The Invention Of The Hubble Telescope

Edwin P. Hubble was a ground-breaking American astronomer who revolutionized our knowledge of the universe and established the foundations for all of modern cosmology. At the beginning of the 20th century, most astronomers thought that our Universe was confined to the Milky Way Galaxy alone. However, Edwin Hubble's inspiration and perseverance in astronomical research proved otherwise. He discovered the existence of other galaxies and created a systematical classification for all galaxies. Additionally, he mathematically confirmed that his newly discovered universe was expanding. Hubble's astronomical triumphs earned him worldwide scientific honors and pioneered our modern cosmology.

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.

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.

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

Kepler and Galileo are responsible for the advancements of physics and astronomy in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Although these advancements were a part of the scientific community, one cannot be certain that their views rested on science alone. Theology was extremely important and influential in this time period, and the Catholic Church placed many limitations on scientists. With this being said, Kepler and Galileo must have had theological ideas in the back of their minds while working. They believed that God left the universe for man to figure out and discover, and they were sure that the work they were doing, independently, was the truth behind it all. Many people at the time, including the Catholic Church, did not agree with their work believing it was anti-religious and went against the word of God. The Catholic Church, quite offended by their work, punished both men for their publications. Kepler and Galileo stood by their work and believed that what they had accomplished was all for God. Kepler and Galileo both knew that they were religious men who were simply trying to uncover the truth behind the universe God has created; they thought they were serving God with their work.

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

    “We find them smaller and fainter, in constantly increasing numbers, and we know that we are reaching into space, farther and farther, until, with the faintest nebulae that can be detected with the greatest telescopes, we arrive at the frontier of the known universe.”- Edwin Hubble. Edwin Hubble was a man known for his immaculate discoveries leading to better understanding the universe. The telescope built in honor of him did not fail to carry on his legacy. This essay will take you through Hubble’s life story, the Hubble space telescope’s description, the telescope's discoveries, and the implications of the telescope to our understanding of the universe.

The telescope is an instrument which increases our ability to observe far away objects through the collection of electromagnetic radiation, the most prevalent type of telescope is the optical telescope which collects light, however there are other kinds of telescopes which collect UV and X -Rays. Optical telescopes use lenses to redirect light to a specified point. Different lenses are used for different magnifications of celestial objects. This essay will be mainly discussing optical telescopes.

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

In 1936, George Hale designed the 200-inch telescope. After Hale’s death in 1938, Edwin Hubble directed the completion of the telescope in 1948 and discovered the Hubble Variable Nebulae when using the telescope for the first time in January 1949. The telescope would be the largest the largest in the world until 1976. This telescope, considered Hubble’s last contribution to astronomy, has led to the discovery of quasars, black holes, and comets. The telescope is still used every night for astronomical

The Hubble Space Telescope is a telescope that was launched into space in 1990, April 24th. Its primary function was to take pictures of stars, planets, moons, galaxies, etc. This type of telescope is different from a telescope such as the Hooker Telescope as it is in space, rather than on Earth, and was used for different things. Over the many years that this extraordinary telescope has orbited in space, it has helped scientists with many new discoveries and refined previous theories or beliefs. One of the biggest discoveries this telescope has made is the discovery of galaxies that we did not know of previously because they were so far away. This discovery was very important as it has lead scientists to calculating a more accurate age of the universe. The Hubble Space Telescope made this discovery by observing Cepheid variables, which are stars with the same average brightness. Although, their brightness is essentially the same, the stars would seem either brighter or dimmer depending on its position in relation to Earth. For example, if one Cepheid variable was 100,000 light years away and another Cepheid variable was 200,000 light years away, the second star would seem dimmer as it is further away from the Earth and our perspective makes it look like it is not as bright. Scientists can use this observation to work out around how far away a Cepheid variable, and ultimately a galaxy, is from the Earth. Using this information and the pictures taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, scientists were able to work out a more accurate age of the universe which was around 13.75 billion years old. Without this sort of technology, we wouldn’t know as much about the universe as we do now and we may not have been able to refine our knowledge on the age of the universe. To sum up, the Hubble Space Telescope is an important piece of

William Herschel discovered Uranus in March of 1781. He discovered this threw a telescope. It was the first planet to be discovered using a telescope. Many other scientist that saw this through a telescope thought that Uranus was just a star, but Herschel was able to identify that one of those stars was an actual planet. He was fascinated with the natural philosophy of light and with the behavior of the eyes was the counterpart of this task.

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