Edwin Powell Hubble (November 20, 1889  September 28, 1953) was an American astronomer who profoundly changed our understanding of the Universe.  In 1923 using the 2.5 m Hooker Telescope at Mount Wilson, California, he discovered that Universe goes beyond the Milky Way galaxy.  He proved that several spiral nebulae, including the Andromeda Nebula were much too distant to be part of the Milky Way and were, in fact, entire galaxies outside our own. This idea was announced on January 1, 1925, fundamentally changed the view of the Universe.

At the same time in 1923 the German rocket pioneer Hermann Oberth, a father of modern rocketry—published "Die Rakete zu den Planetenräumen" ("The Rocket into Planetary Space"), which mentioned how a telescope could be propelled into Earth orbit by a rocket. Today Hubble Telescope masses about 12 tons, is 13.2 meters long, and has a maximum diameter of 4.2 m. Two solar panels provide electricity, which is mainly used to power the instruments. Four large flywheels are used to orient and stabilize the telescope. The telescope's infrared camera and multi object spectrometer also need to be cooled down to minus 180 degrees Celsius for operation.

In 1990,The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) was finally sent into orbit, after decades of frustration and delay. But a flaw in one of the mirrors crucial to its operation left it unable to operate to its full capacity. Yet a visit by a team of space-walking repairmen three years later restored the HST to it's intended capabilities. The telescope's longevity is due to its being the only space telescope ever designed to be maintained in space by visiting astronauts. Four more teams of Nasa technicians have returned to Hubble since 1993, the last of them in 2009. That final NCT allowed the telescope to continue serving up wonders until 2014, when it will be de-orbited and replaced by its hi-tech successor, the James Webb Space Telescope .

For 20 years, it has circled quietly above us, capturing 500,000 images of a dark, secret world billions of light years away. Despite its age, Hubble is 100 times more powerful today than at the time of its launch, thanks to its most recent visit by astronauts. Hubble has found black holes at the core of every galaxy in its range and it's Ultra Deep Field image, for instance, is the most detailed visible-light image ever made of the universe's most distant objects.

Many Hubble observations have led to breakthroughs in astrophysics, such as accurately determining the rate of expansion of the Universe. Other major discoveries made using Hubble data include proto-planetary disks in the Orion Nebula, Images of extrasolar planets around sun-like stars, and the optical counterparts of the still-mysterious gamma ray bursts.HST has also been used to study objects in the outer reaches of the Solar System, including the dwarf planets Pluto and Eris.

V838 Monocerotis (V838 Mon) is a red variable star in the constellation Monoceros about 20,000 light years from the Sun, and possibly one of the largest known stars. The star experienced a major outburst that was observed in early 2002. Originally believed to be a typical nova  eruption, it was then realized to be something completely different. The reason for the outburst is still uncertain, but several theories have been put forward, including an eruption related to stellar death processes and a merger of a binary star or planets. Rapidly brightening objects like novae and supernovae are known to produce a phenomenon known as light echo. In the case above of V838 Monocerotis, the light echo produced was unprecedented and is well documented in this image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. For more on the HST go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpkrVw_E6Nw&fture=related

For the opening lecture of our Autumn Program present an evening of lecture by one of the Irelands  leading amateur astronomers and secretary of Midlands Astronomy Club

"The Hubble Space Telescope, History Still in the Making"

Monday, September 6th 2010 , Westwood house Hotel  7.30pm - 9.30pm

 By Sean Morris

The Meeting will begin at 7.30pm with Professor Markus Woerner giving the first in a series of lessons/tutorials entitled "Amateur Astronomy for Beginners". To-night’s topics are: Where, When and How to find Constellations.

Beginners are invited to bring their telescopes to the meeting where they will receive advice on how to use or align them.

Sunspots & Spicules

 Dave Gradwell is a member of the Galway Astronomy Club and one of Ireland's finest Solar imaging experts. He has sent this spectacular NEW image of a large Sunspot on the Sun taken from his observatory in Portumna, Co. Galway on June 27th 2010.

 The photo was taken in Hydrogen Alpha light and shows the thin layer above the photosphere called the chromosphere. The variations visible are spicules as seen against the disc as opposed to the edge. The intense area is solar plasma being pulled by the magnetic fields surrounding the Sunspot can take on many differenrt shapes depending on the strength and shape of the magnetic field, it just happened in this case that the plasma formed like a maelstrom around the Sunspot.

He has included the Earth as a reference to show the size of this Active region.  Sunspots (like the one seen here) are regions of intense magnetic activity where convection  is inhibited by strong magnetic fields, reducing energy transport from the hot interior to the surface.

The magnetic field causes strong heating in the corona, forming active regions that are the source of intense solar flares and coronal mass ejections. The largest sunspots can be tens of thousands of kilometers across. The number of sunspots visible on the Sun is not constant, but varies over an 11-year cycle known as the Solar cycle.

See many more of his beautiful images at his website www.davegradwell.com

Galway Astronomy Club will holding a public observing session to co inside with International Observe the Moon night to be held in Salthill on September 18th.

Other objects of interest will be the Planet Jupiter with it's four Galilean Moons  and the distant Planet Uranus. Further details available closer to the date. For some facts on the Moon go to http://lro.gsfc.nasa.gov/moonfacts.html or go to http://observethemoonnight.org/