Tadpole Image

Hubble's New Camera Delivers Breathtaking Views of the Universe

"Remarkable, breathtaking" are words jubilant astronomers are using to describe the first four views of the universe taken by the Hubble Space Telescope's new Advanced Camera for Surveys, released by NASA this week.

The new camera was installed on Hubble by astronauts during a shuttle mission last March, the fourth Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission. During five of the most challenging spacewalks ever attempted, the crew successfully upgraded the orbiting telescope with the new camera, a new power unit, new solar arrays and an experimental cooling unit for an infrared camera. Hubble managers say the orbiting telescope has been operating superbly since the servicing mission.

Among the suite of four "suitable-for-framing" Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) science-demonstration pictures released today is a stunning view of a colliding galaxy, dubbed the "Tadpole," located 420 million light-years away. Unlike textbook images of stately galaxies, the "Tadpole" -- with a long tail of stars -- captures the essence of a dynamic, restless and violent universe, looking like a runaway pinwheel firework.

"This servicing mission has turned out to be an extraordinary success," said Preston Burch, Hubble Project Manager at Goddard. "It was the most difficult and complicated Hubble servicing mission attempted to date and our observatory came through it with flying colors."

For the complete article, go to: http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/news-release/releases/2002/h02-74.htm