The Hubble Telescope
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THE HUBBLE TELESCOPE
The Hubble Space Telescope is one of the greatest achievements in the history of mankind. The Hubble Telescope has cost approximately six billion dollars and has been worth every penny. It was launched in 1990, and since then has orbited 360 miles above the Earth over 100,000 times. Every 18 minutes the Hubble completes another revolution around the Earth.
HUBBLE SPACE PHOTOS
The Hubble Telescope is a space observatory that has completely changed the way astronomers see and understand our Universe. It provides incredibly clear and detailed views of deepest space. And these wonderfully beautiful images have enthralled people around the world. The Hubble also sends us images of—and has contributed immensely to the understanding of—our own solar system, including all of the other planets except Mercury (too close to the Sun to observe) that share it with Earth.
HUBBLE PICTURES
Before the Hubble Telescope, we observed the Heavens primarily from Earth bound telescopes, and our atmosphere distorted the view. The Hubble has illumined us about the birth and death of Stars, Constellations, Planets, Planetary Systems, and Galaxies; and advanced the study of the nature of Black Holes, Quasars, Quarks, Pulsars, Dwarfs, Nebulae, Asteroids, Comets, Space Debris, and Dark Matter. It can "see" 10 billion light years into the Cosmos.
HUBBLE TELESCOPE PHOTOS
The Hubble Telescope was deemed a colossal failure when it beamed its first images back to Earth. The pictures were blurry. The equipment was flawed. Fortunately, this was the first space telescope designed to be maintained and repaired by astronauts. In 1993, the Space Shuttle Endeavor corrected the discrepancies and we began to receive images that were crystal clear and stunning.
HUBBLE PICS
The Hubble has enabled us to greater appreciate the enormity and the unbelievable beauty of the Universe designed by our Creator. Discoveries are still being made at a rapid pace, regarding the electromagnetic spectrum; the nature and aspects of light; the chemical composition of distant objects; space collisions; the geometry of the Universe; cosmic radiation; and the dimensions of our Universe.
HUBBLE PHOTOS
The life cycle of the Hubble, like everything else in our Universe, will come to an end. The Death of the Hubble is widely debated in the scientific community, with estimates ranging from next year to 20 years from now. Eventually its instruments will begin to fail and the machine itself will someday reenter the Earth's atmosphere. Much of it will burn up upon reentry, but components will fall to Earth, a development that will be monitored closely to negate human fatalities on the ground when it happens. Its successor, the James Webb Space Telescope, is planned for launch in 2014. This machine will be an infrared space observatory that is expected to generate images from beyond the reach of the Hubble.
SUMMARY
The Hubble Telescope has given astronomers scientific information that has led them to conclude our Universe certainly had a beginning; and it will have an end. Perhaps God knew what He was talking about after all—when He spoke to Moses 3500 years ago regarding the Creation of the Universe—when He spoke to the Apostle John 1900 years ago about the end of this Universe.
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quietnessandtrust— Thank you, Brother. I agree with you! How can anyone look at this Universe, and the utter hostility to Life anywhere in it except on this tiny spinning globe, and not GET IT!? Their eyes are blinded.
Hi James - The images from hubble are fantastic, and though images alone can't prove that there was a beginning and will be an end, they can serve to substantiate (or refute) our scientific theories about these and other questions. Regarding your comment above, the Hubble does not show utter hostility to Life everywhere except Earth. It shows, for example, millions of Galaxies comprising millions of stars, some of which have may have planetary systems, some of which may have planets with conditions similar to here. Hubble is not powerful enough to resolve such detail at such distance. No optical telescope ever could be. So extraterrestrial life remains an open question.
Paraglider— I do appreciate a very learned and knowledgeable person as yourself visiting my Page and leaving your thoughtful comments. My extensive research indicates that a beginning and a end to the Universe is exactly what scientists have concluded but do they know for certain? No. This is where Faith becomes an important part of the experience of being a human being. We will have Faith that certain things are true or untrue. Either way, it is an exhibition of Faith.
