By BBC News Online Science Editor Dr David Whitehouse

The Hubble Space Telescope has begun science observations again, following repairs in December by space shuttle astronauts.

Since the repair mission the telescope has been undergoing a series of tests and calibrations called the Servicing Mission Orbital Verification (Smov). Smov operations will continue for several weeks but so far no problems have been reported.

The replaced gyroscopes, essential for Hubble to point accurately at celestial objects, are working well. The telescope's operators are currently at the start of testing Hubble's Fine Guidance Sensors that lock onto stars. This will ensure the telescope is stable during its observations.

The other pieces of equipment replaced during the December spacewalks, the computer, transmitter and data recorder are also all working well.

To evaluate how well the telescope is performing it has been turned towards the so-called "Eskimo" nebula, as well as a cluster of galaxies. BBC News Online understands that the images of these objects are impressive and will be released during the next two weeks.