Weblog
21 Might 2015
NASA, ESA, A. Nota (ESA/STScI), and the Westerlund 2 Science Workforce
Twenty-five years in the past the Hubble area telescope took its first picture of the heavens. Whereas the primary picture may not have appeared spectacular at first look, it opened a view of the universe beforehand unattainable.
First Hubble picture.
NASA
The Hubble telescope had a number of benefits over ground-based telescopes of the time. To start with, it didn’t undergo from the atmospheric distortions that trigger stars to twinkle. Due to such distortions, ground-based telescopes had a limiting decision of a few second of arc. The Hubble may collect mild to about 0.05 arcseconds. Since Hubble’s launch, floor based mostly telescopes have gained better precision via interferometry and adaptive optics, however these have been years away when Hubble’s mission started. Hubble may additionally observe infrared and ultraviolet wavelengths, a lot of that are absorbed by Earth’s ambiance.
The better vary and precision of Hubble has given us a a lot deeper understanding of the universe. It allowed us to measure Cepheid variable stars with better precision, which gave us a extra correct cosmic distance ladder. It discovered protoplanetary disks within the Orion nebula, confirming the fundamental mannequin of planetary formation. It gave us the Extremely Deep Subject, which discovered that there are millions of galaxies in a patch of sky no greater than a grain of sand. It additionally gave us hundreds of lovely pictures, from the Pillars of Creation to the starry ocean of the Andromeda galaxy.
NASA/IMAX
However maybe its most revolutionary discovery got here from observations of distant supernovae. By measuring the brightness of those supernovae, we may decide their distance. What we discovered was that the universe just isn’t solely increasing, however that the speed of growth is rising. This not solely gave us an correct measure of the age of the universe, it additionally led to the invention of darkish vitality, which we’re nonetheless attempting to grasp.
The Hubble telescope was named in honor of Edwin Hubble, who performed a central position in demonstrating that the universe prolonged far past our Milky Means galaxy. It’s maybe becoming that the telescope bearing his title has achieved a lot to find out the true age and scale of the cosmos.
