1 / 11

The Hubble Space Telescope

The Hubble Space Telescope. By Elizabeth Walsh. The Beginning of Hubble. Astrophysicist Dr. Lyman Spitzer Jr. proposed the idea of a space telescope in order to get clearer pictures of the universe in 1946 NASA began drafting with approval and funding from congress in 1977

elwyn
Download Presentation

The Hubble Space Telescope

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. The Hubble Space Telescope By Elizabeth Walsh

  2. The Beginning of Hubble • Astrophysicist Dr. Lyman Spitzer Jr. proposed the idea of a space telescope in order to get clearer pictures of the universe in 1946 • NASA began drafting with approval and funding from congress in 1977 • Named the telescope after Edwin Hubble • The Hubble Space Telescope began orbit on April 24, 1990

  3. The Design of Hubble • Like all telescopes, Hubble’s long tube is open at one end in order to let in light, equipped with mirrors to gather and bring in this light • These mirrors are made of glass and coated with layers of pure aluminum and magnesium fluoride in order to reflect visible, infrared and ultraviolent light • Hubble is a special type of telescope called a Cassegrain Reflector Telescope

  4. The Design of Hubble

  5. Cassegrain Reflector Telescope • Light enters through the opening and bounces off a primary mirror to a secondary mirror • It then reflects back through a hole in the primary mirror to a focal point behind it • Small mirrors then distribute the light at this focal point to various scientific instruments • The path of incoming light resembles the letter “W” (with 3 downward humps)

  6. Hubble as a Spacecraft • Because Hubble is more than a telescope, but a spacecraft as well, it needs to sustain communication during orbit • Two large solar panels are the source of electrical power for the craft • Communication is fulfilled via relay satellites called the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) system

  7. Limitations of the HST • Hubble is unable to observe the sun due to the intensity of light • It’s own orbit also restricts what can be seen • Part of it’s orbit passes through sections of the Van Allen radiation belts, causing high background radiation which interferes with detection

  8. Hubble’s Impact • Hubble has changed the way we view space • The findings from Hubble allow scientists to discover more about the age of the universe, stars, black holes, and more • Hubble has observed more than 30,000 celestial objects and taken over 570,000 pictures

  9. Hubble and Physics 001 • The Hubble telescope’s use of mirrors and reflection related to the lecture on light and reflection • We learned about concave and convex mirrors in class and how they reflect light, which is how the Hubble telescope works

  10. New Insight • Before researching Hubble, I did not know that mirrors were involved with telescopes • I learned the science behind the reflection as well as space crafts • Telescopes main power is not to magnify but to capture more light than the human eye could

  11. References • Freudenrich, Ph.D., and Sarah Goddard. "How Hubble Space Telescope Works." HowStuffWorks. HowStuffWorks.com, 1 Dec. 2000. Web. 15 Apr. 2014. <http://science.howstuffworks.com/hubble.htm>.

More Related