Hubble wants your vote: Where to point the space telescope?

— -- NASA's Hubble Space Telescope is offering a vote you can't lose: Pick a part of the heavens for the storied instrument to observe next.

"We're celebrating 400 years of astronomy," says Mario Livio, astrophysicist at Hubble's Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore. "What better way to celebrate than by letting people all over the world find a new target for observations by Hubble?"

Online voting (youdecide.hubblesite.org) for "Hubble's Next Discovery: You Decide" ends Sunday. More than 110,000 votes have been tallied. The winner, one of six stellar contestants never before seriously studied by the space telescope, will be the subject of Hubble observations from April 2 to 5.

The six contestants, which you can see on the website, are:

•NGC 6334, a vast cloud dotted with bright young stars.

•NGC 6072, the blown-out embers of an extinct sun-like star.

•NGC 40, a glowing gas shell from an exploded star.

•NGC 5172, a pinwheel galaxy festooned with starry arms.

•NGC 4289, a spiral galaxy seen edge-on.

•Arp 274, a pair of galaxies distorting and merging together, the current top vote-getter.

The Hubble project is among dozens of April activities for astronomy enthusiasts worldwide as part of the International Year of Astronomy (astronomy2009.org). Others include "100 Hours of Astronomy," a world-circling skywatchers' party; and a "Dark Skies Awareness" campaign to record the levels of light pollution in cities.

The event marks four centuries since Galileo, known today as the father of astronomy, first demonstrated his telescope, turning the tool — still used by astronomers — to the skies to discover Jupiter's moons.

In May, Hubble is due for its long-delayed space-shuttle repairs. Completion of the repairs and insertion of two entirely new instruments will "make Hubble an entirely new and tremendous instrument for science," Livio says. "Right now, we have our fingers crossed for the mission."

In the meantime, he says, the voting event "illustrates in an exciting way that astronomy belongs to everyone."