Telescope Fun

Have you ever wanted to get into amateur astronomy, but thought it was too expensive? Think again!

Original post by unknown

This guy made a gigantic pair of binoculars for skygazing which he dubs a binoscope. Check this video out. Really cool.

The quality of images sent back from our solar system and from deep space has been greatly enhanced by the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope. The pictures are incredibly clear, even from the most remote galaxies. Since its inception in 1990, scientists have learned about the evolution of the universe and the characteristics of planets and star systems from the data and pictures sent back by this orbiting observatory.

The construction and launch cost $1.5 million and its maintenance continues to cost but the scientific community is very pleased with the results. The telescope was named in tribute to the great astronomer, Edwin Hubble, who died in 1953. It was his theory, called Hubble’s Law, which first showed evidence of an expanding Universe. This theory is the consensus of opinion amongst astronomers today.

Its main mirror is 2.4 meters wide and the telescope orbits the earth every 97 minutes at a height of 575 kilometers above the Earth’s surface. It can be viewed from the Earth by the naked eye at times when the sky is clear as the telescope passes overhead. The immense success of the Hubble Space Telescope is because of the maintenance program that Nasa put in place. It has already been serviced on four occasions, a task done by space shuttle missions.  Replacements for faulty or old parts have ensured the future success of the data received and the installation of new instruments have expanded the work that the telescope can do.

Nasa has said that the telescope is scheduled for another service in 2008. Two new instruments will be added and the batteries will be replaced, which should last until 2013. The Hubble Space Telescope needs batteries to run on like every other gadget! One of the new additions will be the Wide Field Camera 3. This is the latest development in this type of camera and it will take most of the pictures in the future. The other new add on will be the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph, which will observe energy from new stars, using its ability to see ultraviolet light.

The telescope has performed many important tasks, giving astronomers information that they would not know otherwise. A recent press release stated that scientists have produced a map of dark matter in outer space, as a result of data sent back by the Hubble Space Telescope. Until now, not much was certain about this subject.