LA1-C: Reasons for keeping the Hubble in operation
AS101-OC
Feb 12, 2021
Authors:
Jake S.
Peter C.
Shane S.
Emma W.
The Hubble Space Telescope arguably is the most powerful astronomical facility ever
built. Hubble provides astronomers with capabilities that are unmatched by any other facility
today, and there is simply no viable alternative. Hubble to us astronomers is a uniquely derived
NASA science program and a valuable asset that must be kept in operation. Hubble provides us
astronomers with many advantages over the majority of astronomical facilities. Hubble provides
us with visuals higher than the atmosphere, considerable fields of view that map out extended
objects and regions in our sky, constant updates that have yielded thousands of scientific
research papers, and highly precise graphics from surrounding planets that continue to expand
our knowledge of our never ending universe.
The astonishing invention of The Hubble Space Telescope was actually first named the
large space telescope. It took years of research and planning for the launch of the device in 1990,
and was the first major optical telescope to be placed into space. The Hubble has since allowed
scientists to explore the wonders that deep space has to offer, it has even captured images of SN
1987s that led to new discoveries. Since it first began photographing the universe, the Hubble
has enabled scientists to better understand more ideas and theories like the supernova process
and has high potential to discover more bodies of objects. The hubble has even allowed us to pin
down the age of the universe. One of Hubble’s main tasks was to figure out the age and size of
the universe. Thanks to dedicated researchers, we now know that the universe is about 13.7
billion-years-old using Hubble's data. The Hubble’s technology has given us the ability to see
galaxies within the universe that we previously did not have access to. In 1995, mission
controllers directed Hubble to take a series of images looking at one small spot in the sky, and
the results were astonishing. (Kramer, M. 2015) The images revealed thousands of galaxies and
the Hubble telescope then continued to take images of the universe. This became one of
Hubble’s most iconic views of the universe, called the telescope’s first deep field. It has allowed
us to explore so many objects within space and helped scientists better understand things, for
example, it helped scientists understand seasons on other planets. Scientists using Hubble have
also been able to track seasonal changes on planets. Hubble tracked Jupiter’s weather, for
example, allowing researchers to see color changes in bands of clouds in the huge gas giant’s
atmosphere. (Kramer, M. 2015) With the earth's atmosphere continuously changing, the Hubble
and the new technology that scientists have discovered will help us in the future to discover more
aspects of the universe. With this invention, it now gives us more views on what is in the galaxy
and what bodies of objects we have yet to locate and come upon. These past discoveries will
influence scientists to work harder on new devices and technology, and develop new theories
that will expand our knowledge within the galaxy. Keeping the Hubble and using new
technology will provide us with a better understanding of the universe, and what has yet to come
to be explored.
Since its launch in 1990, Hubble has changed our fundamental understanding of the
universe and continues to provide us with valuable insights that can’t be found anywhere else.
Cutting back funds on such a revolutionary device is insanity. The Hubble Space Telescope’s
data is exclusive. Earth’s atmosphere constantly changes and blocks some of the light from
reaching Earth. Hubble is unique in the sense that it orbits much higher than Earth and its
atmosphere. This allows it to see space much better than telescopes on Earth. Hubble is a
successful NASA science program and is a national asset well worth maintaining in operation.
Hubble is responsible for discovering moons around Pluto that had never been seen before. It
continues to come out with multiple new discoveries every single month that allow us to know
more about the never-ending universe we live in. Hubble has made more than 1.3million
observations since it was launched and has allowed scientists to publish more than 15,000
scientific papers making it one of the most productive scientific devices ever built (Garner, 2015)
. From which these papers have been cited in 738,000 other ones (Garner, 2015). This device's
discoveries creates an endless chain of documents that teach humans about our universe. One of
the most recent releases, as a result of data from Hubble, was discovering the age and site of a
supernova blast. During the third century, there was a blazing burst of light from the explosion of
a star that was visible from Earth. Like smoke drifting in the sky after a fire, the supernova left
behind a, “cloud of debris that is still rapidly expanding today”(Supernova Blast, 2021). Once
again similar to smoke in the sky, this cloud provides forensic evidence that astronomers can use
to aid in retracing the explosion. Astronomers have used data from Hubble that was taken ten
years apart from each other that allowed them to calculate the clouds expansion rate. Analyzing
this data is like someone retracing their steps to find where they forgot their keys. Using the
expansion rate, they can trace the path of the debris flung from the blast all the way back to
where it first started. In conclusion of their calculations they discovered that the light from the
exploded star reached Earth 1700 years ago (Supernova Blast, 2021). In previous experiments,
astronomers had concluded that this explosion occurred 1000 to 2000 years ago, and although
these new discoveries narrowed down the time, it isn’t quite complete. Hubble’s data can be used
for an endless amount of time. The important thing to note is that it’s data does not solve
something immediately, thus it’s impossible to determine the importance of its data in present
time. Knowing this information should make it clear as day that it’s vital that funding for Hubble
stays prominent. It’s impossible to predict how many more discoveries Hubble’s data will
influence. All it’s current discoveries have impacted and changed how we see our world today.
