The Hubble Space Telescope is positioned for deployment from shuttle Discovery last December after a servicing. Photo: NASA TV/Spaceflight Now

If you could point NASA's Hubble Space Telescope at any object in the sky, which one would you choose? The Hubble Heritage Project, a team of astronomers working with the space-based telescope, are asking you to answer this question.

The Hubble Heritage Project, a team who releases a new image from Hubble each month, is soliciting the public's votes for their choice of objects to observe with Hubble. Votes will be accepted through June 6, 2000 at the Hubble Heritage Project's internet site, http://heritage.stsci.edu.

Christian Luginbuhl, astronomer at the Naval Observatory in Flagstaff and co-author of the well-known amateur astronomy book "Observing Handbook and Catalogue of Deep-Sky Objects", will join Hubble astronomers Keith Noll and Forrest Hamilton in selecting the final winner.

The criteria for selecting a winner will include feasibility, scientific interest, and potential for a compelling image in addition to the number of votes. The target must be an object not previously observed with Hubble. Guidelines to help voters select suitable targets will be available at the Heritage web site.

This vote will be the third in a series of public votes offered by the Hubble Heritage Project. The winners of Heritage's 1999 voting sessions were the Polar Ring Galaxy NGC 4650A and a group of galaxies called Hickson Compact Group 87.