News Release

Arthur Davidsen, a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, said that on Saturday morning, March 4, astronomers aboard the shuttle Endeavour who are operating the Astro-2 observatory were able to observe a quasar 10 billion light years away, literally at the edge of the universe.

"It looks like this very tough observation is going to be possible with the Astro-2 observatory as it's functioning now," said Dr. Davidsen. "I'm extremely excited."

The goal is to look back in time, recording data from before the galaxies were formed to learn more about how the universe evolved. The quasar's light should be absorbed by the helium and hydrogen created in the Big Bang and now diffused in the intergalactic void between the quasar and the Earth. The absorption should create a distinct spectral signature that can be analyzed and interpreted.

"We want to see that original (intergalactic) material before it had a chance to condense into the galaxies we have now," Dr. Davidsen, HUT's principal investigator, said during a news conference Saturday morning at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.

"This is the most difficult, as well as perhaps the most exciting observation" of the mission, he said, noting that scientists will attempt to make several more observations of the quasar during the course of the planned 16-day Astro-2 flight.

Meanwhile, Paul Feldman, a HUT co-investigator and Hopkins astronomer, said scientists were elated to find out that the observatory was in a perfect position to observe a just- discovered a volcanic eruption on Jupiter's moon Io.

Ever since the Voyager spacecraft recorded a volcano erupting on Io in 1979, astronomers on Earth have been using infrared techniques to look for "hot spots" on the moon to detect volcanic activity.

Thursday morning, shortly after Endeavour's launch, Dr. Feldman turned on his computer to read his latest electronic mail. To his astonishment, the mail included a report from NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. The mail alerted all astronomers of a major eruption on Io, asking that they train their telescopes on the Jovian system.

The HUT team did just that, recording important spectral data from the moon. The astronomers probably will repeat their observations five and 10 days from now, to see how the volcanic eruption is affecting the moon's atmosphere in attempts to test two different theories about Io's atmosphere, said Dr. Feldman. He called the volcanic eruption a "fortuitous experience that had us all very, very much excited ... and even more excited when we were able to get a successful observation of the satellite."

Coincidentally, HUT astronomers had already been planning to observe Jupiter at the same time that the eruption was taking place. Also coincidentally, the eruption was taking place on the same side of Io that happened to be facing Earth, said Hopkins astrophysicist William Blair.

"I think we're charmed this time," Dr. Blair said.

If you need assistance covering the mission this weekend, call me, Emil Venere, at home, (410) 467-1033.

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