Airborne & Orbital Telescopes

observations

Full-scale telescope mock up; 43- foot long cylinder covered in aluminum foil with appendances mounted on angle

Hubble Telescope

What do you notice?

Why do you think this tool is this way?

What was this tool designed for?

Add notes to your initial observations using the information and images below.

Edwin Hubble

Edwin Hubble (1889-1953), the man pictured below, was an American astronomer and leader within the astronomy field. He changed the way we think about the Universe through making discoveries of and exploring other galaxies beyond the Milky Way galaxy. Along with his discoveries, he developed a galaxy classification system that defined elliptical, spiral, and barred spiral galaxies. Through observing these galaxies Hubble also discovered more about their movements, ultimately realizing that the Universe is expanding- galaxies far from each other are actually moving further apart from each other over time. While Edwin Hubble never used the Hubble Telescope, this tool helps explore the nature and the pace of the Universe's expansion. Here is a more in depth biography of Hubble.

Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC-2)

This instrument, called the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC-2), was installed on the tool of exploration featured above in 1993. Images taken by this camera, such as the picture to the right, are actually combinations of images taken by three to four different cameras.

Ultra Deep Field Image

This image, called the Ultra Deep Field Image, was taken by the WFPC-2. What do you see in this image? What do you think the different bursts of light in this image may be? From where do you think the WFPC-2 took this image? Remember, the WFPC-2 would have been connected to the tool in the image at the top of the page.

The Space Shuttle Discovery, pictured above, launched this tool of exploration to its destination in 1990. Where do you think the destination was? Now on display at the Steven F. Udvar- Hazy Center in Virginia, this shuttle was the third Space Shuttle orbiter vehicle to fly in Space. Discovery traveled almost 150 million miles, spent a cumulative 365 days in space, and shuttled 184 people into space and back.

To learn more about the Discovery Space Shuttle, visit:

The National Air & Space Museum website to explore a 3D Scan
The National Air & Space Museum collections information
The Steven F. Udvar- Hazy Center through Google Arts & Culture

Studying the universe

The artifact pictured at the top of the page is a full- scale model of the Hubble Telescope, an orbital telescope. The Hubble's purpose is to study the Universe: its properties, parts, and history.

To read more about the Hubble Telescope and explore its images, visit NASA's Hubble Website.
To take a virtual tour of the Hubble Telescope, watch this NASA video.
To take a virtual tour of the Hubble's home for mission operations in Greenbelt, Maryland watch these videos.

What are the dots on the WFPC-2?

This camera produced around 135,000 images while affixed on the Hubble Telescope. The "dots" are actually holes that resulted from micrometeoroid (tiny space rock) impacts that occurred during the 16 years the WFPC-2 was aboard the Hubble! The holes are drill holes - when the WFPC-2 was brought back, scientists drilled out all of the micrometeoroid impact sites to study them. These micrometeoroids are still being studied today.

What are the bursts of light on the deep field image?

Galaxies! This image, the Hubble Ultra Deep Field, shows approximately 10,000 galaxies of different ages, sizes, and colors. While looking at this picture makes these galaxies appear spread out across a two dimensional plane- like a landscape painting- the image is actually showing a core sample deep into the Universe. Think of a core like a straw- it's long and cylindrical in shape. So this picture is actually showing an 8-foot long core sample of the Universe. Take a closer look- what galaxy shapes can you see?

Where is the Hubble Telescope located?

The Hubble Telescope is currently in low-Earth orbit, around 340 miles above Earth, moving around 5 miles per second. Telescopes in space benefit from not having the barrier of Earth's atmosphere- which blocks some light wavelengths- so they can see a fuller picture of what is in the Universe. As of 2020, the Hubble Telescope has been in space for 30 years.

James Webb Telescope

there are many space telescopes- in the past, now, and in the future). A space telescope to watch out for is the Webb Telescope (JWST), which is planned for launch in 2021. The JWST will expand upon the discoveries of the Hubble telescope, seeking to learn more about the history of our Universe. The development of the JWST is a collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency. The picture below is a rendering of the JWST.

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