Facts about Hubble Space Telescope

Hubble space telescope is one of the most famous telescopes ever known. There are countless interesting facts about the Hubble Space Telescope. Most of these fascinating facts are not known to us.

They are only known to the astrologers. Most of us only know the specifications and the principle capabilities of Hubble Space Telescope. But in real the fascinating facts about the Hubble Space Telescope are far more than its principle functionalities.

We all know that Hubble Space Telescope is one of the most well-known telescopes so far. We also know that it has a primary mirror of that has a length of 2.4 meters.

We have been seeing many exciting images of far and distant objects provided by Hubble Space Telescope. This telescope was launched on 25th April, 1990 through space shuttle called as Discovery.

It is a giant observatory and is capable of providing lots of information back to us on earth. Many recent observations in the sky have been made with the help of Hubble Telescope.

It can observe the universe much better than those telescopes that are located on earth. The main advantage of this space-based telescope is that different high resolution observations made by Hubble is free from the filtering effect of our earth’s atmosphere that prevents the ultra-violet and infrared light rays to pass through it.

This telescope has opened many windows onto stars, galaxies and different planets.

The mirror located in the heart of the Hubble Space Telescope has a length of 2.4 meters. There are various cameras, spectrographs and other optical devices that are responsible for the images that we see with the help of the Hubble Space Telescope.

Apart from these cameras and spectrographs, there are various sensors as well that are responsible for guiding the Hubble. The design of the Telescope was made in a way that could assure its survival in the space.

 

Its design also allows the astronomers to easily replace different instruments that are used by Hubble Space Telescope. The telescope is orbiting in the lower orbit of our earth hence it eases the process of replacing different parts through different shuttle servicing missions.

Following are seven interesting and fascinating facts about the Hubble Space Telescope which might not be known by most of us.

  1. Most of us know that Hubble Space Telescope has a primary mirror whose length is 2.4 meters. But how many of know the length and diameter of the whole telescope? It is 4.2 m in diameters and 13.3 m in length.
  2. Very few people know the total weight of the Hubble Space Telescope. The weight of the telescope was recorded to be 11,110 kg at its launch.
  3. The circular orbit of Hubble Space Telescope is 589 km above our ground.
  4. The Hubble space telescope is inclined at 28.5 degrees to the equator.
  5. Hubble Space Telescope takes about 96 or 97 minutes for one orbit.
  6. There are not many instruments on board. The main instruments on board are two cameras, a spectrometer and a spectrograph.
  7. Most of us may have thought about the power source of the telescope. The telescope is powered by two solar panels and it is also powered by six batteries (nickel-hydrogen batteries).

Most of these interesting facts are never known to us but these facts have their own importance and significance to astronomers. It is obvious that without the Hubble Space Telescope, we would not know so much information about our earth and its surrounding as we know today. Hubble Space Telescope is without doubt a very vital part of our history.