It's not hard to figure out what the Hubble and Webb space telescopes have observed in the past. Hardly a week goes by without news of a cosmic discovery made possible using images, spectra and other data captured by these prolific astronomical observatories. But what are Hubble and Webb looking at now? NASA's Space Telescope Live, a web application originally developed in 2016 to distribute real-time updates about Hubble observations, provides direct access to up-to-date information about current, past, and upcoming observations from both Hubble and the Webb.
Space Telescope Live provides a simple and engaging way to learn more about how astronomical research works. With a redesigned interface and expanded functionality, users can see not only the planet, star, nebula, galaxy, or area of sky that each telescope is currently viewing, but also where those targets are in the sky; What scientific instruments are used to capture images, spectra, and other data; Exactly when and for how long observations are planned; What is the status of the note? Who is leading the research and, more importantly, what scientists are trying to discover. The full catalog of past notes is also available.
Sky map
The zoomable sky map showing the location of the research object is based on the Aladdin interactive sky atlas, which provides context for observations using telescopic images from Earth. Because the data collected by Hubble and Webb must first be processed, and in many cases analyzed, before being released to the public and the astronomical community, Space Telescope Live does not include real-time images from the two space telescopes.
Space Telescope Live is designed for desktop and mobile devices and can be accessed through the official NASA website Hubble– in WebWebsites. Additional content information, including an explanation of the information displayed in the tool, can be found in (English) User's Manual.
