November 18, 2019 - Honoring Hubble
Honoring Hubble Few astronomers will ever be honored as highly as Edwin Hubble. Born 130 years ago this week, Hubble determined in the 1920s that so-called “spiral nebulae” were actually independent galaxies, not simply parts of our own Milky Way—a discovery that increased our estimate of the size of the Universe. Hubble also discovered that most galaxies were speeding away from each other, a phenomenon we now know to be caused by the Big Bang. Today, his legacy of discovery is honored by a namesake, the Hubble Space Telescope, the largest optical telescope ever placed in orbit, and the one responsible for more discoveries than almost any other scientific instrument in history. This Hubble image shows the brilliant star cluster NGC 346 surrounded by dark clouds and glowing nebulosity.
Image credit: NASA, ESA and A. Nota (ESA/STScI, STScI/AURA)
Weekly Calendar
November 18 - 24, 2019
Holidays - Sky Events - Space History
Monday 18
Leonid meteor shower
1923: Alan Shepard born
1989: Cosmic Background Explorer launched
2013: MAVEN spacecraft launched to Mars
Tuesday 19
Last Qtr Moon 4:11 PM ET
1969: Apollo 12 makes second lunar landing
1996: STS-80 Columbia launched
1997: STS-87 Columbia launched
2005: Hayabusa spacecraft makes first liftoff from an asteroid
Wednesday 20
Mercury appears stationary
1889: Edwin Hubble born
1998: Zarya module launched, first element of International Space Station
2002: First Delta IV launched
2004: Swift spacecraft launched
Thursday 21
Friday 22
1989: STS-33 Discovery launched
Saturday 23
Moon at perigee
1977: Meteosat 1 launched
1983: 149-day Salyut 7 mission ends
2002: STS-113 Endeavour launched
2014: Soyuz TMA-15M launched carrying ISS Expedition 42/43 crew
2015: New Shepard makes first powered vertical landing of rocket booster from space
Sunday 24
Mars 4° south of Moon
Venus 1.4° south of Jupiter
Mercury 1.9° south of Moon
1947: First Aerobee rocket launch
1991: STS-44 Atlantis launched