The Hubble may not prove beyond all doubt that there is no life anywhere in our universe except here—which should give us a clue—but it does prove that we have looked diligently for other life—which after all would create fame beyond measure for the discoverer—and found none despite a search covering ten billion light years. If there is life only here, can this be a cosmological accident? The odds mathematically are slim my friend.
Life will be found, I've no doubt of that. Have spent many hours oggling the hubble pics. They are breathtaking. Man has come a long way with science and we reap the rewards.
Jewels— I believe that a futile search for life anywhere else is a huge part of the education of postmodern man that God has pre-ordained. And, we must admit, so far, He has made His point.
James - the Hubble is not looking for life. If there were life on the moon, Venus or Mars, sure, Hubble would have found it. But it doesn't have the resolution to examine distant planetary systems. It can see stars a long way off, but stars ain't no place to raise chickens. We already knew that. Good looking hub, just the same.
Very well then, my friend. If you do not think NASA has been diligently looking for extra-terrestrial life since its inception well . . . There may be Someone out there. It might be . . .
Agreed, NASA has been searching, mainly by radio telescope, for anything coherent and have drawn a blank so far. They were fooled by pulsars for a while! It's not an easy task :)
I had totally forgotten that the Hubble took blurry pictures when they put it up, but once it was fixed, it exceeded expectations didn't it?
I think that for a person without faith, it is easy to dismiss the Creator, I remember having a pretty solid belief that evolution was science fact and it seemed logical to me that it could exist. But I had this niggling feeling that evolution didn't make sense, didn't coincide with the concept of God and I believed that was true as well. Then, as I sat in high school biology classes, I could not accept the carbon dating methods, they could never answer the question, "if it's always a half life decay, how can we predict the age of anything?" Something like that. Plus there were the missing missing links with full grown creatures in between. And oh, I forgot the complete reconstructed skeleton from a pig bone. All these things casted major doubts on my faith in evolution, but I have to admit that even seeing the beauty of Creation around me, did not convince me of God. What it does do is glorify him now that I know who made it. When your mind is dark, it can see no light at all.
Life out there? Maybe, but I believe it will not be intelligent, but perhaps microbes, maybe lichen, maybe maybe plants, and perhaps animals. God did make a beautiful universe, but humans were created special. If there is life out there, it is for our use and pleasure, but I highly doubt it will be like us.
I love that you include the truth, it is interesting that the moment a Christian says something religious, they get confronted right away, you must be pricking their conscience James. Keep it up. Another enjoyable hub.
Thank you for this awesome hub. The pictures are fantastic!
Fantastic hub - I keep pics of Mars on my desktop. Love the study of space. My Creator God is awesome. Thumbs up!
You make the most beautiful hubs! I love this one!
Paraglider— I always enjoy engaging a brilliant mind such as yours. Thanks for reading and commenting.
Alexander Mark— I find it interesting that in science fiction, extra-terrestrials are nearly always way smarter than us. As if we expect in our consciences that there is higher intelligence . . . out there.
Yes, Atheists do hold sacred their idea that there is nothing sacred. Since they don't believe in anything I am sometimes puzzled at how fiercely they defend their unbelief. Makes me wonder: why the vehemence to dispel our ignorant "superstitions?"
Thank you for reading. Your commentary has added a luster to the conversation.
msorensson— You are welcome. Thank you. I am always glad to see your name pop up in my comments section.
Pastor_Walt— Yes, He is! I do appreciate your encouragement. It means a lot to me.
advisor4qb— I humbly accept your warm words. Thank you!
