Hubble Space Telescope

The Hubble space telescope derives its name from an astronomer Edwin Hubble. It is a revolutionary telescope which orbits around the earth and has taken possibly some of the most breaktaking images ever shot. From bursing supernovas to collinding asteriods, its gigantic eye literaly serves as the pointsman of human knowledge in space.This remarkable telescope was launched in the year 1990 and since then it has proved to be a major instrument in the field of astronomy. With the help of this telescope, the astronomers have made great observations which have proved significant in astrophysics. The most extraordinary and sensitive image ever taken is Hubble's Ultra Deep Field.

The idea of launching this telescope had developed in the year 1946 but the launch was delayed due to budget problems. After its launch in 1990, it was discovered that the main mirror of the telescope was suffering from spherical aberration which was a hindrance in the capability of the telescope. However, in 1993 this fault was taken care of and the telescope retained its natural grandeur and quality and is regarded as a vital tool and also proves to be boon to the astronomers since it also helps in developing public relation.

The Hubble telescope is the only telescope which has been designed by astronauts which can provide service from the space. Altogether, 4 servicing missions have been conducted so far and the 5th one is due to take place in September 2008. In the first servicing the imaging mirror flaw was corrected, then 2 new instruments were installed in the 2nd servicing , 3rd servicing was conducted to amend all the flaws and in the 4th servicing another instrument known as Advanced Camera FOR surveys was installed. Due to the Columbia Space Shuttle Disaster, the 5th servicing which was to be held 2004 itself was shifted to 2008. In the year 1970, NASA formed 2 types of committees, one was assigned to manage the engineering part and the other was assigned to look after the scientific aspect.

Initially, the astronauts were finding it difficult to acquire the funds for the creation of telescope to such extent that even had to reduce the scale of the project but once it had been given a green signal, the work were divided amongst various institutions and funds were also arranged by them. This telescope is used for making observations which ranges from ultraviolet to near infrared and the resolution is better than the other telescopes. Another major challenge before the astronauts was to decide about the spacecraft in which the telescope and the other instruments were to be installed. The Scape Telescope Science Institute was formed to look after the scientific aspect of the telescope and to provide information about the data products to the astronomers and the engineering support was provided by NASA. To correct the spherical aberration COSTAR was designed.

This telescope has helped to solve certain important problems in the field of astronomy. The primary target accomplished by this telescope was the measurement of distances to Cepheid Variable stars more accurately than any other telescope. The spectra and the images which is provided by Hubble is significant as it helps in establishing the prevalence of black holes which is in the nuclei of the nearby galaxies.

Thus, the Hubble Telescope has proved to be a boon for the astronomers. The data provided by Hubble is stored in the spacecraft initially and ultimately they are made available through a public archive. Even this data can be analyzed through the various packages available.