talk about the hubble space telescope???

Question

I need to know all about the Hubble Space Telescope for a school project. I don't understand how it can take pictures of faraway galaxies but only be orbiting the earth. These are the four questions I need to answer for my project.
1) What advatages does HST have over earth-based telescopes?
2) How does an astronomer work to interpret the photographs arriving from HST?
3) What recent discoveries were made using the data sent by HST?
4) What has been done to correct the various malfunctions of the telescope's components and operation?

Any other information or websites you have for me would be greatly appreciated!!!

Answer 1

To answer your first problem, of how it works: Light travels far distances, and if it reaches us, it reaches us looking like it did when it was emitted. A powerful telescope can focus that light and make it into sharper images. So the hubble, using mirrors and lenses and powerful computers, does just that.

The reason it works better in space than on earth is because our atmosphere really screws up light. The sky is blue, but the sun burns yellow - and yet it's only 8 light-minutes away, or 93 million miles. Imagine how rotten pictures taken from 5 billion light years must look, once they come through our atmosphere. Since the Hubble is outside the atmosphere, it doesn't have to deal with image degradation caused by the earth's atmosphere.

Read about the HST below:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubble_Space_Telescope

Answer 2

1. It doesn't suffer any problems with an atmosphere (clouds, winds, pollution), because it operates outside the atmosphere. It can remain pointed at an object for weeks without having to worry about sunlight or Earth's rotation.
2. The images are downloaded into computers as data streams, which astronomers pour through, finding the data and images they wish to look at.
3. Many... The most extraordinary is probably the existence of galaxies in the "deep field survey". The scope can look into what was thought empty space, and *still* see galaxies there.
4. The most obvious malfunction was when it was first launched - the mirror was out of focus. A shuttle mission was sent up with a corrective lens to fix it - and it worked. Since then, gyroscopes, sensors, and motors have been fixed as well.

Nasa.com - look for "Hubble."

Look for an image called "Eta Carinae" - it's an exploding star. Very cool.

Answer 3

Best place for recent discoveries is the official website of the Hubble Space Telescope:
http://www.hubblesite.org

Answer 4

The HST is not in earths orbit.The best web sites i have found are,www.Nasa .org,Hubble telescope.com.{Nasa site is either .org or .com,it's been awhile}

Answer 5

I know that
Honeywell
made various
parts for the telescope
try their website
good luck