Ultimately, Hubble’s work is not done, and it never will be until a bigger, better telescope is
launched. As for now, this is our best option in learning about our universe and where we come
from.
The idea of an observatory unobstructed by our planet’s atmosphere was a concept
decades in the making. The idea was initially proposed by Hermann Oberth (1894-1989) in his
book The Rocket into Planetary Space, fully completed and published in 1929. In his writing,
Oberth suggested that a telescope suspended in the vacuum of space “would make it possible for
the sharpness of an image to be limited by only the diffraction of light, rather than by the
variable refraction known to astronomers as ‘seeing’” (Spitzer, 1979). It was not until the ‘70s
when, proposed and advocated by Lyman Spitzer, funding was slowly accrued for the
development of The Space Telescope, with the launch first planned for 1983.
Unfortunately though, funding was not consistent. On top of the fact that costs were
steadily increasing, the timeline also kept getting bumped forward. By 1980, it was clear the ST
would not be ready for launch until probably 1986. By 1985, costs had doubled from around
$600M to $1.2B (Lallo, 2012), and with the Challenger disaster in 1986 the project was even
further in jeopardy. The team persevered, however, and the project continued to progress slowly
towards its eventual departure. It was during this time that the project was finally dubbed the
Hubble Space Telescope,named after astronomer Edwin Hubble. Even though production was
full of uncertainties and delays, the telescope finally launched in April 1990 and is operational to
this day. Not only that, the name Hubble is practically synonymous with space imagery
worldwide.
The Hubble Space Telescope is one of four space imagery systems in NASA’s Great
Observatory program, alongside the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, the Chandra X-ray
Observatory, and the Spitzer Space telescope. Each is equipped to observe a different region of
the electromagnetic spectrum, and therefore equally as important as the others. The HST is
equipped to survey the near-infrared, visible, and near-ultraviolet ranges (Shayler & Harland,
2016), which is why most images of the galaxy available today were produced by Hubble. It has
3 main components: the Support System Module, the Optical Telescope Assembly, and the
Scientific Experiment Package, all of which allow it to be used in a similar manner as
observatory facilities here on Earth. The SSM is what powers the telescope, generating
electricity through solar energy, and helps all parts of the telescope “communicate” with each
other and the scientists monitoring the onboard instruments from Earth. The OTA is what
captures the images. Following the initial launch, it was discovered that the primary mirror was
slightly distorted, causing a spherical anomaly to appear in collected images. This was eventually
fixed in December 1993, when a new mirror was installed. The OTA consists of multiple
mirrors, apertures, and electronics used to control the system and thermal conditioning to
regulate mirror temperatures. The SEP is what analyzes the data received by the sensors onboard,
and is easily one of the most important aspects of the HST. As science is constantly evolving
though, and the operating scientist’s interests and projects regularly change, the systems have
been swapped out so often that they are completely different from what was launched with the
telescope 30 years ago. As of 2015, the components of the SEP are used to monitor such things
as weather on planets in other solar systems, the physical makeup of stellar objects and gas
clouds, and to view objects normally obscured by cosmic dust & gas through use of infrared light
(Shayler & Harland, 2016). It is controlled by the Science Instrument Control and Data Handling
Unit, used to make sure all instruments are in good working order and transmit information back
down to Earth.
To sum up everything that has been stated, we believe strongly that the Hubble station
stays in operation based on our evidence that there is too much valuable information gained to
state otherwise. Hubble provides astronomers with updates about our never ending universe
periodically that could not be cultivated from other existing stations. The observations and
research data gained from Hubble is vast and constantly changing the way we view our galaxy
and universe that would be catastrophic to new innovations if shut down.
Bibliography:
Garner, R. (2015, January 27). About the Hubble Space Telescope. Retrieved February 9, 2021,
from https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/story/index.html
Lallo, M. D. (2012). Experience with the Hubble Space Telescope: 20 years of an
archetype. Optical Engineering, 51(1), 011011. Retrieved February 11, 2021.
https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1203/1203.0002.pdf
Researchers Rewind the Clock to Calculate Age and Site of Supernova Blast. (2021, January 14).
Retrieved February 9, 2021, from https://hubblesite.org/contents/newsreleases/2021/news-2021-02
Shayler, D. J., & Harland, D. M. (2016). The Hubble Space Telescope: From concept to
success. New York: Springer.
Spitzer, L. Jr. (1979). History of the Space Telescope. Quarterly Journal of the Royal
Astronomical Society, 20, 29–36. Retrieved February 11, 2021.
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/pdf/1979QJRAS..20...29S
Researchers Rewind the Clock to Calculate Age and Site of Supernova Blast. (2021, January 14).
Retrieved February 9, 2021, from https://hubblesite.org/contents/newsreleases/2021/news-2021-02
What has the Hubble Space TELESCOPE DISCOVERED (2019, November 07). Retrieved
February 12, 2021, from https://www.rmg.co.uk/discover/explore/what-has-hubble-telescopediscovered
Kramer, M. (2015, April 24). 5 amazing discoveries made using the Hubble telescope in the past
25 years. Retrieved February 12, 2021, from https://mashable.com/2015/04/24/hubble-telescopediscoveries/