Starry Eyed Staring

Recently three missions were launched to repair Hubble, and all three missions were successful. Score! You hyped? Me too! Hubble is actually the only telescope ever to be serviced by astronauts in space. It's been serviced four times, the fourth of which was earlier this May when it was repaired and enhanced (it can now look deeper into space for part of the electromagnetic spectrum, woot again!) Maybe none of this strikes you immediately as meaningful, but frankly, if you're a humble admirer of the universe (which I'd like to think I am (sometimes anyways)), it ought to strike you as kinda damn meaningful. And, anyhow, it is to most anyone in astronomy. Right? Right.

You see, Hubble, launched in April of 1990 (though its intended quality wasn't delivered until December of 1993 when its imaging quality was corrected...incidentally, it was launched into space with the main mirror ground incorrectly), and since then, it has provided some major insights about the universe. It led, for example, to the determination of the rate of the expansion of the universe.

Additionally it has allowed us to gaze deeper into the universe than ever we had before, and, in turn, to reaffirm our place in this universe. People have been gazing into the sky and asking questions since the first we had the capacity to, and it is surely profound that we now possess the technology to answer our once unanswerable questions. And, on another, but perhaps less scientific note, the Hubble has provided images of some of the most unimaginably beautiful celestial objects, and I am confident that they have inspired and awed many (or at least one...hi!). If you want to see them, check it out here.

Eagle Nebula

So the point is, the Hubble has been pivotal in catering to some deep philosophical questions about our place in the universe and, meanwhile, it has provided us with deep insights, too, about the nature of the universe. I mean dark matter, come on. We're talking about 96% of the universe. Yeah. Only 4% of the universe is visible, and the other 96% (22% dark matter, 74% dark energy) is attributed to something whose existence we indirectly infer from its gravitational effects on visible matter. So, while it has revealed to us so many things, it has also revealed that there are so many things beyond what our eyes can glean. Hubble has altered the course of our universal understanding, but dear old Hubb is getting old. And she's being replaced by some new big bad boys.

If you're interested in these new monsters, you ought to check out this link. It gives the general specs and missions of these telescopes, offers some images, and links to their primary websites for more thorough information and what not. Anyhow, the article is really good if you're interested in big beasts like Hubble, and let me tell you, the next generation of telescopes go big (and go home, too with killer images of the far beyond that is.)

Take the James Webb Space Telescope (it's in the article), for example. It is essentially Hubble's successor. It will allow us to see the most distant objects in the universe, ones even beyond Hubble's view. Still, it will serve to complement Hubble rather than entirely replace it. That is, specifically, it will see in infrared, complementing the visible and electromagnetic spectrum observed by the Hubble and the other mad telescopes seen in the article. I'm genuinely excited to see what images these new telescopes reveal. I can't wait to see what lies at the end of the universe—such is the nature of humanity, and these lofty telescopes serve as an embodiment of this unrelenting upward glance, the constant questioning and need to understand further. Still, however, I'm slightly reticent to see if the Pan-STARRS telescope finds any "killer" asteroids. Meh. (I would say ignorance is bliss, but this would undermine the inherent need to question I just mentioned...curse me for avoiding self-contradictions!).


Also, I found this video on youtube...nothing too elaborate, but it gives some cool info on telescopes and their contributions to our understanding of the universe: