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Today, I am going to share a handful of images of and from the Hubble Space Telescope. Once written, and published, I am going to head back to bed and try and get caught up on my sleep deficit. My Dear Readers, when I (with great hesitation) stopped writing and publishing on a daily basis... I lost something. I lost my ability to push through the pain and publish. I, also, lost sleep… lots of sleep. Between the two I am drained and so very tried. I only mention this fact for one reason, and one reason only.
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It is going to take me some time to get back up to speed. Like today’s article, at first my articles and writing will be shorter. This is to give me time to rest and beat back that sleep deficit, also it is to help me harden myself to the workload I carried prior to my two-week stay in a sauna. Fear not, My Dear Readers, I have no dobuts that within a matter of a week (two at most) I will be back to writing fourteen page episodes of ‘The Horror in Smithville’ and large and expansive editions of ‘The Mars Report’ and ‘Lost in Space’. Honestly? I really enjoy writing… and especially writing for you, My Dear Readers.
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Our very first image of this, the return of ‘Lost in Space’ is of the Hubble Space Telescope. This image was taken from the deck of the shuttle shortly after the last (ever) repair and upgrade mission for Hubble.
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[caption id="attachment_2918" align="aligncenter" width="630"]
The Hubble Space Telescope from Atlantis STS-125[/caption](The Hubble Space Telescope from Atlantis STS-125[1])
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From that day forward, unfortunately, the Hubble Space Telescope is on its own. There will be no more repair or upgrade missions for this twenty-five year veteran of the space program. It is gravely unfortunate that the end of the ‘shuttle era’ also spells a certain end for this member of the NASA/JPL family. My Dear Readers, I promise that so long as Hubble transmits images from orbit I will share those images with you right here on a weekly basis.
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Our next image, My Dear Readers, is a revisit by Hubble to the ‘Monkeyhead Nebula’ (aka NGC-2174)[2]. The Monkeyhead Nebula is a mere 6,100 light years away in the constellation of Orion.[3] Hubble first imaged this nearby nebula back in 2001. The image below was taken on the advent of Hubble’s 24th Anniversary. With all the upgrades and improvements the image below is of a far superior quality.
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[caption id="attachment_2915" align="aligncenter" width="630"]
Hubble revisits the Monkey Head Nebula for 24th birthday snap[/caption](Hubble revisits the Monkey Head Nebula for 24th birthday snap)
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Now, My Dear Readers, I have been promising you that… soon I will turn this series over to a ‘Solar Tour’. I have planned a nine week investment in time, effort, writing, research and images of EVERY BODY in our Solar System. Each, and every, edition will cover one body. I will start with the Sun! I am waiting to do the needed research into a recent project that has taken never seen before images of our sun. I have, briefly, read about this project… quite honestly I am not sure if the probe has already launched, or not.
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You see, My Dear Readers, I do need to do a lot of research prior to starting this ambitious series for ‘Lost in Space’. I do know for a fact that there is a probe, either already or about to be, launched that will share unprecedented images of our sun. As soon as I have finished this research, I will share any and all images in ONE edition of ‘Lost in Space’. The I will take every planetary body, one by one, and share all the best images I can find from all of the many probes NASA/JPL have launched over the years.
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When complete, you will have visited every planetary body in our solar system, the Sun and I hope to have to share some images from our Asteroid Belt! However, for now our next image is of Saturn! Scientists have, by comparing images over time, found that the infamous ‘Great Red Spot’ on Saturn is… getting smaller! They have no idea why, but today I am sharing a composite image that shows the progression. Featured, below, for your pleasure, My Dear Readers, the shrinking ‘Great Red Spot’ on Saturn!
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[caption id="attachment_2917" align="aligncenter" width="630"]
NASA's Hubble Shows Jupiter's Great Red Spot is Smaller than Ever Measured[/caption](NASA's Hubble Shows Jupiter's Great Red Spot is Smaller than Ever Measured)
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That, My Dear Readers, brings us to the very last image of this week’s edition of ‘Lost in Space’. Today I am going to share a brand new image of Messier 106 (aka NGC-4258)[4]. Now, I have shared images of this I have shared images of this Spiral Galaxy previously here at ‘Lost in Space’. However, from what I read about his image it was taken recently and is of higher pixel count and better quality that any previously offered. As well, this image is a composite of IR (red), x-ray (blue), radio (purple) and visible light view (Image credit: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), and R. Gendler. I was just taken aback when I first witnessed this image on my 21” 1920x1080 monitor. I actually reached up and tried to touch the image.
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[caption id="attachment_2916" align="aligncenter" width="630"]
Hubble view of M 106[/caption](Hubble view of M 106)
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That brings us to the very end of this edition of ‘Lost in Space’ for May 20th, 2014. I hope that everyone has enjoyed the images, and the information behind the images, too. I know that this edition has been a little… small. For that I apologize, but as I explained in the beginning of the article… I am working hard to get back up to the level I was writing and publishing prior to the ten days sauna visit! As always, I greatly appreciate your patronage, and support. I look forward to seeing you again, right here, in the days to come for more editions of the articles and stories you already enjoy… and maybe… just maybe… something NEW!
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Adieu!
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Thank YOU!
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[1] http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts125/main/index.html
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_2174
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_(constellation)
[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_106
[…] Lost In Space – May 20th 2014 : “From that day forward, unfortunately, the Hubble Space Telescope is on its own. There will be no more repair or upgrade missions for this twenty-five year veteran of the space program. It is gravely unfortunate that the end of the ‘shuttle era’ also spells a certain end for this member of the NASA/JPL family. My Dear Readers, I promise that so long as Hubble transmits images from orbit I will share those images with you right here on a weekly basis.” Little did anyone know, at this point, but ‘Lost In Space’ was about to make a huge change! This was the last article, of this series, that lacked… direction. To this point I had just shared images that struck my fancy, from the Hubble Space Telescope. However, starting with the very next edition… we began our ‘Tour of Our Solar System’! This was a real turnaround for the article series, and I saw traffic only IMPROVE! […]
ReplyDelete[…] Lost In Space – May 20th 2014 : “From that day forward, unfortunately, the Hubble Space Telescope is on its own. There will be no more repair or upgrade missions for this twenty-five year veteran of the space program. It is gravely unfortunate that the end of the ‘shuttle era’ also spells a certain end for this member of the NASA/JPL family. My Dear Readers, I promise that so long as Hubble transmits images from orbit I will share those images with you right here on a weekly basis.” Little did anyone know, at this point, but ‘Lost In Space’ was about to make a huge change! This was the last article, of this series, that lacked… direction. To this point I had just shared images that struck my fancy, from the Hubble Space Telescope. However, starting with the very next edition… we began our ‘Tour of Our Solar System’! This was a real turnaround for the article series, and I saw traffic only IMPROVE! […]
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