Hubble Space Telescope

Credit : NASA

From the dawn of grouping to a mere four hundred years agone, all that we tend to knew regarding our universe came through observations with the oculus. the planet was sure AN rousing.

Saturn, we learned, had rings. Jupiter had moons. That nebulous patch across the middle of the sky referred to as the galaxy wasn't a cloud however a group of innumerable stars. inside however many years, our notion of the flora and fauna would be forever modified. A scientific and social revolution quickly ensued.

In the centuries that followed, telescopes grew in size and quality and, of course, power. They were placed aloof from town lights and as way on top of the haze of the atmosphere as attainable. Edwin Hubble, for whom the astrophysicist Telescope is known as, used the biggest telescope of his day within the Twenties at the Mt. Wilson Observatory close to urban center, Calif., to get galaxies on the far side our own.

Credit : NASA

Hubble, the observatory, is that the 1st major astronomical telescope to be placed in house, the final word mountaintop. on top of the distortion of the atmosphere, way way on top of rain clouds and light-weight pollution, astrophysicist has AN unimpeded read of the universe. Scientists have used astrophysicist to watch the foremost distant stars and galaxies similarly because the planets in our system.

Hubble's launch and readying in Apr 1990 marked the foremost important advance in natural philosophy since Galileo's telescope. due to 5 union missions and over twenty five years of operation, our read of the universe and our place inside it's ne'er been a similar.

Hubble Telescope

Credit : NASA

Hubble Telescope Facts

NASA named the world's 1st space-based astronomical telescope once yankee physicist male monarch P. astrophysicist (1889 -- 1953). Dr. astrophysicist confirmed AN "expanding" universe, that provided the inspiration for the big-bang theory.

Mission

Launch: Apr twenty four, 1990, from space vehicle Discovery (STS-31)
Deployment: Apr twenty five, 1990
First Image: might twenty, 1990: Star cluster NGC 3532
Servicing Mission one (STS-61): Gregorian calendar month 1993
Servicing Mission a pair of (STS-82): Feb 1997
Servicing Mission 3A (STS-103): Gregorian calendar month 1999
Servicing Mission 3B (STS-109): Feb 2002
Servicing Mission four (STS-125): might 2009
Size Length: 43.5 feet (13.2 m)
Weight: At Launch: regarding twenty four,000 pounds (10,886 kg)
Post SM4: regarding twenty seven,000 pounds (12,247 kg)
Maximum Diameter: fourteen feet (4.2 m)
Spaceflight Statistics
Low Earth Orbit: Altitude of 340 miles (295 marine miles, or 547 km), inclined twenty eight.5 degrees to the equator
Time to finish One Orbit: regarding ninety five minutes
Speed: regarding seventeen,000 mph (27,300 kph)
Hubble's Mirrors
Primary Mirror Diameter: ninety four.5 inches (2.4 m)
Primary Mirror Weight: one,825 pounds (828 kg)
Secondary Mirror Diameter: twelve inches (0.3 m)
Secondary Mirror Weight: twenty seven.4 pounds (12.3 kg)
Pointing Accuracy
In order to require pictures of distant, faint objects, astrophysicist should be extraordinarily steady and correct. The telescope is ready to lock onto a target while not deviating over 7/1000th of AN angular unit, or regarding the dimension of somebody's hair seen at a distance of one mile.
Data Statistics
Hubble transmits regarding one hundred fifty gigabits of raw science information weekly.
Power wants
Energy Source: The Sun
Mechanism: 2 25-foot star panels
Power Generation (in Sunlight): regarding five,500 watts
Power Usage (Average): regarding a pair of,100 watts
Power Storage
Batteries: half dozen nickel-hydrogen (NiH)
Storage Capacity: up to regarding twenty two average automotive batteries

Did you recognize...

Hubble has created over one.3 million observations since its mission began in 1990.

Astronomers victimisation astrophysicist information have revealed over fifteen,000 scientific papers, creating it one amongst the foremost productive scientific instruments ever engineered. Those papers are cited in alternative papers 738,000 times.

Hubble doesn't travel stars, planets or galaxies. It takes footage of them because it whirls around Earth at regarding seventeen,000 mph.

Hubble has no thrusters. to alter angles, it uses Newton’s third law by spinning its wheels within the wrong way. It turns at regarding the speed of a moment hand on a clock, taking quarter-hour to show ninety degrees.

Hubble has the inform accuracy of .007 arcseconds, that is like having the ability to shine a light beam on President Roosevelt’s head on a dime regarding two hundred miles away.

Outside the haze of our atmosphere, it will see astronomical objects with AN angular size of zero.05 arcseconds, that is like seeing a combine of fireflies in Yedo that area unit but ten feet except Washington, DC.

Due to the mixture of optics and sensitive detectors and with no atmosphere to interfere with the sunshine reaching it, astrophysicist will spot an evening light-weight on the surface of the Moon from Earth.

Credit : NASA

Hubble has peered back to the terribly distant past, to locations over thirteen.4 billion light-years from Earth.

Hubble generates regarding ten terabytes of recent information p.a.. the whole archive is presently over one hundred fifty TB in size.

Hubble weighed regarding twenty four,000 pounds at launch however if came to Earth nowadays would weigh regarding twenty seven,000 pounds — on the order of 2 adult African elephants.

Hubble's primary mirror is a pair of.4 meters (7 feet, 10.5 inches) across. it had been thus finely polished that if you scaled it to be the diameter of the world, you'd not notice a bump over half dozen inches tall.

Hubble is thirteen.3 meters (43.5 feet) long — the length of an outsized autobus.

Hubble Space Telescope - Hubble Telescope Facts and Mission