Too kind, but thanks. Seriously though, I've tried to keep my comments here in the scientific domain. For a radiotelescope is to detect radiation that could have been created by an extra-terrestrial intelligence it would have to separate any such signal from the background 'noise' coming from the same sector in space. Unless 'someone' is deliberately directing a tight beam towards Earth, the best we could hope to do is eavesdrop on the domestic RF services on a remote planet. As any life clever enough to invent telecommunications would also be clever enough to contain their signals locally (as we do here), any remnant of signal that made it this far would be almost unimaginably small. So I'm afraid that, as with optical telescopy, our inability to find something does not imply that nothing is there. Anyway, I've taken up too much of your comment space already. Thanks for the chat :)
It is wonderful that the Hubble telescope has been in operation, taking such valuable photographs of distant stars. It is also imperative to know how to interpret such information, and not be tempted to dismiss an idea simply because we can't see the proof -- yet. Man once believed that the sky was a dome over a flat Earth, because he could not yet see any further. Now we can see photographs of distant galaxies -- but we still cannot see them in enough detail to discover where life does and does not exist. I think this is a great hub, James, and I've always been delighted by the Hubble's capacity to give us this window to the nearest parts of the universe; but please don't be tempted to believe that there isn't a great deal more out there that we just haven't seen -- yet. (This isn't an atheist's need to disprove God or an admonition of any kind, it's just a simple fact; nor am I writing this to belittle your well-crafted and well-presented hub, which is a fascinating read and a beautiful collection of photos.)
Paraglider— Do we contain our signals? I thought our radio, television and perhaps other communications blast out into infinity. No? I don't know for sure but I had come to understand this at some point in the past.
You're not taking up space. I am always pleased to have you visit. It is a rarity.
I have a feeling that if some other world had a Hubble, Earth would be hard to miss. I mean, this blue ball, covered with water and life does kind of stand out in this black void.
Teresa McGurk— It is an honor to receive a visitation from you. Thank you so much for the warm compliments. I totally agree with you that there is much more to discover, learn and understand about our Universe. In fact, I believe this is an endless quest. Your words have made my day. Thank you.
James - the early radio pioneers learned how to bounce radio signals off the ionosphere and back to Earth, for distant transmission and to avoid wasting energy. Higher frequency vhf and uhf signals are line-of-sight, so we build masts on hills and beam them into the valleys. So, yes, we contain as much as we can. But, inevitably there is spillage, just like light pollution. That radiation does shoot off into space, but like all radiation its intensity drops off with the square of the distance.
The earth would look absolutely great from a hubble telescope on Mars or Jupiter, but from one a few light years away all you'd see is our Sun as just another point of light among millions. And you'd wonder if any of these stars out there have planetary systems that might support life...
Paraglider— Thanks for reminding me. Now that you mention it, I do remember something about radio waves bouncing off the ionosphere. That's how they work, right? I suppose you are correct that from far away, the Earth might not look like much.
I can always count on you to bring me back to earth. :D I appreciate your knowledge.
Interesting conversation regarding an important topic. But, I can't help wonder what the struggling small businesses across America could do with half of the annnual money spent on our space program. I know there are reasons we spend billions on these matters, but as they say "TIMING IS EVERYTHING" and currently our nation is hanging by threads.
I'd bet that God's response if questioned about our space endeavors would be that we should concentrate on our immorality and the disregard our nation's showing him. Sound like sour grapes? Guilty!
John B— You may be right, brother. I have seen in the past a list of technologies that we use regularly that were invented as a result of the space program. The only one I remember off hand is the microwave—but my understanding is that there have been dozens if not hundreds of these things that have been a benefit to mankind in our daily lives.
But, you are right. We are in tough shape and maybe the space program should be suspended.
I appreciate your point of view. It is certainly valid and worth ruminating over. Thanks for visiting.
John B— Long time no see! :D
I am sure our national epidemic of immorality concerns God more than space. That acknowledged, the original scientists were devote Christians—Newton, Galileo, Copernicus, etc. They believed that God purposefully made the world and its laws of operation discoverable; and purposefully made our brains with the ability to discover them. So, that, we might get to know Him better, in His role as Creator. To understand the unbelievable transcendence of His creativity. And His majesty.
