NOTE TO EDITORS: N99-053

HUBBLE PROBES SECRET LIVES OF GALAXIES AT NEXT SPACE SCIENCE UPDATE OCT. 6

New research and images from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope advancing astronomers' understanding of the growth and development of spiral galaxies will be presented in a Space Science Update at 1 p.m. EDT, Wednesday, Oct. 6, in the James E. Webb Auditorium at NASA Headquarters, 300 E St. SW, Washington, DC.

Peering deeply into the hubs of over 200 spiral galaxies, Hubble reveals in unprecedented detail the spectacular complexity
in their central bulges. With accurate new measurements of the ages of stars around the centers of many galaxies, possible only
with Hubble, astronomers now have achieved a much clearer understanding of how galaxies like our own Milky Way came to look as they do.

Panelists will be:

-- Dr. Reynier F. Peletier, astronomer, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom
-- Dr. C. Marcella Carollo, astronomer, Columbia University, New York, NY
-- Dr. Rosemary Wyse, professor of physics and astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
-- Dr. Donald Figer, assistant astronomer, Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD
-- Dr. Dave Leckrone, HST project scientist, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, panel moderator.

The briefing will be carried live on NASA TV with two-way question-and-answer capability for reporters covering the event
from participating NASA centers.

NASA Television is broadcast on the GE-2 satellite, Transponder 9C, at 85 degrees West longitude, with vertical
polarization, frequency 3880.0 MHz, audio 6.8 MHz. Audio of the broadcast will be available on voice circuit at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, FL, on 407/867-1220, -1240 and -1260.