After the Repairs: The New Hubble Photographs

Superb vistas from reborn Hubble

Astronomers are celebrating the release of remarkable new images from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST).

They prove the mission carried out by astronauts in May to service the observatory was an outstanding success.

The latest pictures include trademark Hubble visions - from colliding galaxies to dying stars.

Nasa says the orbiting telescope, regarded as one of the most important scientific tools ever built, should keep working until at least 2014.

The Atlantis shuttle mission in May was the fifth and final Hubble makeover.

The US space agency and its international partners plan now to concentrate their efforts on preparing a bigger and more capable observatory known as the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

Wednesday's release of pictures was the usual tour de force that astronomers have come to expect following a Hubble servicing. [...]

To see more photos, follow the above link, and then click on the link below the Butterfly Nebula to see a larger image of that. From there you will be able to view a selection of recent photos.
     

Hubble Space Telescope Repaired for Last Time

Repaired Hubble relaunched from shuttle

[...] "Houston, Hubble has been released, it's safely back on its journey of exploration as we begin steps to conclude ours," Altman said.

Hubble's protective aperture door was opened a few minutes before deploy, at 8:33 a.m. EDT, allowing starlight to once again fall on its famously flawed 94.5-inch primary mirror. But engineers at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore and the Space Telescope Operations Control Center at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., will need most of the summer to test and calibrate Hubble's new and refurbished instruments and subsystems.

If all goes well, the first pictures from the upgraded telescope will be released in early September.

The release marked a bittersweet moment for NASA and for Hubble fans as the telescope receded into the dark of space, disappearing from view for the last time. With the shuttle program facing retirement after eight more space station assembly flights, no more Hubble visits are currently planned. And no one will set eyes on the telescope again until a final mission, presumably robotic, to drive it out of orbit sometime in the late 2010s or the 2020s. [...]

The article offers sentimental comments from the crew, including a self-described "Hubble Hugger", who worked on prior Hubble missions.

Upgraded Hubble flies solo again
This article also links to a gallery of the Photos taken by the Hubble Telescope.
     

A New Eye In The Sky: Final Hubble Upgrade

PHOTO: Hubble Supercamera Takes Final "Pretty Picture"

May 11, 2009—In its final "pretty picture," the longest-running Hubble Space Telescope camera has snapped the remains of a giant red star (above), NASA announced on Monday.

The Wide Field Planetary Camera 2, which NASA hailed as a Supercamera in a statement released today, will be decommissioned during the final space shuttle Hubble-repair mission set to launch today.

[...]

More spectacular shots will undoubtedly follow with the camera's predecessor Wide Field Camera 3, to be installed in coming days.

The next-generation technology will build on Camera 2 with its ability to span the entire electromagnetic spectrum, from ultraviolet light to visible light that can be seen with the naked eye.

You can click here to see more about the mission of Atlantis. Cool stuff.