Hubble Finds Unidentified Object in Space, Scientists Puzzled

Teki187 · 18 Sep 2008 at 07:03

This is exactly why we send astronauts to risk their life to service Hubble: in a paper published last week in the Astrophysical Journal, scientists detail the discovery of a new unidentified object in the middle of nowhere. I don't know about you, but when a research paper conclusion says "We suggest that the transient may be one of a new class" I get a chill of oooh-aaahness down my spine. Especially when after a hundred days of observation, it disappeared from the sky with no explanation. Get your tinfoil hats out, because it gets even weirder. The object also appeared out of nowhere. It just wasn't there before. In fact, they don't even know where it is exactly located because it didn't behave like anything they know. Apparently, it can't be closer than 130 light-years but it can be as far as 11 billion light-years away. It's not in any known galaxy either. And they have ruled out a supernova too. It's something that they have never encountered before. In other words: they don't have a single clue about where or what the heck this thing is.

The shape of the light curve is inconsistent with microlensing. In addition to being inconsistent with all known supernova types, is not matched to any spectrum in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey database.

The only thing the astronomers—working on the Supernova Cosmology Project—can tell is that it appeared all of the sudden in the direction of a cluster with the catchy name of CL 1432.5+3332.8, about 8.2 billion light-years away. Hubble caught a spark that continued to brighten during a 100-day period, peaking at the 21st magnitude, only to fade away in the same period of time.

Source - http://gizmodo.com/5049896/hubble-finds-unidentified-object-in-space
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/community/skyblog/newsblog/28244844.html?pageSize=0
http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/arxiv/pdf/0809/0809.1648v1.pdf

Spooky!

Teki187 · 18 Sep 2008 at 07:05

To celebrate hubbles 100,000th orbit of earth, they took this photo.

Teki187 · 18 Sep 2008 at 12:43

Spektor said:
No matter how you try to disguise it, your bi-weekly "please believe in UFOs" threads won't work

Actually i'm not trying to make anyone believe anything, i'm just sharing news that some people find interesting.

Besides, who saids it was aliens?

To me it might be a star that was born and died.....

Grow up.

Teki187 · 18 Sep 2008 at 12:44

Spektor said:
I suggest you go check said OP's created threads history. It will reveal the true intended nature of this thread

Did i ever say this was Aliens?

God children.

Teki187 · 18 Sep 2008 at 12:47

da_mic_1530 said:
that photo is amazing, got a bigger copy for a desktop background?

Thats all i could find sorry.

Here's a link to the Story.

http://gizmodo.com/5036411/hubble-completes-100000th-orbit-takes-yet-another-breathtaking-photo

You might want to try hubbles web site see if its there.

Teki187 · 18 Sep 2008 at 12:55

Apparantly the repair of hubble is meant to be so dangerous that its almost classed as a impossible mission.

I hope to god they never give in and keep it alive. That one bit of equipment has changed the imaginations of generations of people.

Teki187 · 18 Sep 2008 at 13:08

Berserker said:
PS - suggestion that the Hubble repair is impossibly dangerous is sensationalist bull****. It is dangerous, yes. Somewhere around 1:100 odds of a disaster. Those may not look like good odds but you can be sure everyone involved is aware of and understands them. That's also partly why there will be a second shuttle on the pad and ready to go should it be needed.

You make it sound like a walk in the park.

Repairs
• Repair two failed instruments in space, which is the first time such a task is going to be attempted. This will be a test to see if Nasa can do this kind of tasks in future missions to the Moon and Mars. The repairs will require removing 110 (yes, a hundred and ten) little screws. While this seems easy, not only it will take a lot of time in zero mavity, but the screws, like any other floating debris, may become a big problem for the security of the astronauts up there.
• The first instrument to be repaired is the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). It was installed in 2002, and then died after being the most used instrument in Hubble for years.
• Then they have to fix the Space Telescope Imagine Spectrograph (STIS). This is a black hole hunter which also did the first detection and chemical analysis of a planet orbiting another star.

New instruments
• They will install the fanciest, most advanced spectrograph in space: the Cosmic Origin Spectrograph.
• In addition to the COS, they are also going to install the Wield Field Camera 3. This new camera is ten times better than the current instrument, and will let us see into the past of the Universe deeper and farther than ever before.

Spacecraft service
• In addition to the pure science aspect of the mission, Nasa also wants to upgrade and fix the spacecraft itself, starting with the gyroscopes, which will be upgraded.
• They also are going to install a refurbished fine guidance sensor.
• The batteries are going to be replaced for the first time since Hubble went into space.
• A new outer blanket layer, this time a solid shield, will be put on top of the current blanket.
• Thermal insulation will be replaced on several bays of the telescope.
• A new capture instrument will be installed to recover the Hubble at the end of its life.

"A new capture instrument will be installed to recover the Hubble at the end of its life."

Sounds the best part of that entire upgrade. Will be awesome to visit a museum with hubble in.