Goodbye, old friend

[Bo D]

Live long and prosper

Final Mission to Hubble

The STS-125 crew aboard space shuttle Atlantis captured this still image of the Hubble Space Telescope as the two spacecraft begin their relative separation on May 19, 2009, after having been linked together for nearly a week.
During the week, Atlantis' astronauts repaired and upgraded the telescope, conducting five spacewalks during their mission to extend the life of the orbiting observatory. They successfully installed two new instruments and repaired two others, bringing them back to life, replaced gyroscopes and batteries, and added new thermal insulation panels to protect the orbiting observatory.

The result is six working, complementary science instruments with capabilities beyond what was available and an extended operational lifespan until at least 2014. With the newly installed Wide Field Camera, Hubble is able to observe in ultraviolet and infrared spectrums as well as visible light, peer deep onto the cosmic frontier in search of the earliest star systems and study planets in the solar system. The telescope's new Cosmic Origins Spectrograph allows it to study the grand-scale structure of the universe, including the star-driven chemical evolution that produces carbon and the other elements necessary for life.



http://www.scientificcomputing.com/news-DS-Final_Mission-to-Hubble-083110.aspx

[Palehorse]

In this same vein - - - sort of:

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Better catch Jupiter next week in the night sky. It won't be that big or bright again until 2022. Jupiter will pass 368 million miles from Earth late Monday, its closest approach since 1963. You can see it low in the east around dusk. Around midnight, it will be directly overhead. That's because Earth will be passing between Jupiter and the sun, into the wee hours of Tuesday.

The solar system's largest planet already appears as an incredibly bright star — three times brighter than the brightest star in the sky, Sirius. The only thing brighter in the night sky right now is our moon. Binoculars and telescopes will dramatically improve the view as Jupiter, along with its many moons, rises in the east as the sun sets.