who decides what the hubble space telescope is going to observe?
82338
The Hubble Space Telescope is administered by the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI).  STScI is operated by the Associate of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), under a contract with NASA.  \n\nAll scheduling is done by STScI.  There is more information on their home page at:
306277
National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
817859
What does this question have to do with "Astronomy & Space"?
138361
Hmm...the Hubble has surely helped with that, for one. The observories here on Earth are incredibly sophisticated, with high-powered lenses. When a probe drifts into space, I suupose it can still take distant pictures if it has battery power left.
560985
Not yet. They are still arguing about it. They may decide to call these new objects planets, or they may demote Pluto to a KBO, or they may just keep arguing.
1149344
do you really think they dont have telescopes? if they have the tech to transverse solar systems then dont you think they can devise a device to look at us from afar? after seeing what a warring species we are it seems theyd rather study us from afar. we're dangerous.
374900
y Peijean Tsai\nDaily Bruin Contributor\n\nOn a clear day you can see forever. As long as the sky stays clear over the next two weeks, astronomy lovers will witness a cosmic opportunity that will not reoccur until 2040.\n\nUntil May 15 sky watchers will find the five visible planets – Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter – clustered together within 35 degrees of each other in the Western sky as they make their orbits around the sun.\n\nThe rare sight will be visible above the horizon just after sunset and can be viewed with the naked eye.\n\n"We'll all be dead and in the grave before the planets line up like this again," said Jay Farihi, a UCLA graduate student studying physics and astronomy.\n\nStudents and visitors to the UCLA campus have been able to get a closer look at the alignment with the help of telescopes atop the Math Sciences Building.\n\nThe ninth floor houses five telescopes, each 24 inches in diameter, that are used by members of the UCLA Undergraduate Astronomy Society.\n\nThe UAS also hosts weekly planetarium shows on Wednesdays, extending viewing opportunities to community members of all ages, said Matthew Barczys, a UCLA graduate student who helps organize UAS events.\n\nCloudy weather on Wednesday, however, prevented sky watchers from seeing the alignment.\n\n"The weather couldn't get worse than this," said Farihi, expressing disappointment. "Hopefully next Wednesday will be better."\n\nFor Greg Walth, the UAS vice president and a third-year physics student, looking at alignments captures both the entertaining and educational aspects of astronomy.\n\n"You look and you learn, and then you want to learn more," Walth said.\n\nWhile some people fear that planetary alignments could have dangerous effects in the universe, this planetary gathering has no astronomical significance, said Margaret Kivelson, a UCLA professor of earth and space sciences.\n\n"It's just an interesting coincidence, just a very pretty sight in the sky," said Kivelson.\n\nThis particular alignment is not too special for Barczys, who has seen similar arrangements before. He looks forward, however, to May 13 when all five visible planets and the moon can be seen after sunset.\n\nThe same five planets grouped together in May 2000, but the alignment was difficult to observe because of the position of the sun which bleached out the sky, according to the Cranbrook Institute of Science.\n\nMay 2006 there is a possible bright comet: Comet S-W3 73P, Comet 73P / Schwassmann-Wachmann 3, possibly may be a bright sight in the sky, from May 13-June 6. It is closest to earth on May 13 and closest to the sun on June 6 (6-6-06!
111046
The Bradford telescope at the website below is the best:\n\nhttp://www.telescope.org/
110726
When the Hubble was first launched, it was discovered that the main mirror was polished to slightly the wrong curvature, making everything look a bit blurry.  The first shuttle servicing mission put in place some corrective optics to correct the problem...sort of like a near-sighted person having to wear glasses.  That remedied the blurry vision.  Along the way, several stabilizing gyros have fail and have been replaced, but without another servicing mission and more failed gyros, the Hubble will be eventually out of service.
810612
Actually the Hubble Space Telescope has an unlimited range. It can actually see ALMOST to the edge of the observable universe (..about 13.7-billion light years). For about the first 100,000 years of its existence, the universe was opaque.  Hubble can see no farther than this 100,000 year limit because there's nothing for it to see.
1450
Go to the website below...\n\nhttp://hubblesite.org/
360176
Just singular? Sceintist or professor? Maybe you meant scientists or professors. Not that the professors are the leading authority on celestial discoveries. They more of just train others to go outside and look straight up in the air. Usually they use a telescope. In some cases, they consult the spheres. In your case, I'm surprised you even know what the word discover means.
394640
Educated guess based on observations of our solar system and others like it.
511727
Try: http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/releases
5491
What you really mean to ask is, if the Universe is expanding, a phenomenon that by every conceivable standard of measurement and observation is universally (pun definitely intended) accepted by the scientific community to indeed be fact....\n\n...then what is the Universe exanding into????\n\nThe spooky thing is that no one knows. Science, with \nthe help of the Hubble Telescope has been able to see\nonly about 13 Billion light years out but the Universe itself is estimated to be about 14-15 Billion years old.\n\nThe universe is expanding into the vast emptiness of \nspace. Some scientists have speculated that there may be other universes that extend far beyond our own \nbut its mere speculation. NASA hopes that the next generation of Space Telescope technology scheduled to be launched in 2011, will have the capcity to observe  the very edge of the universe about 15 Billion years away and the very first light created in the aftermath of the Big Bang.
679974
Telescopes!  When we can see various forms of light energy coming from stars and figure out how far away based on redshift and spectra, we can get an idea of how far away stars "can" be and how they are moving away from each other.  From that we determine the topology of the universe.
195028
It's because even at 'only' 4.3 light-years away, you have to remember that Alpha Centauri is only about the size of our sun, or 1,400,000 kilometers.  A light year, however, is almost 10 *trillion* kilometers.  So Hubble is trying to look 40 trillion kilometers to see something that's only 1,400,000 kilometers across.  The angular resolution of the Hubble Telescope simply isn't good enough to see an actual disk for Alpha Centauri.  Hubble's power lies not in its resolving power (It can't even see Pluto all that well...see my last source below), but in the fact that it lies above the Earth's atmosphere.  In fact, almost all of the famous telescopes today, such as the Keck telescopes, have mirrors that are bigger then Hubble's, and they can't see Alpha Centauri either.  With an object so small, and so far away from us, all the stars in the sky simply appear to be point sources.  It's a testament to the power of stars that we can see them at all from so far away.