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Hubblecast 27: What Hubble Taught Us About The planets.

For nineteen years, NASA/ESA’s Hubble space Telescope has made some of the most dramatic discoveries in the history of astronomy but it has also helped scientists learn more about our own Solar System. From its vantage point 600 km above the Earth, Hubble has studied every planet in our Solar System except Mercury where light from the Sun would damage its instruments.

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Hubble has captured the impact of a comet on Jupiter, immense storms on Neptune and even tiny dwarf planets at the edge of our Solar System. The veteran telescope keeps a watchful eye on our solar backyard.

Regarded by many as the most valuable astronomical tool, the Hubble Space Telescope is approaching its 19th anniversary in space. Hubble sees into the far reaches of the Universe but its powerful instruments have also surveyed our planetary neighbours. In this episode, well see what Hubble has revealed to us in our own solar backyard.

Even those who, for some strange reason, arent astronomy enthusiasts are likely to recognise some of Hubbles most famous images, like the “Pillars of Creation”in the Eagle Nebula or the Hubble Deep, and Ultra Deep, Fields which have shown us some of the most distant galaxies ever observed. The Hubble Space Telescope has really fundamentally changed our understanding of the universe at large, but with its high resolution images of planets and moons in our own Solar System, it has also taught us a lot about our own cosmic neighbourhood.

Hubble cannot observe our Sun, or the closest planet, Mercury, because its instruments are light-sensitive and would be damaged. However, the telescope has examined every other planet in the solar system, including dwarf planets Pluto, Ceres and Eris. But, of course, Hubble does not just produce pretty pictures, it provides planetary scientists with vital information about our neighbours that may help us better understand our own home planet, Earth.

More (PDF): http://www.spacetelescope.org/videos/scripts/hubblecast27a.pdf

Credits:
• ESA/Hubble (Martin Kornmesser, Colleen Sharkey & Lars Lindberg Christensen)
• Visual design & Editing: Martin Kornmesser
• Animations: Martin Kornmesser
• Host: Dr. J
• Narration: Robert Fosbury
• Cinematography: Peter Rixner
• Music: movetwo
• Web Hosting: Leibniz-Rechenzentrum (LRZ)
• Web Technical Support: Lars Holm Nielsen & Raquel Yumi Shida
• Written by: Lars Lindberg Christensen
• Directed by: Colleen Sharkey
• Additional photos and footage: United States Air Force photo by Senior Airman Joshua Strang, NASA-JPL/ESA, NASA/JHU/APL,

Dr. J is a German astronomer at the ESO. His scientific interests are in cosmology, particularly on galaxy evolution and quasars. Dr. J’s real name is Joe Liske and he has a PhD in astronomy.

Hubble European Space Agency Information Centre
Garching/Munich, Germany
• http://www.eso.org
• http://www.spacetelescope.org
• http://hubblesite.org
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Duration : 0:6:44

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