Since NASA launched its Hubble Space Telescope in 1990, space scientists at the University of Arizona in Tucson have used it to expand our knowledge of the Universe time and time again.

1. `
University of Arizona
Hubble Space Telescope Discoveries
From the university with the number one
space astronomy program in the nation

2. A top 20 public research
university
University of Arizona leads in space sciences

3. UA ranked #1
among observational, theoretical, and space
astronomy programs in the United States
– National Science Foundation, 2015
University of Arizona leads in space sciences

4. University of Arizona is a world
leader in astronomy,
leading or partnering in running over
20 unique telescopes across the globe
University of Arizona leads in space sciences

5. University of Arizona leaders in space systems
University of Arizona
is responsible for the discovery
of all near-Earth
asteroids
& comets52%

6. Uranus’s atmosphere
is created by a mixture of gases

7. 1996: A team that included Erich Karkoschka, UA Lunar
and Planetary Lab senior staff scientist, captured images
of Uranus’s atmosphere, observing clear and hazy layers
created by a mixture of gases.

8. Using infrared filters, Hubble captured detailed features
of three layers of the planet’s atmosphere.
1.
2.
3.

9. World’s first images of
Saturn’s moon, Titan

10. 1994: A team of astronomers led by Peter Smith, professor
emeritus at the UA, took the world’s first images of Saturn’s
moon, Titan. At the time, scientists suspected that Titan’s
surface was covered with a global ethane-methane ocean.

11. The images revealed that, in fact, there
was at least some solid surface on Titan.

12. A rare view
of Saturn’s rings

13. 1996: Through research done by then UA senior staff scientist
Steve Larson and others, Hubble captured a rare view of Saturn’s
rings, seen just after the sun had set below the ring plane.
Credit: Phil Nicholson (Cornell University), Steve Larson (University of Arizona) and NASA/ESA

14. This perspective is unusual because

15. This perspective is unusual because
the Earth is slightly
above Saturn’s rings

16. This perspective is unusual because
and the Sun is
below them,
the Earth is slightly
above Saturn’s rings

17. This perspective is unusual because
and the Sun is
below them, so normally we see the rings fully
illuminated by the Sun.
the Earth is slightly
above Saturn’s rings

18. 8-year mission to measure
the expanding universe

19. 1999: Hubble completed an eight-year mission to
measure the expanding universe, co-led by Robert
Kennicutt, then UA professor of astronomy.

20. The team found that a galaxy appears to be moving

21. The team found that a galaxy appears to be moving 160
thousand miles per hour faster for every 3.3 light-years
away from Earth.

22. The team used the Hubble telescope to observe
18 galaxies out to
65 million light-years.

23. First views of a dust ring
around a star

24. 1999: The Hubble Space Telescope gave astronomers their first views
of a dust ring around a star and a dark gap dividing an immense dust
disk around another star. UA astronomer for Steward Observatory
Glenn Schneider was on the team that captured these images.

25. UA found direct proof
of dark matter

26. 2006
A team including Steward Observatory astronomer Dennis Zaritsky
and led by then University of Arizona astronomer Doug Clowe,
found direct proof of dark matter
using Hubble Space Telescope.
Images credit (top right); ESA/XMM-Newton/F. Gastaldello
(INAF/IASF, Milano, Italy)/CFHTLS (bottom left); X-ray: NASA,
ESA, CXC, M. Bradac (University of California, Santa Barbara),
and S. Allen (Stanford University) (bottom right). These
colliding galaxy clusters show a clear separation between the
normal matter (in pink) and the gravitational effects (in blue).

27. Images of Vesta & Ceres
helped astronomers plan for the Dawn
spacecraft’s tour of these asteroids

28. 2007: Hubble took images of
asteroids, Vesta and Ceres,
that helped astronomers prepare for
a spacecraft visit. UA astronomer
Mark Sykes was on the team that
captured the images.

