Hubble 25 years: why is a telescope become a legend? – BFMTV.COM

Regardless of scientific tools enjoy as great as that of Hubble fame. A name that everyone knows, a telescope that everyone has seen the pictures. With over one million observations of astronomers worldwide service, it is perhaps the most widely used of the history of science tool. Today, this metal cylinder and electronic long of 13 meters and 11 tons heavy flat in orbit for 25 years, and in spite of all services, it has not quite finished to surprise us. He still has five years before his orbiting, which will precipitate into the atmosphere and cause its destruction.

Hubble aptly named

The telescope is named Edwin Hubble . This famous American astronomer of the early 20th century brought the look of the man outside our Milky Way by demonstrating the existence of other galaxies, and found that they were moving away from each other. This is one of the foundations on which is built the theory the expansion of the universe .

The expansion of the universe, the Hubble telescope has provided irrefutable proof. He also offered to the world images of the unimaginable vastness of the universe, and permits a real time travel.

For 25 years, Hubble is considered a miracle of science and a source of wonder. Here’s why

& gt;. & Gt; Move your mouse over the icons to read information (click here if you do not see them)

Hubble was built so that it can be repaired and changed once in orbit. This is the first secret of his longevity: the devices have been fitted to the changed, sometimes several times, as technology progressed. It also helped to turn a fiasco a great success: the centerpiece of the telescope mirror 2.5 meters in diameter, is afflicted with a polishing defect which rendered its unusable images. It was impossible to change it, but the modularity of Hubble allowed to install equipment that corrects the defect, as would a lens.

Hubble is located at 550 km altitude, it is an observation point without equivalent to examine galaxies. Thanks to him, we discovered how stars are born with the nursery of stars of “Pillars of Creation” , one of his best shots. It was discovered that behind Saturn’s rings: gas lifts that Voyager had failed. We have seen how Jupiter devours comets and how to face the galaxies. But above all, Hubble has provided images of the early days of the universe, there are more than 13 billion years: a family picture old only 500 million years after the Big Bang .

The Hubble story is full of twists. It begins with a terrible fiasco: having orbited the jewel of the most advanced technology, there is a big mistake. The primary mirror was rude, and obviously poorly controlled. Miracle, a patch allows restore his sight. Challenger and Columbia disasters in 1986 and 2004, could also have stop adventure, but in 2015 the telescope is still there, with another five years of service to him. The adventure ends as a victorious epic. more than 13,000 scientific articles have been written by him

For the general public, Hubble is above all images breathtaking. The telescope has done more for the attractiveness of public towards science as decades of teaching, he dreamed generations.