Worries about Hubble’s operations have troubled the last month or so, at least since Friday, October 5, 2018, when the telescope was put into safe mode while NASA worked to solve its issues.
As explained by the scientists, “Hubble entered safe mode after one of the three gyroscopes (gyros) actively being used to point and steady the telescope failed. Safe mode puts the telescope into a stable configuration until ground control can correct the issue and return the mission to normal operation. Built with multiple redundancies, Hubble had six new gyros installed during Servicing Mission-4 in 2009. Hubble usually uses three gyros at a time for maximum efficiency, but can continue to make scientific observations with just one.The gyro that failed had been exhibiting end-of-life behavior for approximately a year, and its failure was not unexpected; two other gyros of the same type had already failed. The remaining three gyros available for use are technically enhanced and therefore expected to have significantly longer operational lives.” (Read the whole story here).
The good news is that the venerable space telescope was back to business a few days ago, after recovering a backup gyroscope, or gyro, that had replaced the failed gyro. Hubble completed its first science observations on Saturday, Oct. 27. The observations were of the distant, star-forming galaxy DSF2237B-1-IR and were taken in infrared wavelengths with the Wide Field Camera 3 instrument.
And a surprise was awaiting: “The newest Hubble images released by NASA include a patch of sky showing three galaxies in a galaxy cluster in the configuration of a smiley face, as the light from one galaxy is gravitationally lensed, or warped by passing a massive object, to appear as an arc-shaped smile. Another new image shows the star-making Serpens Nebula, found nearly 1,300 light-years away, with a young star casting a batlike shadowon surrounding gas clouds. Both images were snapped before Hubble’s malfunction.” (More about the discovery here).
Hubble never stops delighting us with its stunning imagery. If you are curious to see what’s watching right now, go here.
This is what I have found on Monday, 5th November at 10:50 am GMT:
That smiley face was certainly in honor of Hubble’s return! 😉
Thanks for sharing!
I agree! There’s not a good moment for space telescopes, so good that Hubble is back 🙂