The Hubble Telescope has been orbiting Earth for 20 years, transmitting images of the universe that stun and amaze. Most recently Hubble found probably the most distant universe ever observed at 13 billion light years faraway. It also captured a spectacular asteroid crash and also the destruction in its wake. The replacement for Hubble, expected to function until 2014, is the James Webb Space Telescope. It will dwarf Hubble and see much farther back in time.
Most ancient galaxy ever identified with Hubble
Hubble Telescope astronomers made an announcement Friday. They said the oldest object in the universe has been seen now. The NY Times accounts that light from a universe that took 13.1 billion years to reach Earth was detected in a Hubble image released earlier this year. The universe had been young then. Only 600 million years old was how old. Numerous astronomers have theorized that it had been a very early on galaxy. They also believe the Hubble observed it in a form it no longer exists in.
Asteroid impact revealed with Hubble
The Hubble also made history last week. It took asteroid collision images, the first ever taken. According the Christian Science Monitor, the pictures will really help. We can be able to view how asteroids, when slammed together, react to one another. Scientists could protect Earth with this data. It could help if an asteroid towards Earth was threatening. Astronomers figured a rock about 10 to 16 feet wide smashed into a larger asteroid at about 11,200 mph. A small nuclear blast can be compared to the blast. The smaller rock vaporized and pressure swept the debris behind the surviving asteroid into a comet-like tail.
There’s also the James Webb Space Telescope to remember
Four times farther than the moon, at 940,000 miles from Earth, the Webb Space Telescope can be sent to a stable point as the Hubble Telescope successor. Places in points were the gravity from the Sun and Earth intersect are called Lagrange points. The James Webb Space Telescope will orbit this point. More can be observed in space with the two story tall mirror on the telescope. It may also be in a fixed position with a temperature of absolute zero.
Details from
New York Times
nytimes.com/aponline/2010/10/20/science/space/AP-US-SCI-Oldest-Galaxy.html?_r=4 and partner=rss and emc=rss
Christian Science Monitor
csmonitor.com/Science/2010/1014/Asteroid-collision-possibly-spotted-by-Hubble-telescope
Hubblesite
hubblesite.org
Karlonia
karlonia.com/2010/10/20/deep-space-telescopes/
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