Announcements

12 October 2016: David Sing, from the University of Exeter, UK, will lead a wide international and interdisciplinary collaboration in respect of the largest exoplanet Treasury Program on the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope in Cycle 24. Already 14 years have passed since Hubble made the first detection of an atmosphere surrounding an exoplanet, thereby opening up the field of studying exoplanet atmospheres, and it remains unrivaled in its capabilities. This program will help Hubble to have a legacy lasting well into the future of exoplanet science, as the field prepares for the upcoming NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. Hubble has played a definitive role in the characterisation of exoplanets. From the available data on exoplanet atmospheres, we have learned that they are incredibly diverse. Now a new era of atmospheric studies is beginning, in which large-scale comparative planetology is possible, and able to provide insight into the underlying physical processes through comparative studies. …

9 June 2016: The signature series of conferences sponsored by ESA highlighting the scientific impact of the Hubble Space Telescope continues next year with a new event planned in Venice, Italy, from 20 to 24 March 2017. This time, the scope will be broader. With the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope expected to be a viable observatory well into the 2022 and beyond, and the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope planned launch in the autumn 2018, we can start planning for possibly several years of overlap between the two missions — a very exciting scientific opportunity! Both missions have a significant European involvement. So it is very appropriate to organize a conference in Europe, dedicated primarily to the synergy between Hubble and Webb, and to how the community can best prepare to take immediate advantage of the amazing opportunities that will be presented. We will of course also showcase the latest Hubble results. Because …

9 June 2016: Our place in Space is a travelling exhibition designed to get people thinking about where humanity fits in the grand scheme of our Universe. Astronomers and artists will present their own interpretations of where we are, where we belong, what our past might have been and what our future might look like. For this images made by Hubble — one of the most ambitious and successful space astronomy missions ever flown and a great example of a successful international partnership — artworks and installations are used. Not only has Hubble transformed our knowledge of the Universe — it has also greatly impacted culture, society and art for more than two decades. Hubble has broadened the reach of astronomical research and brought the Universe to our homes. For more than two decades, Hubble’s images have inspired artists all over the world. They have provided a stunning pictorial landscape to the deep …

9 June 2016: With the European Hubble Archive (eHST) now fully integrated with the other ESA astronomy archives at the ESAC Science Data Centre in Madrid (see sci15010), Hubble users can unleash their scientific curiosity and start exploring their favourite targets from gamma rays to radio wavelengths with a simple click, using ESASky. ESASky is a recently developed web application that allows you to compare and download public observations from ESA astronomy missions and to study an object in different wavelengths. ESASky does not replace the mission archives — rather it integrates them by projecting the footprints of the observation onto the sky. Using ESASky, these footprints and the corresponding observations can be overlaid on any existing “all-sky” progressive background image derived from ground or space observations. These all-sky maps show more and more detail as you zoom in. Many backgrounds are available on ESASky, including INTEGRAL (Gamma-ray and hard X-ray), XMM-Newton (X-ray, …

9 June 2016: As a European Hubble user, you can access ESA/Hubble’s resources to promote your work to the media and the general public. ESA/Hubble can help by producing and distributing press releases, image processing, web articles, artists’ impressions, and high-definition videos. We can also feature your work on the Hubblecast, which is among the world’s most popular science video podcasts. ESA/Hubble science writers and image processing experts work closely with scientists while preparing releases, ensuring scientific accuracy. You can see examples of ESA/Hubble press products at www.spacetelescope.org. As well as being a key part of the Hubble mission, education and public outreach work can also have benefits for you, your field of research and your institution. If you think any part of your research could be of interest to the public at large, or your observations might produce an image suitable for public release, please contact Mathias Jäger (email: mjaeger@partner.eso.org) so we …

9 March 2016: Before becoming Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) Director Ken Sembach had already been heavily involved with science operations for the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope for many years. At STScI he served as Hubble Project Scientist, Hubble Mission Head, and most recently as Interim Deputy Director. Previously, from 1992 to 1995, Ken Sembach was the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) Deputy Project Scientist for Large Science Programmes at the Johns Hopkins University. He was also a NASA Hubble Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Sembach received a B.A. in physics with honors in 1988 from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. in astronomy in 1992 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Ken Sembach is a UV spectroscopist. He has a longstanding scientific interest in the physical properties of the intergalactic medium, the interactions between galaxies, and the origin and evolution of the chemical elements over cosmic time. He has formulated …

9 March 2016: Since its launch, the Hubble Space Telescope has enjoyed a close relationship with its community of users through a variety of mechanisms: newsletters, surveys, ad-hoc working groups. In this context, the Space Telescope User Committee (STUC), continues to provide sound advice on Hubble science operations and observing policies. Having celebrated the Hubble 25th anniversary last year, we also understand that, from time to time, a short refresher is needed on what the STUC role is and why you, the user, should care. The STUC has a membership of approximately twelve scientists. Typically, members are appointed for a three-year term. At least two of the twelve members are astronomers from ESA member states and are jointly appointed with ESA. Currently three members on the STUC are appointed by ESA. The scope of the STUC is quite broad: they can set their own agenda and if necessary can establish an ad-hoc subcommittee …

