Huge telescope starts scouring the universe from Spain’s Canary Islands

September 10th, 2009 WASHINGTON - NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, which has been declared fully rejuvenated, has captured colorful, multi-wavelength pictures of far-flung galaxies, a densely packed star cluster, an eerie "pillar of creation," and a "butterfly" nebula. Hubble's suite of new instruments allows it to study the universe across a wide swath of the light spectrum, from ultraviolet all the way to near-infrared.

September 9th, 2009 WASHINGTON - NASA scientists Wednesday unveiled the first images taken by a revamped Hubble telescope, providing even crisper pictures of distant stars and galaxies. The colourful images provide a taste of the Hubble's new capability after a servicing mission in May that installed new instruments and repaired broken ones that had hampered the world's most famous telescope.

August 26th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Historians have said that Italian mathematician Galileo Galilei's invention of the telescope was more commercial in nature than an attempt to contribute in scientific progress. Galileo's telescope is today remembered as a revolutionary stargazing tool that changed Earth's standing in the heavens.

August 7th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A team of astronomers has measured the motions of stars in a very distant galaxy for the first time and discovered they are whizzing around at astonishingly high speeds. A team from Yale University, UK, spent an unprecedented 29 hours observing the galaxy with one of the largest telescopes on Earth-the Gemini South Telescope in Chile-to collect enough light to determine how fast its stars are moving.

August 6th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Looking almost 11 billion years into the past, astronomers have measured the motions of stars for the first time in a very distant galaxy and clocked speeds upwards of one million miles per hour, about twice the speed of our Sun through the Milky Way. The fast-moving stars shed new light on how these distant galaxies, which are a fraction the size of our Milky Way, may have evolved into the full-grown galaxies seen around us today.

August 4th, 2009 Spain's La Palma island forest fire under controlMADRID — A forest fire on the Canary Island of La Palma was brought under control Tuesday and another that raged for two weeks in Spain's northern Catalonia region has been extinguished, an emergency official said. The La Palma fire, which started last Friday in the southern part of the island, destroyed some 3,000 hectares (7,400 acres) and burned some 50 houses.

August 3rd, 2009 Temperature drop helps Spanish island battle firesLA PALMA, Canary Islands — Lower temperatures on Monday helped firefighters battle two forest fires that have raged on La Palma in Spain's Canary Islands for three days. One fire in the west of the island has been brought under control and it was hoped another in the east could be contained later Monday, island environmental director Julio Cabrera said.

August 2nd, 2009 Wind whips up fires on Spain's Canary IslandsLA PALMA, Canary Islands — Strong winds fanned forest fires for a second day Sunday on the Spanish Canary Island of La Palma, and firefighters were forced to retreat as flames raged out of control near two towns. Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero visited areas affected by fire and viewed firefighting efforts on the island late Sunday.

August 1st, 2009 Fire in Canary Islands forces evacuation of 4,000LA PALMA, Canary Islands — A forest fire fanned by high winds has forced the evacuation of about 4,000 residents on the Canary Island of La Palma, the Spanish government said Saturday. Flames raging on steep hillsides southeast of the island's dormant San Antonio volcano have engulfed several houses and could damage wildlife habitats, environmental worker Narciso Lorenzo said by telephone.

July 29th, 2009 Ryanair expands winter services to Canary IslandsDUBLIN — Irish budget airline Ryanair announced a major shifting of its winter routes Wednesday to capitalize on Europeans' love affair with Canary Islands sunshine. The Dublin-based carrier said it would launch 39 routes in October linking sun-starved Belgium, Britain, Germany and Ireland to the three major Canaries resort islands of Tenerife, Gran Canaria and Lanzarote.

July 14th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The world's largest, most technologically advanced telescope is all set to make its formal debut on July 24 in Spain's Canary Islands. Known as the Gran Telescopio Canarias, the telescope has a 10.4-meter diameter mirror, and has more light-collecting area than any other telescope.

July 8th, 2009 New technique finds ancient star explosionsWASHINGTON — Astronomers have spotted the most distant and oldest star explosions yet in the universe. Scientists captured the fuzzy death throes of two supernovae (soo-per-noh-vee) that date back nearly 11 billion years.

June 10th, 2009 Airbus makes emergency landing in Canary IslandsMADRID — An Airbus A320 experienced engine trouble shortly after taking off Wednesday from the Canary Islands and was forced to turn around and make an emergency landing, Spain's national airport authority AENA said. A passenger reported an engine fire.

May 28th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A telescope designed by a University of Miami physicist and an international team of collaborators has produced the clearest images of starburst galaxies, revealing a new picture of the universe in its early stages. The innovative new telescope, called BLAST (Balloon-borne Large-Aperture Sub-millimeter Telescope), was built by an international research team, which included Joshua Gundersen, University of Miami professor of physics in the College of Arts and Sciences.

May 24th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The space shuttle Atlantis returned to Earth Sunday after a mission to upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope, landing at an alternative location in California because of bad weather. The shuttle landed at Edwards Air Force Base after its mission had been extended by two days when bad weather prevented its planned landing in Florida Friday and Saturday.