On the 16th of July, we all opened social media to see trending posts that say ‘Hubble is back’. Hubble (also known as Hubble Space Telescope, abbreviated to HST). Hubble is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and it is one of the largest and most adaptable, as a major research tool for astronomy. It is named after astronomer Edwin Hubble who made some of the most important discoveries in modern astronomy including a theory of the "expanding" universe, which provided the foundation for the big-bang theory.
In our beliefs, Hubble is one of the most significant astronomy tools, and it once again proved us right. Hubble has a crystal-clear view of the universe that the weather, pollution, and atmospheric problems can’t stop it from ‘seeing’. For decades of serving mankind, scientists have used HST to observe some of the most distant stars and galaxies as well as the planets in our solar system.
Discoveries made include discovering The Source of Long Gamma-Ray Bursts. In the 60s, US satellites that were designed to detect gamma radiation from Russian nuclear testing began picking up huge radiation bursts from deep in space. Decades passed and no one knew where the bursts were coming from. Through Hubble, scientists were able to track the gamma-ray bursts back to galaxies with rapid star production, such as the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy. Hubble has helped with the accurate measurement of the Hubble constant. For years, scientists argued over the value of the Hubble Constant, a key component in the equation that measures the speed at which the universe expands. After analyzing Hubble’s pictures of far-off supernovae, astronomers narrowed the value of the Hubble Constant down to within an error of five percent. Other than this, HST has taken mesmerizing pictures. In 1994, fragments of the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 hit Jupiter, and Hubble provided the first-ever recorded images of a collision between two bodies in space in which these photos of the collision provided new insights into the study of Jupiter’s atmosphere. Moreover, Hubble has been studying planets and stars inside and outside our galaxy as well. Hubble’s most important and revolutionary discoveries would include black holes, dark matter, dark energy, and deep field shot. Astronomers had been theorizing that supermassive black holes lay at the center of galaxies for years, but it wasn’t until Hubble took a shot of one of those black holes that the debate was put to rest. Dark matter may make up as much as 22 percent of the material in the universe. But because dark matter doesn’t reflect or emit light, it cannot be viewed with a telescope. However, dark matter exerts a gravitational pull on the light that passes by it, bending the light like a lens. The Hubble was able to take a picture of light bent by the gravitational lens of nearby dark matter, detecting the previously undetectable. The Hubble Deep Field Shot, the most magnified picture of a spot of the sky ever taken with optical light, gave scientists the information they needed to accurately calculate the age of the universe.
Throughout 31 years of operation, Hubble has helped us know so much more about the unknown. From our solar system to the far vast universe, Hubble shows unexpected things as well as beautiful images. We’re all proud to say launching Hubble is a world-changing event.
Sources:
“Hubble Space Telescope.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 21 July 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubble_Space_Telescope.
Belleville, Michelle. “About The Hubble Space Telescope.” NASA, NASA, 24 Sept. 2019, www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/about.
Stuart Fox | Published May 27, 2009, 1:10 AM. “Hubble's Ten Most Significant Discoveries.” Popular Science, 26 Apr. 2021, www.popsci.com/military-aviation-amp-space/article/2009-05/hubbles-ten-most-significant-discoveries/.
Written by: Sonalen Saing
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