NASA released the first images from the newly installed Wide Field Camera 3 that was launched on STS-125 back in May. With these images, it's fair to say that the 4th servicing mission to Hubble - originally canceled, can be deemed a success. As astronaut and space walker Mike Massimino said in the news conference today, his first reaction when seeing the images was that he was glad he didnt break anything when installing the new camera. :)
From NASA's Hubble site:
These four images are among the first observations made by the new Wide Field Camera 3 aboard the upgraded NASA Hubble Space Telescope. The image at top left shows NGC 6302, a butterfly-shaped nebula surrounding a dying star. At top right is a picture of a clash among members of a galactic grouping called Stephan's Quintet. The image at bottom left gives viewers a panoramic portrait of a colorful assortment of 100,000 stars residing in the crowded core of Omega Centauri, a giant globular cluster. At bottom right, an eerie pillar of star birth in the Carina Nebula rises from a sea of greenish-colored clouds.
If you want to see even larger versions of these images, wander over to here at the Hubble Site News Center.
That is one Kick Ass Camera.
Mike
Mike Wood Photography
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