What is the Hubble Space Telescope?
The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is a space-based telescope that was launched in 1990 by the space shuttle. From its position 380 miles above the Earth’s surface, the HST has expanded our understanding of star birth, star death, and galaxy evolution, and has helped move black holes from theory to fact. In its first 15 years, the telescope recorded over 700,000 images. The telescope’s instruments are the astronomer’s eyes to the universe. Its instruments include the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2), Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS), Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), and Fine Guidance Sensors (FGS). When first launched, the HST’s primary mirror was out of shape on the edges by 1/50 of a human hair. This very small defect made it difficult to focus faint objects being viewed by the Hubble. Because the HST is in low Earth orbit, it could be serviced by a shuttle. The defect was corrected in one such servicing mission.
The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is a space-based telescope that was launched in 1990 from the space shuttle. From its position 380 miles above the Earth’s surface, the HST has expanded our understanding of the universe, in particular star birth, star death, galaxy evolution, and black holes. The telescope’s instruments are the astronomer’s eyes to the universe. Its instruments include the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2, Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph, Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer, Faint Object Camera, and the newly installed Advanced Camera for Surveys. When first launched, the HST’s lens was out of shape on the edges by 1/50 of the diameter of a human hair. This very small defect made it difficult to focus faint objects being viewed by Hubble. Because the HST is in low Earth orbit, it can be serviced by a shuttle. The defect was corrected in the first servicing mission. The Hubble Space Telescope is scheduled for one more servicing mission in May 2009. 2. W
The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is one of the most important instruments in the history of astronomy. Launched in 1990, the Hubble orbits the Earth at an altitude of approximately 589 km. Although the idea of a space telescope was originally conceived in 1946, it took 44 years of technical struggles and budget problems before one was actually put into operation. 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 picture known as the Hubble Ultra Deep Field, which shows extremely faint galaxies billions of light years away. It is the most distant and 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 putting a telescope above the Earth’s atmosphere. For one, the atmospheri
The Hubble Space Telescope is a space-based telescope that was launched in 1990 from the space shuttle Discovery. From its position above Earth’s atmosphere, Hubble has expanded our understanding of the universe — and of star birth, star death, galaxy evolution, and black holes in particular. The telescope’s science instruments are the astronomer’s eyes to the universe. During Servicing Mission 4, scheduled for May 2009, astronauts will boost Hubble’s scientific power by installing two state-of-the-art science instruments: the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) and the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). To make room for the new instruments, astronauts plan to remove the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2, which was installed aboard Hubble in 1993. Other Hubble science instruments include the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph, Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer, and Advanced Camera for Surveys. When first launched, Hubble’s primary mirror had a minor flaw that made it difficul
