William Atkins
Saturday, 25 July 2009 18:49
Science -
Space
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This collision between Jupiter, about 360 million miles from Earth, and this space debris is only the second time such a thing has been observed on Jupiter by astronomers here on Earth.
The first time was when pieces of the comet Shoemaker-Levy 8 collided with Jupiter in 1994.
The NASA news brief implies that the ability of Hubble to image the collision point in such great detail shows that the service and repair mission, performed just two months ago, was a success.
To see the Hubble Space Telescope’s visible-light image of the Jupiter impact point, go to the website “
Hubble Captures Rare Jupiter Collision.”
U.S. Senator Barbara A. Mikulski, a Democrat from Maryland, stated, "
This image of the impact on Jupiter is fantastic. It tells us that our astronauts and the ground crew at the Goddard Space Flight Center successfully repaired the Hubble telescope. I'm so proud of them and I can't wait to see what's next from Hubble." [NASA]
Barbara A. Mikulski is the chair of the Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations Subcommittee. Mikulski is a senator from Maryland, the state where ground control of the Hubble Space Telescope is located.
The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) is responsible for the scientific operations of the Hubble mission. The Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) operates STScI. AURA is located on the Homewood campus of Johns Hopkins University, in Baltimore, Maryland.
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