But they may have been mistaken.
Regardless, our nation has bigger fish to fry. That's for sure. And I appreciate you for bringing us back down to earth. Thanks for coming.
I may have run my mouth a little in that first comment, so if I have offended anyone, my apologies. I have to agree that in many sci-fi movies, aliens are often superior. This makes me think immediately of the last incarnation of the The Day the Earth Stood Still. The lead lady was licking the alien's boots, admitting how right the aliens were to want to commit genocide of the human race and begging him for another chance as if he was God. This does seem a common view and it scares me to think how that sort of thinking will shape policies in the decades to come, (population control).
Back to a more relevant subject. Hubble pics are amazing and show how beautiful the universe is. I imagine that we may be seeing a part of heaven. Doesn't the Bible say that the angels are stars? Please slap me if I'm wrong.
The good lord has let us make anthrax, hollow point bullets, child pornography and many other sinful ugly things. But like space exploration, that doesn't mean he approves, especially with hunger, poverty, and missionary work so needful of funds that go up and away into space. Maybe I just don't know what's important. Those pics above are certainly beautiful and look better as they ARE without the pic of a starving child imposed into the middle of each. Isn't debate wonderful? It allows us to express what we're really made of and what we desire!
The Bible says that the heavens declare God's handiwork. This is a good enough reason to study them and be awed.
Thank you for the beautiful hub. I'll be sharing this one with my children.
John B— You have a legitimate point of view. I found a web page listing some of the benefits mankind has received as a direct result of the space program. It claims $7 in benefits for each dollar spent. Check it out and get back to me.
Joy At Home— Amen! Thank you for your comments and you are welcome. I hope your children enjoy it.
I am so fascinated by space, awesome pictures, enjoyed the hub.
emohealer— I am, too. Maybe that's obvious. :-)
Thank you for the affirmation.
A very nice hub James Thank you.
Priority 030— Thank you and you are most welcome, too.
James. I appreciate this hub. As always it is well studied, and the pictures are magnificent. Of course NASA had specific reasons for the development of the Hubble Telescope. I am sure it was not simply to view 'pretty' pictures. I will say this; whatever NASA's reason the INTELLIGENT Designer may have had another plan. The Hubble provides yet another opportunity for humans to accept or reject Him. No one can say 'I don't know the truth' of Who the Designer is. The Hubble has magnified for us Who He is. And you have drawn our attention to the truth once again. The Hubble, though a scientific masterpiece is an instrument which draws attention to the truth of scripture.
"The grace of God has appeared to all men, to bring salvation to all people." Titus2:11,
Day after day the planets and stars display knowledge, night after night they declare Him known, They speak without a sound or word; their voice is silent in the skies, yet their message has gone out to all the earth, and their words to all the earth." (Psalm 19:2-4)
Fantastic Hub James. Thank you.
R Burow— I am so pleased that you enjoyed this piece. Your view of why God made the Heavens so incredibly beautiful; and so enormous; and why he gave us the ability to see His handiwork; and what it should mean to us; I agree with wholeheartedly. Thank you for adding your fine and gracious commentary to this thread. It is always a pleasure to hear from you.
This is an interesting site with a lot of info.
http://www.thespaceplace.com/nasa/spinoffs.html
The nature of all scientific research is spin-off technologies that address totally different needs and in my humble opinion, it's quite a stretch for them to pretend these things would not be with us if not for the space program. I'm no scientist, but I would suggest most of their applications are themselves spin-offs from mostly non-related tech companies such as Microsoft, HP, Cisco, Intel, Texas Instuments and literally thousands of other companies. Now, would these other companies strive to come up with all these ideas that get passed along to the NASA bunch without the fact they'll receive compensation? Prob not. Also, I'm sure MIT and other EDU systems have contributed untold (or told) info and patented projects to NASA. Those collaborations are way above anything I know about (as is most of the text in this post). Just food for thought.
great hub. i'm surprised the hubble doesn't get hit more often by debris with how fast its always rotating around the earth and how much stuff is floating around up there.
