Space Telescope Research Paper

When I first saw Saturn through the astronomical telescope at the Science Museum, I knew astronomy opened a new world for me, a world where myriad spectacular phenomena exist in our wonderful nature without us even noticing. That was the time astronomy left an indelible mark in my mind.

As you look into the night sky, what do you see? Little bright dots that you can barely see? Edwin Hubble invented the Hubble Space Telescope that helped scientists around the world observe space. In this Essay, I will be covering who Edwin Hubble is, what exactly his revolutionary telescope is, his key discovers, and also the implications of his discoveries.

It uncovered many mysteries of the universe. It aided in the calculation of the age of the universe, provided evidence for the existence of black holes, and mapped dark matter for the first time. The Hubble Space Telescope was launched on April 24, 1990. This was after about thirty years of planning and building the Hubble. It has been worth it though, as Hubble has made 1.2 million observations of our universe since it was launched. The telescope can see astronomical objects with a size of 0.05 arc seconds, which is the equivalent of being able to see an object the size of a penny 6,773 miles away. It also has the pointing accuracy of 0.007 arc seconds, which is the equivalent of being able to shine a laser beam on a dime 200 miles away. At the time it was built, the Hubble Space Telescope was the most technologically advanced invention ever. However, despite the Hubble Space Telescope being able to explore most of our solar system and even being able to see a small amount outside of our solar system, the best image that the Hubble Space Telescope ever got of Pluto was a pixelated and blurry image. With this image, scientists were never able to understand much about Pluto from data brought back from the Hubble Space

We are lucky enough in our lifetime to be able to physically see images of different stellar bodies. Not only are we able to view these beautiful space pictures, but we can see them in high definition. It’s incredible that we have advanced enough to send out objects that will last millions of light years away and send back pictures and data on each object in our solar system. The Hubble Telescope has been a great champion in showing us the wonders of our universe. Here are 5 shocking space pictures that remind us how incredible the universe really is.

The Hubble Space Telescope is one of the most amazing machines in orbit right now. In 1946, an astrophysicist named Dr. Lyman Spitzer proposed that a telescope in space would reveal better and clearer images that are even far from earth than any ground telescope. This idea was very extravagant because no one had yet launched a rocket into outer space. As the US space program excelled quickly over the early years, Spitzer lobbied NASA and Congress to develop a space telescope. In 1975, the European Space Agency and NASA began to develop the telescope that would change astronomy for ever. In 1977, Congress approved funding for the development of the space telescope and NASA named Lockheed Martin Aerospace Company as the prime contractor

This telescope was launched not only to help us observe planets and stars, but to take pictures from our solar system. The Hubble Telescope is named after Edwin Hubble an astronomer during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Edwin Hubble is from Missouri and moved and spent the majority of his time in Chicago. During his lifetime, he discovered more about the stars and how our universe expands. Hubble discovered that wavelengths of red shifts can be used to find the velocity of moving objects in space. Thus implying the stars and galaxies move away from each other, causing the universe to expand. We now call this law Hubble’s

Hubble helped determine the age of the universe and the way galaxies are formed. Revealed extraordinary detail about the process by which sun-like stars end their lives as planetary nebulae. The telescope allows to study the universe across a wide swath of the light spectrum structure of the universe and map the distribution of elements fundamental to life. Astronomers believe they formed the most distant objects with Hubble with a Distance of 13.2 billion years away. According to nbcnews.com, Scientist Labb`e stated that previous searches have found 47 galaxies at an adequately later time, when the universe was about 650 millions years old. Hubble has also discovered dark matter. Dark matter is invisible, but reveals its existence via gravity, makes up roughly 23% of the universe. The telescope made it easier to understand how Dark Matter behaves and could help scientist figure out more detail about dark matter. Hubble has greatly expanded astronomers knowledge of the Universe. Before the telescope, distance to far off galaxies were not well known. Hubble’s millionth exposure is of the Planet HAT-P-7b, a gas giant planet larger than Jupiter orbiting a star hotter than our sun. HAT-P-7b, also known as 2b, has been studied by NASA’s planet hunting Kepler observatory after it was discovered by ground- based observations. Hubble now is being used to analyze the chemical composition of the planet’s

As stated on nasa.gov, “Hubble has made more than 1.2 million observations since it’s missions began in 1990.” Hubble has also expanded astronomers knowledge about the universe and space as a whole. The most famous observation made by this telescope was that of galaxies beyond our own, Milky Way, and discovering that the universe is much larger than further predicted. Before this telescope, ground based telescopes could only see into our galaxy and could not reach any further. Therefore, it was thought that the Milky Way was the only galaxy included in space and the universe. Due to the fact, Hubble’s telescope, expands and allows for the study across a wider light spectrum, astronomers can see beyond further predicted. Another famous observation, studied by astronomers was that of the study of uncharted territories of the cosmos. As proposed on hubblesite.org, “It became increasingly clear to astronomers that Earth’s atmosphere distorted starlight, which made it difficult to obtain razor-sharp views of celestial objects. The idea of placing a telescope in space, above Earth’s turbulent air, had been kicked around for several years. But scientists pondered how to transport a telescope into space.” That was until, Hubble’s creation that displayed imagery of the cosmos. Once again it had accomplished a feat that had troubled ground based telescopes. In

