Hubble Space Telescope
hideThe Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is a space telescope that was carried into orbit by the space shuttle in April 1990. It is named after the American astronomer Edwin Hubble. Although not the first space telescope, the Hubble is one of the largest and most versatile, and is well-known as both a vital research tool and a public relations boon for astronomy. The HST is a collaboration between NASA and the European Space Agency, and is one of NASA's Great Observatories, along with the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, the Chandra X-ray Observatory, and the Spitzer Space Telescope.
Space telescopes were proposed as early as 1923. The Hubble was funded in the 1970s, with a proposed launch in 1983, but the project was beset by technical delays, budget problems, and the Challenger disaster. When finally launched in 1990, scientists found that the main mirror had been ground incorrectly, severely compromising the telescope's capabilities. However, after a servicing mission in 1993, the telescope was restored to its intended quality. Hubble's orbit outside the distortion of Earth's atmosphere allows it to take extremely sharp images with almost no background light. Hubble's Ultra Deep Field image, for instance, is the most detailed visible-light image ever made of the universe's most distant objects. Many Hubble observations have led to breakthroughs in astrophysics, such as accurately determining the rate of expansion of the universe.
The Hubble is the only telescope ever designed to be serviced in space by astronauts. There have been five servicing missions, the last occurring in May 2009. Servicing Mission 1 took place in December 1993 when Hubble's imaging flaw was corrected. Servicing missions 2, 3A, and 3B repaired various sub-systems and replaced many of the observing instruments with more modern and capable versions. However, following the 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia accident, the fifth servicing mission was canceled on safety grounds. After spirited public discussion, NASA reconsidered this decision, and administrator Mike Griffin approved one final Hubble servicing mission. STS-125 was launched in May 2009, and installed two new instruments and made numerous repairs. Assuming testing and calibration of the new equipment goes well, the Hubble should resume routine operation in September 2009.
The latest servicing should allow the telescope to function until at least 2014, when its successor, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), is due to be launched. The JWST will be far superior to Hubble for many astronomical research programs, but will only observe in infrared, so it will complement (not replace) Hubble's ability to observe in the visible and ultraviolet parts of the spectrum.
For more information about Hubble Space Telescope, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
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News tagged with hubble space telescope
Hubble Finds Smallest Kuiper Belt Object Ever Seen
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Dec 16, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has discovered the smallest object ever seen in visible light in the Kuiper Belt, a vast ring of icy debris that is encircling the outer rim of the solar system ...
Hubble's Festive View of a Grand Star-Forming Region (w/ Video)
Dec 15, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Just in time for the holidays: a Hubble Space Telescope picture postcard of hundreds of brilliant blue stars wreathed by warm, glowing clouds. The festive portrait is the most detailed view of the largest ...
Born in beauty: Proplyds in the Orion Nebula (w/ Video)
Dec 14, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A collection of 30 never-before-released images of embryonic planetary systems in the Orion Nebula are the highlight of the longest single Hubble Space Telescope project ever dedicated to ...
Artificial Intelligence Shuffles Schedules, Cuts Patients' Wait Times
Dec 03, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Some of the same artificial intelligence (AI) underlying NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope is now streamlining patient care at Strong Memorial Hospital, helping radiologists and technologists ...
Newly discovered star one of hottest in Galaxy (w/ Video)
Dec 02, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Astronomers at The University of Manchester's Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics have discovered one of the hottest stars in the Galaxy with a surface temperature of around 200,000 degrees ...
3 Questions: Sara Seager on searching for Earth-like planets
Nov 23, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- MIT planetary scientist Sara Seager has been studying exoplanets — planets circling stars other than the sun — for many years.
The Crab Nebula: Energy for 100,000 Suns
Nov 23, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A star's spectacular death in the constellation Taurus was observed on Earth as the supernova of 1054 A.D.
NASA Provides Venerable Hubble Hardware to Smithsonian
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Nov 19, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Two key instruments from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have a new home in the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington after being returned to Earth aboard space shuttle Atlantis ...
NGC 4710 galaxy: Baffling boxy bulge (w/ Video)
Nov 18, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Just as many people are surprised to find themselves packing on unexplained weight around the middle, astronomers find the evolution of bulges in the centres of spiral galaxies puzzling. A ...
NASA's Great Observatories Celebrate International Year of Astronomy
Nov 10, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A never-before-seen view of the turbulent heart of our Milky Way galaxy is being unveiled by NASA on Nov. 10. This event will commemorate the 400 years since Galileo first turned his telescope ...
'Dropouts' pinpoint earliest galaxies
Nov 06, 2009 |
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Astronomers, conducting the broadest survey to date of galaxies from about 800 million years after the Big Bang, have found 22 early galaxies and confirmed the age of one by its characteristic hydrogen signature ...
Hubble Image Showcases Star Birth in M83, the Southern Pinwheel
Nov 05, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The spectacular new camera installed on NASA's Hubble Space Telescope during Servicing Mission 4 in May has delivered the most detailed view of star birth in the graceful, curving arms of ...
Unsettled Youth: Spitzer Observes a Chaotic Planetary System
Nov 04, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Before our planets found their way to the stable orbits they circle in today, they wiggled and jostled about like unsettled children. Now, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has found a young ...
Scientists use world's fastest supercomputer to model origins of the unseen universe
Oct 26, 2009 |
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Understanding dark energy is the number one issue in explaining the universe, according to Salman Habib, of the Laboratory's Nuclear and Particle Physics, Astrophysics and Cosmology group.
Astronomers do it Again: Find Organic Molecules Around Gas Planet (w/ Video)
Oct 20, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Peering far beyond our solar system, NASA researchers have detected the basic chemistry for life in a second hot gas planet, advancing astronomers toward the goal of being able to characterize ...
