Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Space
  3. News

Hubble Space Telescope is back up and running following gyro problem

By

The Hubble Space Telescope is back to full operations after spending several weeks in safe mode due to a problem with one of its components. The telescope first experienced issues with one of its gyros on November 19, and was in and out of safe mode several times in the following days. It has remained in safe mode since November 23, but came back online on Friday, December 8.

The problem was caused by one of the telescope’s three operational gyros, which are devices that help to point the telescope in the right direction. Although it would have been possible to operate the telescope with just one of these, that would have resulted in lost observing time as it would take longer to move the telescope to a new target between observations. With all three gyros now back in use, the telescope has returned to science operations.

Hubble orbiting more than 300 miles above Earth as seen from the space shuttle.
Hubble orbits more than 300 miles above Earth as seen from the space shuttle. NASA

Currently two of the telescope’s instruments are online, with the other instruments set to be brought back online within the next few weeks. “Hubble’s two main cameras, Wide Field Camera 3 and Advanced Camera for Surveys, resumed science observations Friday,” NASA wrote in an update. “The team is planning to restore operations to the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph and Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph later this month.”

Recommended Videos

Although Hubble has been somewhat overshadowed in recent years by the newer and more powerful James Webb Space Telescope, it is important for astronomers to have access to both telescopes, as they operate in different wavelengths. Hubble looks primarily in the visible light wavelength, equivalent to what is seen by the human eye, with some sensitivity to ultraviolet and near-infrared wavelengths as well. That allows it to capture stunning images of cosmic objects such as nebulae or nearby galaxies.

Related

James Webb, on the other hand, operates primarily in the infrared portion of the spectrum, with instruments operating in both near-infrared and mid-infrared wavelengths. That is what allows it to see extremely distant galaxies, which are moving away from us, so their light is shifted out of the visible portion of the spectrum and into the infrared. These very distant and therefore very old galaxies would be difficult or impossible to observe with Hubble as the light from them would be beyond the wavelengths that Hubble can see.

You can get an idea of the different features and types of images collected by Webb and Hubble by looking at comparisons of the same object viewed by each .The two telescopes also work together to create more detailed pictures of the universe around us.

Editors’ Recommendations

Topics
Georgina Torbet
Georgina Torbet
Space Writer
Georgina has been the space writer at Digital Trends space writer for six years, covering human space exploration, planetary…
Hubble takes first image since switching to new pointing mode
This NASA Hubble Space Telescope features the galaxy NGC 1546.

This NASA Hubble Space Telescope captured an image of the galaxy NGC 1546. NASA, ESA, STScI, David Thilker (JHU)

The Hubble Space Telescope has been through some troubles of late, and the way that it operates had to be changed recently to compensate for some degraded hardware. The telescope's three gyros, which help it to switch between different targets in the sky, have been experiencing issues, with one in particular frequently failing over recent months. NASA made the decision recently to change the way that Hubble points, and it now uses just one gyro at a time instead of all three in order to preserve the two remaining gyros for as long as possible.

Read more
Hubble will switch to a new mode to preserve its troublesome gyros
An STS-125 crew member aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis captured this image of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope on May 19, 2009.

An STS-125 crew member aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis captured this image of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope on May 19, 2009. NASA

The beloved Hubble Space Telescope will soon be changing the way it operates by limiting the speed at which it can target new objects in order to preserve its lifespan for as long as possible.

Read more
Euclid space telescope captures stunning images of far-off galaxies
This image is released as part of the Early Release Observations from ESA’s Euclid space mission. All data from these initial observations are made public on 23 May 2024 – including a handful of unprecedented new views of the nearby Universe, this being one. This breathtaking image features Messier 78 (the central and brightest region), a vibrant nursery of star formation enveloped in a shroud of interstellar dust. This image is unprecedented – it is the first shot of this young star-forming region at this width and depth.

This image is released as part of the Early Release Observations from ESA’s Euclid space mission. This breathtaking image features Messier 78 (the central and brightest region), a vibrant nursery of star formation enveloped in a shroud of interstellar dust. This image is unprecedented, as it is the first shot of this young star-forming region at this width and depth. ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, image processing by J.-C. Cuillandre (CEA Paris-Saclay), G. Anselmi

New images from the European Space Agency (ESA)'s Euclid telescope show a gorgeous range of cosmic objects, from bustling stellar nurseries to enormous galaxy clusters. The first science data from the telescope has also been released, showing how the telescope will contribute to the study of dark matter and dark energy.

Read more