Some of its most important discoveries include the pictures it takes and sends to us. These images have helped scientists estimate the age of the earth and the size of it. It is believed to be around 14 billion years old. It has detected black holes and if you don't know what black holes are they suck in everything around them including light. The Hubble Telescope also has something to do with dark energy and dark energy is a random force that has the ability to make the universe expand faster and faster as time goes. Another, discovery is the telescope has discovered is the details of gamma rays bursts and that is a powerful explosion of energy that happens when massive stars collapse. The Hubble has also shown us how galaxies formed. It revealed extraordinary details about the process by which sun-like stars and their lives as planetary nebulae. It may have helped is with identifying quasars, it showed us pictures of a clashing galactic quintet, a densely packed star cluster, an eerie “pillar of creation”., and famed butterfly nebula. It has shown us the birth of stars, and imagery of the cosmos. Hubble's’ millionth observation was a spectroscopic measurement, gas giants. Those were just some of the many discoveries that the Hubble Telescope has

Today we will be looking at the tools we use for astronomy to help us better understand the universe. Tools such as Rovers, which help us understand foreign planets without having to send humans, and Satellites, which are beacons that gather data, and assist human communications.

These challenges helped NASA and the European Space Agency to create a historical legend. In 1993, astronauts installed COSTAR in order to restored Hubble’s vision and meet the designer’s expectations. Then, they also updated some of the components such as ESA-provided solar arrays and associated control electronics (“HubbleSite”, 2012, para. 7 ). By updating component, Hubble contained a extensive data to measure the universe, and astronomers used this telescope to do more in-depth research. In 1997, with the constant innovation of Hubble Space Telescope, Servicing Mission 2 occurred, and it “improved Hubble’s spectroscopic capabilities with the insertion of the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS)” (“HubbleSite”, 2012, para. 8). In addition, they also created Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS), it showed “Hubble’s view of the universe to a new spectral regime—those wavelengths slightly longer than visual light” (“HubbleSite”, 2012, para. 8). In 2009, astronauts made the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) was that “the most sensitive ultraviolet spectrograph ever built for Hubble” (“HubbleSite”, 2012, para.

The 1990s saw the work of many satellites. Some went to look at the inferior planets while others looked at the superior planets. Two major satellites were Galileo and Cassini. Galileo is most famous for studying Jupiter and its moons. It provided scientists with beautiful images of Jupiter’s moons as well as the celestial body itself. The satellite ran on nuclear power, and played part in the day we nuked Jupiter in 2003. As Galileo ended its mission, scientists got the idea of crashing the satellite into something. They did not want to crash it on Europa (one of the moons) because it was a prime suspect of containing life, so they decided to have it fly into Jupiter. Galileo’s set collision course proved to be a fascinating end as it flew into Jupiter’s thick atmosphere and exploded with the same power as an atomic bomb. Despite its end, the mission gathered lots of useful information as did Cassini when it studied Saturn. The biggest thing launched into space at this time however, was the Hubble Space Telescope. The Hubble Space Telescope captured astronomical pictures that surprised all scientists. Everything seen by the telescope can be seen with the human eye, and in seeing all the colors, dust, gas, stars, etc. one cannot not be amazed. One of the most important things though, was the Hubble Deep Field. The telescope focused on one point looking into space which to the human eye looked as if there was nothing there. To the astonishment of the scientists there was much, much more than nothing. The picture on the right depicts the Hubble Ultra Deep Field, a second image taken in 2004 that goes into more detail. Each speck of light is a totally separate galaxy, one just as big or bigger than the Milky Way. This image just helps stress how large the universe actually is. It also helped

Space telescopes have been instrumental in numerous important discoveries regarding the universe and have contributed greatly to improving our understanding of the universe. Perhaps the most well known telescope is the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The HST has helped scientists to refine previous estimates of the age of the universe, but has also cast doubt on previous thoughts about is expansion. The telescope was used to observe supernovae and it was concluded that instead decelerating, as previously thought, the expansion of the universe was actually accelerating. The cause of this acceleration is not well understood but it led astronomers to use dark energy as the cause. It was also hypothesised that black holes would be found at the centres of some galaxies. HST however, changed scientists understanding by showing that black holes are likely to be common at the centres of all galaxies and it was also established that galaxies and their black holes share a strong relation. HST has been able to providing stunning images of the universe, providing astronomers with the deepest ever views of the universe billions of light years away allowing scientists a new view into the early universe. In 2015 measurements of the aurorae surrounding Ganymede revealing a large subsurface saltwater ocean on the

The Hubble Space Telescope is considered by some to be one of N.A.S.A.’s greatest achievements, and in its early years N.A.S.A.’s greatest and most expensive failures but it is widely regarded as a great telescope that takes beautiful stunning photos

Once microwave radiation was discovered, studies improved on the Milky Way Galaxy. Its Doppler Shift can be used to map the motion of gas in it. Also, with radio telescopes, hydrogen gas can now be traced. When the Hubble Space Telescope was introduced in 1990, that made exploring space so much easier and more efficient. That’s how we discovered so much about our universe- including galaxies!