a wide variety of ...
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16 May 2014: Every few years STScI organises a comprehensive calibration workshop. This year the calibration workshop will be held on August 11-–13, at STScI. If you are interested in learning about all the tools available to best extract the science from your Hubble data, or you want to learn about what the James Webb Space Telescope will bring to your field of ...
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