The 20th Anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope's STIS Instrument

The Versatile Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) Opens New Vistas in Astronomy
Twenty years ago, astronauts on the second servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope installed the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) aboard Hubble. This pioneering instrument combines a camera with a spectrograph, which provides a "fingerprint" of a celestial object's temperature, chemical composition, density, and motion. STIS also reveals changes in the evolving universe and leads the way in the field of high-contrast imaging. The versatile instrument is sensitive to a wide range of wavelengths of light, from ultraviolet through the optical and into the near-infrared. From studying black holes, monster stars, and the intergalactic medium, to analyzing the atmospheres of worlds around other stars, STIS continues its epic mission to explore the universe.

via Hubble - News feed
http://hubblesite.org/news_release/news/2017-06

Scientists reach back in time to discover some of the most power-packed galaxies

more »
When the universe was young, a supermassive black hole heaved out a jet of particle-infused energy that raced through space at nearly the speed of light. Billions of years later, scientists has identified this black hole and four others similar to it that range in age from 1.4 billion to 1.9 billion years old.
via Science Daily
Zazzle Space Exploration market place

A White Oval Cloud on Jupiter from Juno

more »

This storm cloud on Jupiter is almost as large as the Earth. Known as a white oval, the swirling cloud is a high pressure system equivalent to an Earthly anticyclone. The cloud is one of a "string of pearls" ovals south of Jupiter's famous Great Red Spot. Possibly, the Great Red Spot is just a really large white oval than turned red. Surrounding clouds show interesting turbulence as they flow around and past the oval. The featured image was captured on February 2 as NASA's robotic spacecraft Juno made a new pass just above the cloud tops of the Jovian world. Over the next few years, Juno will continue to orbit and probe Jupiter, determine atmospheric water abundance, and attempt to determine if Jupiter has a solid surface beneath its thick clouds.

Zazzle Space Gifts for young and old

SpaceX Plans to Send 2 Tourists Around Moon in 2018

more »
If the mission proceeds as planned, the private space travelers would be the first humans to venture that far into space in more than 40 years.
via New York Times