For more than 15 years, the Hubble Space Telescope has been providing scientists and the public with spectacular images of deep space. One of the most technologically advanced pieces of equipment that humans have put into orbit, Hubble has helped researchers make important discoveries about our universe, ranging from planets and stars to galaxies and cosmology. Thanks to incredible efforts of scientists and engineers, the telescope has also given astronomers insight into the history and fate of our universe.
Why a Space Telescope?
Although the Hubble Space Telescope has been in orbit since 1990, its origins date long before that. The first serious concepts of a space-based optical observatory began just after World War II. In 1946, Lyman Spitzer, a professor and researcher at Yale University, argued that a space telescope would offer great advantages over ground-based observatories. His paper, entitled Astronomical Advantages of an Extra-Terrestrial Observatory, explained that the Earth's atmosphere blurs and distorts light coming from stars. Even the most precise and advanced telescopes on the ground cannot escape this phenomenon, but a telescope in orbit can. Furthermore, the atmosphere blocks X-rays emitted from high-temperature phenomena in stars and other objects, so they cannot be detected by instruments on the Earth's surface. A space telescope would also allow scientists to accurately measure these emissions as well.
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