The Hubble Telescope and Its Discoveries Essay

“classified Hubble as a Cassegrain reflector, who was among the first to suggest a basic optical design.”1 The Hubble space telescope was launched and deployed in April of 1990, which “marked the most significant advance in astronomy since Galileo's telescope. Thanks to four servicing missions and more than 25 years of operation, the view of the universe and humanity's place within it has never been the same.” 2 In describing how

- 1 -acquired the mountain of information, photographs and previously unknown details that have come forth over the last decade. Indeed, the proficiency of the Hubble Space Telescope has allowed mankind to delve far

There is perhaps no current problem of greater importance to astrophysics and cosmology than that of "dark matter". The controversy, as the name implies, is centered on the notion that there may exist an enormous amount of matter in the Universe that cannot be detected from the light that it emits. The evidence of dark matter is from the motions of astronomical objects, specifically stellar, galactic, and galaxy cluster/supercluster observations.

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

Hubble’s revolutionary work includes finding a constant relationship between galaxies’ distance and redshift. This helped prove that the universe is expanding. He also created a classification system that was created for galaxies. The system he created is called the Hubble Sequence, which many researchers have used for the past decades.

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

The law that Edwin Hubble created has ultimately supported the Big Bang Theory and our knowledge of galaxies. It states that Recessional Velocity is equivalent to Hubble's constant times distance, or V = Ho D. This basically says that the farther a galaxy is

The government should keep Hubble operational to understand more about how the universe works. NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope takes many beautiful images of planets and galaxies every day, and every one of those images shows the public something new about the universe. “It’s scientific instruments have revolutionized our understanding of the universe and its history”(Redd). NASA’s telescopes have helped the people better understand the universe. A lot of astronomers have produced over 12,700 papers from Hubble’s findings. “The images and information Hubble has provided has led to significant progress in understanding our

Measuring both telescopes to Galileo’s telescope and the Hubble Space Telescope, they are all remarkable with their individual functions and purposes. The Hubble Space Telescope is more high-technology than the other three and has made tons of findings from the outer aspect of the Earth. Though Galileo’s telescope was not as impressive compare to the modern ones, knowing the early times was limited but Galileo still has the idea and ability to make it was impressive and worth 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 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

This observation means that it has taken every galaxy the same amount of time to move from a starting position to its current position. This observation is called "Hubble's Law," named after Edwin Hubble (1889-1953) who discovered this in 1929. Edwin Hubble’s evidence supports the expansion of the universe and suggests that the universe was once compacted. Third, if the universe was insanely hot as the Big Bang suggests, scientists should be able to find some of this heat left over. In 1965, Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson discovered a 2.725 degree Kelvin Cosmic Microwave Background radiation which infuses the observable universe. This is thought to be the remnant that scientists were looking for. Finally, the discovery of great amounts of Helium and Hydrogen lead to support the Big Bang Theory. (LaRocco)

A galaxy, also called a nebula, consists of billions of stars, interstellar gas, dust, and dark matter which are all bound to form a massive cloud in which we live in. Although it cannot be very well explained, dark matter makes up at least 90% of a galaxy’s mass.