Table of Contents

  1. Historical Context
  2. The Hubble Space Telescope: Technology & Operation
  3. Major Discoveries
  4. Famous Scientist: Edwin Hubble
  5. Surprising Facts
  6. Connection to Technology
  7. Recent Research
  8. Diagrams

1. Historical Context

  • Before the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), astronomers relied on ground-based telescopes.
  • Earth’s atmosphere blurs and distorts light from space, limiting what we can see.
  • In the mid-20th century, scientists proposed placing telescopes in orbit to avoid atmospheric interference.
  • The HST was launched on April 24, 1990, aboard Space Shuttle Discovery.
  • Named after Edwin Hubble, who proved the universe is expanding.

2. The Hubble Space Telescope: Technology & Operation

  • Orbit: About 547 km above Earth, completing an orbit every 97 minutes.
  • Size: 13.2 meters long; weighs 11,110 kg.
  • Main Instruments:
    • Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3)
    • Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS)
    • Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS)
    • Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS)
  • Power: Solar panels provide electricity.
  • Data Transmission: Sends images and data to Earth via radio signals.
  • Servicing Missions: Astronauts repaired and upgraded Hubble five times (last in 2009).

3. Major Discoveries

a) Age of the Universe

  • Hubble measured the rate of expansion of the universe (the Hubble Constant).
  • Calculated the universe is about 13.8 billion years old.

b) Dark Energy

  • Observed distant supernovae and galaxies.
  • Helped confirm the existence of dark energy, a mysterious force causing the universe’s expansion to accelerate.

c) Exoplanet Atmospheres

  • Detected water vapor, methane, and other molecules in exoplanet atmospheres.
  • First direct evidence of weather and climate outside our solar system.

d) Formation of Galaxies

  • Captured images of galaxies forming billions of years ago.
  • Showed galaxies evolve by merging and interacting.

e) Black Holes

  • Provided strong evidence that supermassive black holes exist at the centers of most galaxies.
  • Observed matter swirling around black holes.

f) The Hubble Deep Field

  • Created the deepest visible-light image of the universe.
  • Revealed thousands of galaxies in a tiny patch of sky, some over 13 billion years old.

4. Famous Scientist: Edwin Hubble

  • American astronomer (1889–1953).
  • Discovered galaxies exist outside the Milky Way.
  • Proved the universe is expanding (Hubble’s Law).
  • His work laid the foundation for modern cosmology.

5. Surprising Facts

  1. Hubble’s First Images Were Blurry: The telescope’s main mirror was ground incorrectly. Astronauts fixed it in 1993 using corrective optics.
  2. Hubble Has Traveled Over 4 Billion Miles: Orbiting Earth for more than 30 years, it has traveled farther than most spacecraft.
  3. Hubble Helped Discover Water on Exoplanets: Its observations showed water vapor in the atmospheres of distant planets.

6. Connection to Technology

  • Hubble’s digital imaging technology led to improvements in medical imaging (like MRI and CAT scans).
  • Data compression and transmission methods developed for Hubble are now used in smartphones and computers.
  • The telescope’s adaptive optics inspired better cameras and telescopes on Earth.

7. Recent Research

  • In 2022, Hubble observed the most distant star ever seen: Earendel, located 12.9 billion light-years away (NASA, 2022).
  • Hubble continues to study exoplanet atmospheres, most recently detecting evidence of water vapor on K2-18b, a super-Earth exoplanet (Nature Astronomy, 2019).
  • In 2020, Hubble helped confirm the accelerating expansion of the universe by observing distant supernovae (Astrophysical Journal, 2020).

8. Diagrams

Hubble Space Telescope Diagram

Hubble Space Telescope Diagram

Hubble Deep Field Image

Hubble Deep Field

Edwin Hubble

Edwin Hubble

Additional Note

Did you know?
The water you drink today may have been drunk by dinosaurs millions of years ago. Water molecules cycle through the Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, and living things, so the same molecules have been reused for billions of years.

Summary Table

Discovery Year Impact
Universe’s Age 1990s 13.8 billion years calculated
Dark Energy 1998 Universe expansion accelerating
Exoplanet Atmospheres 2000s Water vapor, methane detected
Galaxy Formation 1995–2004 Images of galaxy evolution
Black Holes 1994–2010 Evidence at galaxy centers
Hubble Deep Field 1995 Thousands of ancient galaxies revealed

Key Terms

  • Exoplanet: Planet outside our solar system.
  • Supernova: Explosion of a star.
  • Dark Energy: Mysterious force causing universe’s expansion.
  • Cosmology: Study of the universe’s origin and evolution.

References

  • NASA. (2022). Hubble Spots Farthest Star Ever Seen. Link
  • Astrophysical Journal. (2020). Hubble Observations of Supernovae. Link
  • Nature Astronomy. (2019). Water Vapor Detected on K2-18b. Link

End of Study Notes