TELEVISION

Experiencing Hubble: Understanding the Greatest Images of the Universe

Series: Great Courses
4.7
(20)
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Episodes
12
Rating
TVPG
Year
2011
Language
English
Publisher
The Great Courses

About

For more than 20 years, the Hubble Space Telescope has been amassing discoveries that rival those of history's greatest scientists and explorers, making it the most important scientific instrument ever built. This program is a visual feast of images taken by Hubble. Go on a dazzling voyage of discovery that will delight the eyes, feed the imagination, and unlock new secrets of the cosmos.

Related Subjects

Episodes

1 to 3 of 12

1. The Rationale for a Space Telescope

30m

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Begin an exploration of the scientific stories behind 10 of the most fascinating images made by the Hubble Space Telescope. In this episode, learn about Hubble's design and how its operations were almost cut short by a flaw in its mirror, a problem corrected during a space shuttle servicing mission.

2. Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 and Jupiter

30m

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Shortly after its optics were repaired, Hubble had the opportunity to observe the solar system event of the century: the collision of a string of comets with Jupiter in 1994. Examine Hubble's stunning image of the aftermath of this crash.

3. The Sagittarius Star Cloud

30m

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Hubble's view of a tiny region of the Sagittarius Star Cloud has an astonishing 12,000 stars. Study this dazzling image and learn how its unprecedented resolution is helping to chart the stellar history and evolution of the Milky Way galaxy.

4. The Star Factory inside the Eagle Nebula

30m

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Explore the most iconic Hubble photo of all: the glowing pillars of gas and dust at the core of the Eagle Nebula. Resembling a fantasy landscape, this view shows young stars emerging from their cocoons of gas and dust in an interstellar molecular cloud.

5. The Cat's Eye Nebula - A Stellar Demise

30m

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Turning from star birth to star death, get a preview of the sun's distant future by examining the Cat's Eye Nebulae. Such planetary nebulae (which have nothing to do with planets) are the exposed debris of dying stars and are among the most beautiful objects in the Hubble gallery.

6. The Crab Nebula - A Supernova's Aftermath

30m

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Stars more than eight times as massive as the sun take a radically different path at the end of their lives, disintegrating in a colossal explosion known as a supernova. Hubble's image of the famous Crab Nebula shows the expanding cloud of material from a supernova that was witnessed on Earth in the year 1054.

Extended Details

  • Closed CaptionsEnglish