The Hubble Space Telescope

The Hubble Space Telescope has been sent into space to take pictures of our universe. Hubble has made more than 1.2 million observations since its launch on 1990. The Hubble weighs 27,000 pounds. It does not travel, it just takes

The telescope is an optical instrument designed to make distant objects appear nearer. It contains an arrangement of lenses or mirrors or both that gathers visible light, permitting direct observation or photographic recording of distant objects. (Lacki, B. C. 2011). With the use of telescopes we have been able to learn a lot more about the planets in our universe. It has helped us understand about some of the history of everything around us. Also it has been able to track asteroids and comets or any randomly flying objet in outer space that might become threatening to our planet.

The craving of knowledge is something that has shaped the human race to what it is today. As humans, it's a necessity to have something to kindle a person’s flame of curiosity. Since the beginning of time, the world has always gazed up into the sky on a starry night and asked “what there is out there; what made this stunning view?”, “How immense is this vast expansion of space?”. These inquiries could be answered now that humans are capable of space exploration with the mechanization NASA and other space agencies have now, and will possibly take advantage of in upcoming years. The use of the stars has been very beneficial to humans, whether it’s navigation, religion, or something to spark the imaginations of many. The technology that astronauts

PURPOSE: The aim of the investigation was to further our understanding of the physical laws that govern our ability to receive and interpret information in the form of visible light. We have all had a physics class that at least brushed the introduction of optics, but we can still further our comprehension by experimenting with optics that have different characteristics. Does one axis truly get inverted when viewing an object through a lens? How significant of an effect does human error have in calculating reflection (if any)? How much does magnification blur an image viewed through an optic? How much does the angle of light deflect from a change of medium?

Space was so mysterious and frightening for thousands who dared to look up at the heavens. Many dared to wonder about what actually lurked and waited for mankind. Eventually man took the steps necessary to take the final leap into the unknown. Throughout history NASA has contributed to several extraordinary feats of science and space exploration from the moon landing to the Curiosity rover NASA has been vital to finding cosmic knowledge for mankind.

The Hubble costs about 2.5 billion dollars to make. Also it has 6 cameras and sensors. It was launched in the honor of Edwin Hubble (also why the telescope was named after Edwin). As the telescope goes around in orbit with a light spectrum from the ultraviolet to near infrared it is able to take some very incredibly close and clear images. The telescope uses a digital camera to capture all of the great images and uses radio waves to send the pictures through air back to the Earth so we all are able to see what great things are happening outside of the Earth. With all of the information we get from the telescope we are able to stars being born and stars die. We are able to see galaxies that trillion miles away. It was able to see a comet pieces crash into gases above Jupiter. Also, we have been to discover moons that are around pluto that have never been able to see before. Additionally, we are able to understand how planets and galaxies form. We have so much information and have discovered so many new things from the Hubble Space

Take, for example, the closest star to our solar system: Proxima Centauri. Close is good, right? Not when close is still 4.22 light years away (this simply came from Space.com's article on the Alpha Centauri system). The distance of the earth to celestial bodies provides us with one of the most difficult challenges to overcome: studying the properties and behaviors of things that we cannot touch or interact with. Now, this isn't exactly true of every object in space--we've obviously touched the moon and hope to touch Mars someday--but the indescribably vast majority of the universe lies outside of the scope of objects that we are able to touch

Initially anticipated by Albert Einstein with his theory of relativity in 1916 to the year 1980, when Alan Guth developed the concept of cosmic inflation, a telescope was thought to have detected primordial gravitational waves after being examined for three years. Led by John Kovac, a group of Harvard astrophysicists retrieved the data from the Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic Polarization 2, a telescope located at the South Pole, where the telescope was used to measure the cosmic microwave background. For three years, the team had been examining the signal to determine if the gravitational waves created were occurring at the same place a trillion times by observing part of the sky from the south pole.

This has helped us learn far more about the origins of our Universe and the formation of galaxies from around a billion years after the creation of the Universe, where the galaxies appear to be very shapeless and small, to today where they are larger and formed into spirals or discs. The Hubble Space Telescope has helped pinpoint the age of the Universe to 13.7 billion years22 by studying 31 Cepheid variable stars22, whose fluctuating brightness can be used to calculate their distance thus the expansion and therefore age of the Universe. Knowing the age of the Universe helps astronomers and cosmologists model the Universe and its evolution over its lifetime accurately, which is immensely valuable information to

Palomar was launched. At that time, it was the world’s largest and most powerful telescope. According to Dr. Ira S. Bowen, director of observatory, Hale telescope is able to photograph stellar objects that are located billions of light years away from our planet. Data received with this instrument enabled the scientists to significantly expand the limits of their knowledge of the universe. It became obvious that the universe is much larger than astronomers previously thought. The most remote objects that prior telescopes could register were only 109 light years away from the Earth. Notable stellar object 3C-147 was discovered using Hale telescope. Later this object was qualified as a quasar, which is used to describ the most distant nucleus from the earth with high energy. Apparently, this object is located so far away that scientists could not give its accurate distance in light years. However, astronomers stated that 3C-147 has red shift of 54.5%. Cosmological red shift is a physical phenomenon due to the expansion of the universe and the measurement of the red shift gives the approximate distance estimation of a nucleus from the earth. The discovery of such distant object showed that estimates of the size of the universe, made by scientists of the 1920s, were inaccurate. For example, 3C-147 is located outside the Einstein universe since the curvature radius of the universe, estimated by astronomers of the 1920s, was less than the distance to the

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

As we attempt to learn more and more about the universe and the outer space beyond Earth, we

As Hubble age, he was unable to use the telescope any more. He didn’t have the strength or energy to stay in the cage for long periods of time. So, he sent Sandage to carry out tasks for him. Everyday Sandage would be given coordinates or jobs by Hubble. When Sandage was done recording he data of his work, he would go back to Hubble and give him the results (Overbye 22). This shows how devoted he was to his research, even if he was unable to handle the job due to old age he compromised. All of Hubble’s work and Sandage work was done on the 100-in telescope, yet Hubble was still able to find the Andromeda Nebulae’s distance for the Milky Way and study red shifts. While the 200-in. telescope was being built, Hubble asked if he could use the telescope for half of its available time. This shows his devotion because he wanted to use the telescope in order to further enhance his research (17).

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

On Monday, June 26, I had the opportunity to observe some planets and stars with the help of professor Lowry and his amazing telescope. What I saw and learned that night about Saturn, Jupiter and the constellations was remarkable and complemented what I have being learning in my astronomy course.