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(IAAC) The Hubble Space Telescope : the @stro object for the week of 03/20/2000
@stro object of the week
drafted by the @stro pages
the week of 03/20/2000
highlighted this week: The Hubble Space Telescope
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The Hubble Space Telescope, commonly referred to as the "HST", is named for
Edwin Hubble (1889-1953) who is credited with making ground breaking
discoveries in astronomy such as the discovery of redshift. The HST was
placed into low-Earth orbit by the Space Shuttle in 1990 and without a doubt
the Hubble Space Telescope continues to be one of the most powerful
astronomical research tools in existence today.
When it was first launched the HST suffered from "spherical aberration" in
its primary mirror but a Shuttle servicing mission in 1993 installed
corrective optics that alleviated this problem. Since this correction the
HST has continued to function and return incredible pictures recognized by
the public worldwide. It has also been the recipient of more servicing
missions since that 1993 mission, the last one occurring in 1999.
The HST utilizes multiple imaging instruments. Among the most notable is the
Wide Field/Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) from which incredible views have
resulted. These celestial sites include such wonders as star formation in
the Trifid Nebula, to viewing the rings around Saturn, to spying on the
wispy gas clouds in the Reflection Nebula, to providing our first images
ever of a cometary impact on another planet when Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9
slammed into Jupiter .
Hubble is getting its own stamp in the US Postal Service's "Space
Achievement and Exploration" stamp set this year. The HST is part of NASA's
Great Observatories program (see also Chandra X-Ray Telescope) and is
expected to continue operation through 2010.
Current information for the Hubble Space Telescope:
Aperture: 2.4 meters
Focal Length (without correction): f/24
Mission Launched: April 25, 1990
Expected Mission Duration: 20 years
more info from STSCI...
http://www.stsci.edu/hst/
go straight to the pictures...
http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/pictures.html
find out where the HST is now (online Java app)...
http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/RealTime/JTrack/Spacecraft.html
check out the stamp design...
http://www.usps.gov/images/stamps/2000/spaceach.htm
image of the Hubble used for this article...
http://theastropages.com/astroobjects/images/hubblespacetelescope.jpg
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Clear skies,
Roger
the @stro pages
http://theastropages.com
Copyright (c) 2000 the @stro pages
Permission granted to reprint this article
if you include this footer with credits.
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