![]() ![]() Here are some of its major contributions to science: This means telescopes like Hubble act like time machines, enabling us to study the history of our Universe. Even with relatively local objects the delay can be impressive, with our nearest neighbouring galaxy, the Andromeda galaxy, being viewed as it was almost 2.5 million years ago. This is because light takes time to travel the long distances from the objects it came from. When Hubble shows us images in space, the view it gives us is always of how objects looked some time in the past. Thanks to this and the lack of the turbulent air currents that make stars look like they are twinkling, Hubble is able to take some of the sharpest and deepest images of our Universe. In fact, ultraviolet astronomy is all but impossible to complete from the ground due to the presence of gases like ozone that block ultraviolet light in the upper atmosphere. Hubble's success is in no small part due to its position high above the atmosphere, removing many effects that hamper ground-based observers. Since its mission began in 1990, Hubble has made more than 1.3 million observations. Hubble has peered back into the very distant past, to locations more than 13.4 billion light years from Earth.ģ. Hubble travels at a speed of 17,500 mph and has covered a distance equivalent to a trip to Neptune, the furthermost planet in our solar system.Ģ. However, it consistently outperforms many of the most advanced ground-based telescopes and is still considered the pinnacle of optical and ultraviolet astronomy, with demand for its use in research greatly exceeding the available observing time each year. Compared to the vast 8-10m telescopes built on the ground, with even larger ones planned in the future, the 2.4m Hubble mirror is relatively average for modern day research telescopes, and with optics that are approaching their third decade of use. The Hubble Space Telescope remains one of the best telescopes in the world despite its age and only modest size. ![]()
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