HUBBLE REPAIRED: Over the past five days, spacewalking astronauts have replaced a camera, reenergized a spectrograph, swapped batteries, installed new gyros and much more. Thanks to their efforts, the Hubble Space Telescope is in working order again. "Hubble isn't just a satellite--it's about humanity's quest for knowledge," said STS-125 mission specialist John Grunsfeld when he had finished the final spacewalk. "On this mission, we tried some things that people said were impossible. We achieved [those things], and we wish Hubble the very best." [more] MORNING PLANETS: This is a good week to wake up early. Venus, Mars and the Moon are gathering in the east for a beautiful sunrise sky show. Liz Gleason took this picture of Venus and Mars already in position on May 17th over Magnetic Island in Queensland Australia: The two planets were waiting for the Moon. On Wednesday, May 20th, the crescent Moon will join them to form a crooked line in the dawn sky. On Thursday morning, May 21st, the trio will shift positions to become the vertices of a lovely celestial triangle. So set your alarm! It's a nice way to begin the day. Sky maps: May 20, 21. OFF CENTER: Averted vision is a trick commonly used by astronomers to see the faint beauty of the night sky. It appears to work in broad daylight, too. Yesterday, May 18th, in Ontario, Canada, Leslie Marczi pointed his solar telescope not directly at the sun, but off to one side, and this is what he saw: "There were a couple of nice prominences dancing along the limb of the sun," says Marczi. "Here's another one. I photographed them using an Astro-Physics 105mm (4-inch) telescope and a Solar Scope H-alpha filter." With the sun stuck in the pits of a century-class solar minimum, the face of the sun is mostly blank. Solar photographers should look off center. That's where the action is. more images: from Pete Lawrence of Selsey, West Sussex, UK; from Erika Rix of Zanesville, Ohio; from Marco Vidovic of Stojnci, Slovenia; from Mike Borman of Evansville, Indiana; from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory in space; April 2009 Aurora Gallery [previous Aprils: 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002] Explore the Sunspot Cycle |