The Hubble Space Telescope, the first sophisticated telescope, allowed humans to view space from a perspective never seen before, taking never seen before images and transmitting them back to Earth. The clearest photographs of space have been provided through the aid of this telescope.
The idea of sending a telescope into space emerged in the 1940s but it took over forty years later to make that dream a reality. This first major telescope was launched into the orbit on April 24, 1990, by NASA. It was named after Edwin Hubble, who greatly contributed to our knowledge of universe and introduced the concept of expansion of universe. The Hubble’s first picture was taken on May 20, 1990.
It has enabled us to have more clear view of objects in the space and marked a new phase of observation of the universe. The Hubble was involved in many world-shattering findings, namely:
• Revealing the age of the universe
• Gaining more insights into how planets form
• Discovery of two new moons orbiting Pluto
• Unveiling the mystery surrounding stars as they burn out
• Increasing knowledge on comets and black holes
• Exploring the history of the universe
• Mapping dark matter in 3D
• Measuring sizes of planets
• Viewing asteroid collisions in space
• Detecting water vapor eruption on one of Jupiter’s moons
All of these discoveries show that the invention of the Hubble Telescope has been so incredibly important to modern science. It has not only provided us with better views of the universe, but has changed the way we look at our universe and made it more familiar to us.