Glimpsing the Edge of the Universe: Results from Hubble Space Telescope
- Paper number
IAC-04-H.L.1.01
- Author
Dr. Bruce Margon, United States
- Year
2004
- Abstract
For more than 14 years, the Hubble Space Telescope has circled the Earth 15 times per day at an altitude of 600 km, performing a large variety of astronomical observations with unprecedented sensitivity. Hubble is a general-purpose telescope, able to observe the full range of astronomical phenomena, ranging from the closest solar system bodies to the most distant known galaxies and quasi-stellar objects, whose light left the objects just shortly after the Big Bang. Hubble observations have thus far resulted in more than 3,500 scientific publications in refereed journals. This illustrated lecture will concentrate on a few highlights of interesting Hubble results, in solar system, stellar, galactic, and extragalactic astronomy, as well as prospects for Hubble�s future operations. One of the primary motivations for the construction of Hubble was to enable for the first time observations of objects so faint and so distant that the Universe is observed in an infant stage, and objects appear noticeably different than the present day. Not only has Hubble succeeded in this most fundamental quest, but it has also helped to uncover quite unexpected surprises in cosmology. The most amazing is doubtless that the expansion of the Universe is observed to be accelerating, and the unknown force that powers this acceleration is the dominant component of the mass and energy budget of the cosmos.
- Abstract document