Happy Anniversary Hubble! Twenty-four years ago in 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope was launched. Its purpose was to provide us with a clear, unhindered look into space without the hazy interference of the Earths atmosphere getting in the way. It remains one of the most successful and long-lasting space missions from NASA to this day. Ideas for a space telescope were in development long before its launch, beginning with German scientist Hermann Oberth and then primarily moving forward with American astrophysicist, Lyman Spitzer Jr who spent the better part of 50 years bringing the would-be Hubble scope to a reality. The telescope gets its name however from American astronomer Edwin Hubble. He first discovered that those small patches of fuzz he was seeing through the scope were actually distant galaxies. Through studying these galaxies he also made the important discovery that our universe is expanding. This amazing telescope has transformed how we see the universe today. Through its images and data, scientists were able to narrow the age of the universe to a more precise number of between 13 and 14 billion years old from the previously thought 10 to 20 billion. The Hubble played an important role in the discovery of dark energy and the rate at which the universe is expanding. An estimated 10,000 scientific articles have been published using data from the Hubble Space Telescope. The article image above was released today in celebration of Hubbles anniversary and features an infrared view of a portion of the Monkey Head Nebula. This nebula resides in the Orion constellation, approximately 6400 light-years away, and is a stellar nursery for young stars. Dazzling lights of pink and white hot gasses designate new stars being born as they push away the darker, rust-colored dust of their nurseries. The Hubble isnt just strictly for the upper echelons of scientists though. Any astronomer in the world is free to request time using the telescope by submitting a proposal! After a year to study the results of a viewing, data is released to the entire scientific community and contributes a wealth of information. Heres to many more years of beautiful images, fascinating discoveries, and scientific contributions! Cool stuff: - A 1981 diagram of the Hubble: hubblesite.org/the.../hubble_essentials/image.php... - A deconstructed look hubblesite.org/the_telescope/nuts_.and._bolts/ - Release images of The Monkey Head Nebula hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2014/18/image/ More on: Discover the cosmos Follow us on twitter: https://twitter/Discovercosmos
Posted on: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 11:30:01 +0000
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