9 March 2016: Three members of the Space Telescope User Committee (STUC) are currently appointed by ESA: Stephane Charlot (France), Søren Larsen (The Netherlands) and David Sing (UK). They each bring unique scientific expertise and they all want to hear from you. David Sing is an Associate Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Exeter. His speciality is atmospheric characterization of transiting exoplanets. As exoplanet observations have played an ever increasing important role in Hubble’s overall science programme, Ken Sembach, Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) Director, formed an Advisory Committee to explore the priorities in exoplanet research and provide advice for implementing an exoplanet science programme with Hubble. The committee, of which David is part, is chaired by Professor Drake Deming. The committee has asked for input from the community, and is reviewing the evolution of Hubble usage by the exoplanet community. It is investigating mechanisms to coordinate Hubble observations with the priorities …

9 March 2016: Since the first release of the new European Hubble Science Archive (eHST) in October 2015 (see the announcement in the previous ESA/Hubble Science Newsletter), development has continued and the next major release is planned for Summer 2016. This release will include the integration of the Hubble Source Catalog with advanced catalogue visualisation features. In particular, the development team is looking into ways of enhancing the user experience in the exploitation of the Hubble Source Catalog together with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), Hubble Legacy Archive (HLA) and High-Level Science Products (HLSP) data collections in the archive. In the meantime, work is going on to redirect the former HST web services to the new eHST web services. This redirection affects the programmatic access to the archive and will be completely transparent for users. No users who are currently running scripts to download the data will be affected. The new eHST programmatic …

21 October 2015: Currently about half of the publications from Hubble are based on archive data, proving that the archive is a goldmine for astronomers. This October, the ESAC Science Data Centre (ESDC) at the European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC), located near Madrid, Spain, has released a new european archive for the data of the Hubble Space Telescope (eHST). The main design rationale behind this new archive interface has been to provide easier access to the exquisite Hubble data, allowing European and worldwide users to leverage its scientific potential. The web-based archive interface is now again state of the art and uses the latest software technology standards from the ESAC Science Data Centre. The enhanced user interface now offers five striking new features. All the public data from the Hubble Space Telescope can now be accessed and retrieved at any calibration level — from raw to fully reduced data — directly from a …

21 October 2015: A supernova is a stellar explosion that can briefly outshine an entire galaxy, radiating as much energy as the Sun is expected to emit over its entire lifespan, before fading from view over several weeks or months. Supernovae occur approximately once a year per galaxy, meaning that it is not impossible for several to be found when observatories with very high spatial resolution such as Hubble carry out repeat observations of nearby galaxies. This article presents a step-by-step end-to-end science case for how to search for and find supernovae in Hubble images of NGC 7469 using the new interface of the European Hubble Archive (eHST): Open eHST at http://archives.esac.esa.int/ehst/ Click on the search lens button in the left menu or at the bottom of the main page. In the target name field, enter the name of a nearby galaxy — NGC 7469 in our example — and then change the …

21 October 2015: The Hubble Catalogue of Variables is a three-year project funded by the European Space Agency (ESA), which was recently launched at the National Observatory of Athens, Greece. The goal is to produce a catalogue of variable sources chosen from the 30 million sources in the Hubble Source Catalog (HSC), validate those candidates and make them available in a catalogue. Over its 25 years of operation, Hubble has visited some regions of the sky multiple times, providing an opportunity to conduct a systematic search for variable objects among the sources in the HSC. The Hubble Catalogue of Variables (HCV) is expected to contain one of the largest collections of variable point sources and extended objects available, spanning a long time baseline up to 25 years, and reaching unprecedented magnitude depths. The HSC provides the backbone for the HCV project. It combines source lists generated from around 10 000 individual Hubble visits …

6 July 2015: Wednesday 24 June was a day that all Hubble observers both long for and fear, as it is the day when notifications go out to the successful Principal Investigators (PIs), letting them know that their programme has beaten the scientific oversubscription odds and that they will now be very busy completing the Phase II instructions needed to schedule their observations. One hundred and fifty astronomers, including 28 from Europe, met at the Space Telescope Science Institute in early June to assess the 1115 proposals submitted. This included 891 general observer proposals, 42 snapshot proposals, and 182 archival research proposals, with a total orbit request for the 891 general observer proposals of 19 301 orbits. For ESA member state PIs, Cycle 23 brings a record success: you have competitively won 29.2% of the proposals and the allocated orbits. Congratulations! Over the Hubble mission lifetime, there is an average success rate for …

