Hubble at 30: still taking the twinkle out of the stars
Tracy Becker was mesmerized when the Hubble Space Telescope released pictures of the Eagle Nebula. The colors were so vivid. It was not like the vast, dark outer space she’d imagined as an elementary school student in Freehold, N.J.
On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, Pippa Molyneux hung that same picture in her bedroom in Nottingham, U.K. The Pillars of Creation, perhaps Hubble’s most iconic image, shows newborn stars amid tendrils of cosmic dust and gas against a bright blue backdrop.
Today, Becker and Molyneux, 33 and 34, respectively, are using the telescope that inspired their careers. Currently studying the frozen waters of Jupiter’s moons and the composition of asteroids, the San Antonio researchers are among a generation of scientists who grew up inspired by Hubble and, 30 years after its launch on April 24, 1990, are continuing its decades-long tradition of discovery.
“I think everybody would remember the first time that they get to use the Hubble telescope,” said Becker, who works with Molyneux at Southwest Research Institute. “I called all my family.”
Orbiting the Earth at an altitude of 340 miles, Hubble is uninhibited by Earth’s atmosphere and the nasty way it distorts light. It has helped provide clarity on the formation of galaxies, existence of black holes and characteristics of planets orbiting stars hundreds of light-years away.
The telescope was initially expected to last about 15 years. But five space shuttle visits, the last in 2009, helped to extend its life and upgrade its technology.
And while some parts are wearing out, the observatory remains productive and in high demand.
Three of its six gyroscopes, the devices used to point the telescope, are still functioning. Hubble only needs three gyroscopes for normal operations and can do most of its science with just one.
Last year set a new record, as more than 1,000 peer-reviewed papers cited Hubble data.
This year’s demand is equally high as more than 1,000 projects have requested time on the telescope. Just one out of every five proposals will be approved, said Tom Brown, who oversees Hubble science operations at the Space Telescope Science Institute. Hubble’s flight operations are at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
“Hubble is going to continue doing exciting science,” Brown said, “including science that was not anticipated when it launched.”
In 1946, 11 years before the first satellite was launched, a research paper discussed having a telescope
utive order by Gov. Greg Abbott that deemed places of worship as “essential” and permitted small groups of people to meet.
“It will be like no other, that’s for sure,” said Sohail Syed, president of the Islamic Society of Greater Houston. “This is an unprecedented time in history.”
For the past few weeks, Syed and other local Islamic leaders have worked to put together a slate of online programs that will, for now, be a substitute for the daily mosque visits that most Muslims make during Ramadan. Among them are workshops like “the dos and don’ts of Ramadan.”
They have also held virtual “town halls” and, in the span of a few weeks, transformed what were once mostly-dormant social media pages into platforms for Muslims across Houston to find answers, financial support and a sense of community from the confines of home.
It’s been a “game changer,” said Tauqeer Shah, the Islamic Society’s director of interfaith relations and civic engagement.
“Before quarantine, social media was a means of conveying information regarding events taking place at different centers,” he said. “Now it’s more of a community.”
And quarantine is consistent with the Quranic teaching, Syed added.
“In times like these, of major diseases ... Muslims are ordered to stay home, to help stop the spread of this virus,” Syed said. “It is the duty of any Muslim, as it is of any other human being, to protect others.”
Quarantine has not, however, stopped the Islamic Society and other Muslim groups from continuing to donate money or food, or organize food banks. Charity —
zakat — is one of Islam’s five pillars, and Ramadan is normally a particularly generous month for Muslims.
Through its members and affiliated mosques, the Islamic Society has already doled out nearly $100,000 to support local families.
Many Houston-area Muslims are first or second-generation immigrants who work in the beleaguered oil and gas sector, so leaders have also touted various programs for finding jobs or other professional help.
On Sunday, the group will also hold drive-thru food pantries at various locations across the city. Shah stressed that they’ll give food to whoever needs it.
“This is not just for Muslims,” he said. “This is for everyone, because the spirit of Ramadan is to care and feel and emphasize the feelings of those that are less fortunate.”
“It’s a way for a person who is well-off and living a good life to feel that pain that other people go through,” he said. “Ramadan is a month of sharing, of caring.”
Mohammed Nasrullah understands that well.
He recently watched people wait hours to get free food at NRG Stadium, and decided that a twoday, pre-Ramadan fast could help bring attention to the “grave” threat of food scarcity. By the time he returned to his mosque Wednesday afternoon, the 66-year-old had gone 28 hours without food.
His wife set up a GoFundMe page with a goal of raising $5,000 in donations for the Houston Food Bank.
They surpassed that within a few hours thanks to an outpouring of support from the community. Some people taped checks to the Nasrullahs’ front doors because they didn’t trust a third-party website with their financial information.
The couple later moved the goal to $7,500. It was again exceeded in a few hours.
Standing in the empty prayer room on Wednesday, Nasrullah noted the green duct tape on the floor that, until recently, had helped keep people 6 feet and safe from one another.
In most years, more than 1,000 people would flock to the mosque for the communal prayers that mark the beginning of Islam’s holy month.
The couple will miss that come Friday as they stay home.
But that’s OK — Islam’s holiest days are not meant to be ones of comfort and the Nasrullahs believe there is meaning to be found in the luxuries that they and so many others will go without this year.
“The theme that I see is sacrifice,” Ruth said. “So many people are sacrificing.”