Hubble Space Telescope
Created: April 1990 (Launch Date)
Creator: NASA (Edward Hubble) Location: Above Earth's atmosphere Stats: Primary Mirror: 2.4 m (diameter) Light Collecting Area: 4.5 m squared Light Gathering Power: 230,400x human eye Focal Length: 57.6 m Focal Ratio: f/24 Angular Resolution: 0.05 Wavelength: Visible Light, Ultraviolet, Near-Infrared Type: Reflector (Ritchey–Chrétien) |
History:
The Hubble Space Telescope is a reflector telescope that was brought into orbit in 1990. It is the only telescope that requires astronauts to service it and ensure that is it fully functional. It features a 2.4 m aperture telescope and was named after astronomer Edward Hubble. Since the telescope orbits outside Earth's atmosphere, it is able to capture images with little background light. Because of this, astronomers have been able to use its images to look back into time and space. The observations seen through the Hubble telescope have even resulted in quantifying the rate of expansion of the universe. This was done by measuring distances to Cepheid variable stars to obtain Hubble's constant. The Hubble Telescope was also used to observe supernovae. These observations led to the theory that the universe is expanding at an ever-increasing rate due possibly to dark energy. Astronomers used the Hubble telescope to analyze black holes as well. The images provided by the telescope helped discover that the masses of nuclear black holes have a relation to the properties of galaxies, as was hypothesized.Of course, using the Hubble telescope, the Hubble Deep Field was recorded, highlighting the variety of galaxies and the high redshift values. Though the Hubble telescope still orbits Earth today, there have been plans to decommission the telescope sometime between 2014-2020. This is due in part to make way for a new, improved telescope called the James Webb Space Telescope to be launched, which will happen sometime in 2014. |