[ad_1]
Launched into Earth orbit on April 25, 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope has been observing the distant Universe for more than 30 years.
Designed to examine ultraviolet, visible and infrared light waves, the solar-powered space telescope collects about 40,000 times more light than the human eye.
This has allowed Hubble to capture some of the most impressive photographs known to mankind, including images of remote tadpole galaxies, star births, nebulae and supernovae.
But for all your amazing discoveries, you may have several questions about this technological marvel. Questions like “How far can the Hubble Space Telescope see?”, “How big is it really?” and ‘What will replace it?’
Find out the answers (and everything you need to know about NASA’s satellite) below.
How far can the Hubble telescope see?
The farthest galaxy ever observed by the Hubble telescope is the GN-z11 galaxy, some 13.4 billion light-years away.
Because the galaxy is so far away and light can only travel so fast (299,792,458 meters per second), Hubble is looking back in time when it sees very distant objects.
Although Hubble saw GN-z11 as it was about 13.4 billion years ago, the galaxy will now be located about 32 billion light-years from Earth due to the expansion of the Universe.
How big is the Hubble Space Telescope?
Weighing 11,110 kg (a little less than two African elephants), the Hubble Space Telescope is about 13.2 m long, about the length of a bus.
The telescope relies on a huge 2.4 m (7.8 ft) mirror to make its observations. When it was first released, a small glitch in this mirror meant that Hubble was unable to focus its lens, and all captured images appeared blurry.
Fortunately, three years later, in December 1993, the telescope was repaired by the crew of the space shuttle Endeavor over 11 days and five spacewalks. (You can listen to our podcast with Kathryn Sullivan, who was part of the mission.)
Where is the Hubble Space Telescope right now?
The Hubble Space Telescope orbits 547 kilometers (340 miles) above Earth and travels 8 km (5 miles) per second. With a 28.5 degree tilt towards the equator, it orbits the Earth once every 97 minutes.
It is possible to track the location of the Hubble Space Telescope in real time here.
What has the Hubble Space Telescope discovered?
Through its mission of more than 30 years, the Hubble Space Telescope has made more than 1.4 million observations, with 16,000 studies using this data.
The telescope has shed light on the causes of gamma ray bursts, how planetary collisions work, the expansion of the Universe, and even hidden dark matter.
Hubble is also credited with discovering Pluto’s two moons (Nix and Hydra), and how nearly all large galaxies are anchored by a black hole at their heart. The telescope has also increased our understanding of the age of the Universe, the atmosphere of exoplanets, and how galaxies evolve.
Read more:
Who was he hubble space telescope has the name of?
The telescope is named after Edwin Hubble (1889-1953), an astronomer who discovered many galaxies beyond our own using a telescope in California in the 1920s.
He is often credited as the man who confirmed that the Universe is expanding, a finding that was announced in 1929.
Is the Hubble telescope being replaced?
Since it does not have its own propulsion system, the Hubble Space Telescope is actually backing away towards Earth. But very slowly: a report from September 2018 predicts a Hubble reentry no earlier than 2027. The mean date is around 2038.
However, its successor, the James Webb telescope (equipped with a 6.5-meter lens) is scheduled to launch in 2021.
Read more about the Hubble Space Telescope:
