Hubble Focus. Our amazing Solar System

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and STScI, 2017. — 68 p.Since its launch in 1990, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has made more than one million observations, amassed a huge archive of scientific findings, and had a profound effect on all areas of observational astronomy. Hubble has addressed fundamental cosmic questions and explored far beyond the most ambitious plans of its builders. It has discovered that galaxies evolve from smaller structures, found that supermassive black holes are common at the centers of galaxies, verified that the universe’s expansion is accelerating, probed the birthplaces of stars inside colorful nebulas, analyzed the atmospheres of extrasolar planets, and supported interplanetary missions. The rate of discovery with Hubble is simply unparalleled for any telescope in the history of astronomy.
This e-book is the first in a series called Hubble Focus. Each book will present some of Hubble’s more recent and important observations within a particular topic. The subjects will span from our nearby solar system out to the horizon of Hubble’s observable universe.
This book, Hubble Focus: Our Amazing Solar System, highlights Hubble’s exciting recent discoveries about dynamic planetary atmospheres, minor planets, moons, comets, and asteroids. Hubble’s recent contributions build upon the rich history of solar system exploration by flyby spacecraft, orbiters, landers, and rovers to help address some of humanity’s fundamental questions about our place in the solar system and in the universe.Solar System Exploration from Antiquity to Hubble
Weather on the Planets
Potentially Habitable Moons
Major Surprises Among the Minor BodiesFurther Reading
More Information
Credits