29. The images of Vesta and
Ceres showed two of the
most massive asteroids
in the asteroid belt,

30. The images of Vesta and
Ceres showed two of the
most massive asteroids
in the asteroid belt, a
region between Mars and
Jupiter, and helped
astronomers plan for the
Dawn spacecraft’s tour of
these asteroids.

31. Atmospheric features on
Uranus are revealed in
images taken with the
Space Telescope Imaging
Spectrograph and the
Advanced Camera for
Surveys aboard NASA's
Hubble Space Telescope.

32. Erich Karkoschka from the University of Arizona
took the Uranus image that is now a US Postal Service stamp

33. At first glance,
Jupiter looks like it has
a mild case of
the measles.

34. Closer inspection with Hubble
reveals that these spots are actually
a rare alignment of three
of Jupiter’s largest moons –
Io, Ganymede, & Callisto –
across the planet's face.

35. Erich Karkoschka from the University of Arizona
took the Jupiter image that is now a US Postal Service stamp

36. a giant star-forming region

37. 2000: This image shows a
giant star-forming region in the
southern sky known as the
Carina Nebula and combines
the light from three different
filters. Nathan Smith, UA
associate professor of
astronomy, contributed to the
composite.
The picture is a composite of several exposures made in
February 2000 with the Curtis Schmidt telescope at the
Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) in Chile.

38. The color is also representative
of the temperature in the
ionized gas: blue is relatively
hot and red is cooler.
The picture is a composite of several exposures made in
February 2000 with the Curtis Schmidt telescope at the
Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) in Chile.

39. The Carina Nebula composite
image shows the light from 3
different filters, which traces
emission from:
oxygen – blue
hydrogen – green
sulfur – red

40. In the Carina
Nebula, oxygen is
shown in blue.
The blue has been enhanced
for the color blind.

41. In the Carina
Nebula, hydrogen is
shown in green.
The green has been enhanced
for the color blind.

42. In the Carina
Nebula, sulfur is
shown in red.
The red has been enhanced for
the color blind.

43. University of Arizona designed NICMOS
to capture unique views of the Universe.

44. 1997: Hubble’s Near Infrared Camera and Multi-
Object Spectrometer, or NICMOS, was installed on
the space telescope with the UA’s Rodger Thompson
as its principal investigator.
In order for its detectors to function properly, NICMOS
needed to be kept very cold.

45. To do this, NICMOS was encased in a thermos-like
container filled with solid nitrogen ice. It was expected
that the solid nitrogen ice would last approximately four
years. However, the ice evaporated about twice as fast
as planned and was depleted after only 23 months of
NICMOS operations. In 1999, with its supply of ice
exhausted, NICMOS became dormant.

46. Determined not to be defeated, NASA scientists
and engineers devised a plan to restore NICMOS
to life. They turned to a new mechanical cooling
technology, jointly developed by NASA and the
U.S. Air Force.

47. The mechanical cooler, a cryogenic refrigerator, operates on
principles similar to a home refrigerator. It pumps ultra-cold
neon gas through the internal plumbing of the instrument. The
NICMOS cooling system keeps the technology at about -321
degrees Fahrenheit (as is necessary). It’s also virtually vibration-
free, an important aspect for Hubble since vibrations can affect
image quality in much the same way that a shaky camera
produces blurred pictures.

48. After more than 3 years of being down and out,
NICMOS was put back to work in 2002,
debuting new and breathtaking views of galaxies
in several stages of development.

49. The photo on the right, of the Cone Nebula (NGC 2264), is one of the photos NICMOS
snapped in 2002.
The NICMOS images were taken on 11 May 2002. Credits for NICMOS image: NASA, ESA, the NICMOS Group (STScI, ESA) and the NICMOS Science Team (Univ. of
Arizona) Credits for ACS image: NASA, ESA, H. Ford (JHU), G. Illingworth (UCSC/LO), M.Clampin (STScI), G. Hartig (STScI), the ACS Science Team, and ESA

50. Interested in the future of ground & space telescopes?
Giant Magellan Telescope (ground) James Webb Space Telescope (space)
University of Arizona
Hubble Space Telescope Discoveries