The Hubble Space Telescope, launched in 1990, is part of NASA’s Great Observatories program and is famous for its Hubble Ultra Deep Field image. It orbits the Earth at an altitude of 589 km, providing advantages over ground-based telescopes. The telescope weighs 11,110 kg and can display optical, ultraviolet, and near-infrared bandwidths. The idea for a space telescope was first proposed by Lyman Spitzer in 1946.
The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is one of the most important instruments in the history of astronomy. Launched in 1990, Hubble orbits the Earth at an altitude of about 589 km. Although the idea for a space telescope was originally conceived in 1946, it took 44 years of technical struggles and budgetary woes before one was actually put to work. Hubble is part of NASA’s Great Observatories program, which includes the Chandra X-ray Observatory, the Spitzer Space Telescope and the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory.
The Hubble Space Telescope is probably most famous for its image known as the Hubble Ultra Deep Field, which shows extremely faint galaxies billions of light-years away. It is the farthest and most sensitive optical image ever taken. The Hubble Ultra Deep Field is considered on par with The Blue Marble as among the most famous space photographs ever taken.
There are numerous advantages to placing a telescope above the earth’s atmosphere. For one, the atmospheric glitter effect is gone. Second, there is no background light reflected from air particles, which interferes with optical imaging.
Weighing 11,110 kg (24,250 lbs), Hubble circles the Earth every 96 to 97 minutes, orbiting at a speed of 7,500 m/s (16,800 mph). The bandwidths of light it can display are optical, ultraviolet and near infrared. For the ultraviolet, it’s a unique telescope, because UV is almost completely blocked by our ozone layer. Although they can cause cancer in humans, UV rays provide important information about various astronomical objects. Hubble takes pictures of the relevant portions of the sky and sends the information to control centers on Earth via high-bandwidth radio communications.
The advantages of space telescopes over ground-based telescopes were first presented by Lyman Spitzer in 1946, considered the “father” of the space telescope. His article Astronomical Benefits of an Extraterrestrial Observer highlighted the improvements in angular resolution and optical bandwidth that a space telescope would have. This led to the proposal to be funded by NASA. Today, images from the Hubble Space Telescope are among NASA’s best PR and education tools.
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