The Hubble Telescope (and the most important photograph ever taken)

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The Hubble Telescope, and Why it is Amazing

In research for my lens The Lunacy of Religion I followed link after link online getting completely obsessed with the topic, and along the way I spend a few hours looking through photographs taken by the Hubble Telescope.

The photographs are amazing, and it is surprising to me that people will limit the wonder and majesty of the universe to the sentence 'God did it'.  The universe is far more beautiful and complex and awe-inspiring than that, and that is why I made this lens.

In the history of modern astronomy, there is probably no one greater leap forward than the building and launch of the space telescope known as the Hubble.

While NASA has had many ups and downs, the launch and continued operation of the Hubble space telescope probably ranks next to the moon landings and the development of the Space Shuttle as one of the greatest space exploration accomplishments of the last hundred years.

 

Photographs Taken By the Hubble Telescope 

Released to Public: Panoramic Hubble Image for 17th Launch Anniversary (NASA) by pingnews.com

Released to Public: Hubble: Magnificant Details in a Dusty Spiral, 1999 (NASA, PR99-25) by pingnews.com

Released to Public: Hubble Image of M100 Spiral Galaxy (NASA) by pingnews.com

curated content from Flickr

The Huge Leap by the Hubble Telescope 

An amazing piece of astronomy trivia that few people know is that in truth, the sky we see is not really that visible using conventional methods of observation (like our eyes, or telescopes).

For that reason, the Hubble really was a huge leap forward. Because the Hubble can operate outside of the atmosphere of Earth.

Trying to make significant space observations via telescopes from the terrestrial surface of planet Earth is very difficult. Earth's atmosphere presents a serious distraction from being able to see deeper and further into space.

This is why the images gathered by the Hubble Telescope are so much clearer than images gathered by telescopes on earth.

Photographs Taken By the Hubble Telescope 

Released to Public: Hubble: Red Rectangle Nebula (NASA) by pingnews.com

Orion Nebula - new image from Hubble & Spitzer by Mr. Physics

curated content from Flickr

Edwin Hubble 

The Hubble space telescope was named after the great scientist and visionary Edwin Hubble who discovered that the universe was expanding which was explained by what is now known in science as Hubble's Law.

To truly get a feel for the amazing accomplishment that was achieved with the launch of the Hubble telescope, spend some time on Nasa's web site dedicated to the project at http://hubble.nasa.gov.

There are also a number of sites where you can enjoy some stunning pictures from the Hubble including http://heritage.stsci.edu and http://www.stsci.edu/ftp/science/hdf/hdf.html.

The Single Most Important Photograph Ever Taken By Humanity 

This video explains how the Hubble Telescope has changed the way we think about the universe we live in and the perspective with which we approach the question 'Are we alone in the universe?'.

This video contains what is claimed to be the most important photograph ever taken by man. Take a look.

P.S. Ignore that stupid Numa Numa dancing guy that pops up in the video. He is not the narrator. I can't possibly imagine what the creator of the video was thinking when he put that stupid guy in there.

The Hubble Deep Field Video with narration cleaned up

Here's the same video but with the smacking and breathing sounds removed and cleaned up. I apologize for not doing this before, but I never listened to the video with earphones on. Numa Numa guy is still there. Taking him out would have been more work that I wanted to do. Just FF past him if you don't like it. Added James McCarthy to credits, thanks to LodeStone1968 for the info.

curated content from YouTube

Click The Image To See The Hubble Deep Field Enlarged 


Click to enlarge the Deep Field image. View full-size. On the page that opens you may need to click the image again...

Repairs and Upgrades 

The Hubble telescope was not always perfect and the early pictures were very disappointing. After some study NASA discovered that the reason for the early failures was the curvatures of one of the main lenses.

This intricate piece of equipment would never have been able to be kept operational had we not had the Space Shuttle program to give us a tool to implement repairs and improvements to the Hubble. In 1993 a new lens was installed on the Hubble which corrected the problem of picture resolution that was noted in the early operation of the telescope.

Two other repair and upgrade missions have been made to the Hubble since it launched, both of them in 1997 to upgrade older equipment and to retrofit the telescope to extend its useful life through 2010.

It's pretty amazing to think that this scientific and mechanical marvel has been operating now since 1997 (ten years!) without maintenance. We can be assured that plans are in the works for NASA to upgrade or replace parts on the Hubble to extend its useful life even further as that 2010 time frame draws closer.

How long has the Hubble Telescope been up there? 

It's hard to believe how long the Hubble has been orbiting earth and sending back amazing video and pictures of what it is discovering in space. But the Hubble was actually initially launched on April 25th 1990.

It was the culmination of literally decades of research and construction which began in 1977.
Expectations were high as the orbiting telescope was put in place and actually began to function as it was designed to do.

The Future of the Hubble Telescope 

It is hard to imagine the science of astronomy or the natural quest for greater knowledge of our universe without the Hubble.

While many times those who would not fund space exploration have tried to cut funding for the Hubble, the operation of this telescope is just too important to astronomers and to the scientific well being of mankind and our planet not to continue to use the Hubble, or its next natural successor.

We will always need to have a set of eyes in the sky to watch the universe and discover more of its mysteries.

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by MrLewisSmile

Hello! My name is Lewis Smile.


This lens is about the Hubble Telescope.


In research for my lens The Lunacy of Religion I followed link after l...

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