6 July 2015: The ESA/Hubble Ode to Hubble competition was an opportunity for those inspired by Hubble to get creative and produce short videos in celebration of Hubble’s 25th anniversary on 24 April 2015. The competition has now closed but for those of you who work on Hubble there is still a lot to gain from it. We hope you will take the time to view some of the videos as the quality and creativity of the entries, and the passion for Hubble they display, are remarkable to see. Hopefully we can all take something from seeing what Hubble inspires outside of our research. Desiré de Palacio from Spain, in the over 25s category, created a stunning video, Bariónica, which, using photography, explores how Hubble has inspired her; combining images of the Universe with those of our own planet and the human form. In the 25 and under category Halley Davies and Martin …

6 July 2015: On 23 April Hubble's 25th year in orbit was celebrated by NASA and ESA with the release of a special anniversary image of the star cluster Westerlund 2. To promote this event to the public and share the stunning image with as many people as possible ESA/Hubble organised the printing and distribution of 70 large-scale prints to be used in celebration of Hubble. To support the unveiling the institutes received press packs which included detailed information about the Hubble mission, Edwin Hubble himself, and the science output from Hubble so far. The press packs are a valuable tool for sharing information about Hubble not only with the press but with the public and students. They are available for you to use in both Spanish and English. Also now available, and of use for talks and presentations, are two powerpoint presentations (courtesy of NASA/STScI). More than 100 institutions applied for the …

6 July 2015: Every year, the STScI organises a spring symposium on a topic of high scientific interest. This year, as we celebrated Hubble’s splendid 25 years in space, it seemed appropriate to dedicate the symposium to the amazing science done using the Hubble Space Telescope in its lifetime. As they were pondering the title for the symposium, the Science Organizing Committee (SOC) had to make a difficult choice between focusing on the great achievements of the past, or, focusing on the future, at the legacy that the next years will bring. Yes, Hubble is still going strong. As a very powerful panchromatic observatory, it is well equipped to answer a broad variety of astronomical questions, and continue observing the entire Universe, from the planets in the Solar System, to the farthest galaxies. Rejuvenated by the last Servicing Mission in 2009, all instruments are performing nominally, and — touch wood — the spacecraft …

6 July 2015: In the autumn of 2015 the Archives Group at the European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC) will release the new European Hubble archive. More information will follow in our next newsletter, but you can expect several key new features — some of which are not available anywhere else — including: Online visualisation and inspection of 1D spectra. Online visualisation and inspection of full FITS headers. Robust searches of sources in the fields of view of observations. Detailed footprints and slits overlay on optical Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) background. Full integration with proposals and refereed publications. Batch access to data retrieval with any user-defined criteria.

23 January 2015: The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) is soliciting brief white papers from the community describing initiatives that will significantly enhance what Hubble’s scientific legacy will gain from the next five years of observations. These papers, which must have a length of no more than three pages, can address any aspect of the Hubble programme. White papers should summarise the anticipated science objectives and convey a sense of their importance, urgency, and timeliness. They should explain why those objectives cannot be accomplished under the present time allocation system and should include a preliminary assessment of the feasibility of the proposed changes. The deadline for submission of white papers is 4 March 2015. Example topics that a white paper might address are: The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will be launched in 2018. Are there specific programmes that Hubble should undertake now in preparation for that launch, or during the period of …

23 January 2015: NASA, ESA and The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) are pleased to announce the Cycle 23 Call for Proposals for Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations and funding for archival research and theoretical research programmes. Participation in this programme is open to all categories of organisations, both domestic and foreign, including educational institutions, profit and nonprofit organisations and other government agencies. This solicitation for proposals will be open until 10 April 2015 14:00 CEST. The Astronomer's Proposal Tools (APT), which are required for Phase I proposal submission will be made available/released for the Cycle 23 Phase I use during the second week of February 2015. Results of the selection will be announced by the end of June 2015. All programmatic and technical information, as well as specific guidelines for proposal preparation, are available electronically from the STScI Announcement Web Page: www.stsci.edu/hst/proposing/docs/cycle23announce Please take note of the "What's New for Cycle 23" …

3 December 2014: As the year draws to a close it is time to look ahead to 2015, the year that marks 25 years of Hubble. The plans for celebration have already begun with a variety of public activities on the table and it is time to let you know about what ESA/Hubble has in store. Ode to Hubble, is a public competition which will launch early next year and give everybody the chance to get creative and show how Hubble has inspired them. As long as it can be uploaded as a YouTube video, anything can be entered: a pan over a drawing, a scroll over a poem or text, a Hubblecast, a performance, a speech, a piece of music, or an animation uploaded as a video piece. Just as long as it innovative, creative and, most of all, inspired by Hubble, or one of its great discoveries or images. The two …