Hi James,
If life does exist elsewhere, I believe it cannot be carbon based and would not need a similar supporting system like ours.
John B— It is of course possible that these inventions would have come to pass anyway. We would have as much chance of knowing that as we would analyzing what would have happened if we had went for that 4th and 3 yesterday instead of punting.
Nonetheless, your central premise about feeding the poor instead of exploring space does seem more compassionate. Perhaps, reaching for the stars is overated, or not be done at all. I cannot argue that this viewpoint is wrong. It is something to ruminate.
atomicpaulsen— Thank you. You make a great point. I think I read once that it is at a much higher orbital altitude than most space junk, partly for that reason.
Thanks so much for reading and for your remarks.
quicksand— Interesting thought, there. hmmm . . . Well, one never knows for sure about ETs. I have serious doubts but I could be wrong, too. We shall see.
Thanks for the comment.
I am not sure James whether there is a god or not but, when I see such magnificent sights as these, I am prepared to believe that anything is possible. I had a religious upbringing but the early death of my parents did nothing to help me keep my faith. Throughout life I chop and change and I am always open to persuaion.
This hub is fabulous as I adore all things in astronomy. I have a small telescope at home and loved watching Halle Bob a few years back. Thanks for sharing these great pictures :)
ethel smith— Thank you for your personal story and the compliments. I am glad you enjoyed this Hub. Keep an open mind! :D
James, the pictures are breathtaking, the Eye of God is especially surprising to me as I have never heard of this term. Thanks for opening my eyes and enlightening me and all your fans as well.
JerseyNana— You are welcome. Thank you for your visit and your warm compliments.
James thank you for putting so many of the Hubble's pictures together very very wonderful Great Hub God is showing some of his Glory isn't he. Well done Sir
Justcallmeleroy— God is showing us His glory, yes, sir. I love viewing these photographs. I want to thank you for reading and leaving your remarks. :D
You do like to make us think! Another well crafted hub with beautiful imagery - thanks so much.
Enelle Lamb— I do! I do! :-)
I appreciate the compliment and you are welcome. I am glad you stopped by.
Todd D— Thank you
Beautiful and fascinating Hub...Pictures are gorgeous..!
We had a late night discussion in college ( a hundred years ago ) and the idea came up about an alien race, light years away from Earth, that had this extremely powerful telescope and pointed it at Earth....What would they see..? Considering Einstein's theory that nothing exceeds the speed of light, would the aliens be looking at our past..? When we look at the stars above we are looking at light that was generated thousands of years ago...some are probably dead by now but their light is just now reaching us when they were young, robust suns....
Perhaps the aliens in question have video-taped our entire history...wonder what that would look like..?
maven101— Thank you very much!
In most science fiction the aliens are so advanced that they see us in real time. Light-Years mean nuttin' to them! :-)
Our history is a mixed bag. A lot of killing and oppression; the latter particularly before the United States changed the way government works. But a lot of beautiful art and music and charity and good deeds have been recorded as well.
I thank you for reading and provoking us all to contemplate larger issues. Great commentary.
Wow, what a great read! I love looking at the Hubble Telescope pictures. Especially the one with the cross in the middle of the Sombrero Galaxy. Isn't it amazing what all God created? Just amazing. Thanks for the great hub!
johnb0127— It is truly amazing, brother! You are welcome and thank you for your insight.
Earth is beautiful from Hubble, and it doesnt look so bad afterall. It is nice to see us looking so good for a change.
newsworthy— You are going to put us all up there for a nice view of it, eh? :-)
It is beautiful. Thank you for writing. It is always a pleasure to hear from you.
The pleasure is all mine when reading the conversations in your hubs.
newsworthy— You are too kind, Madam.
My friend you have to know that HUBBLE is usefull but allready to old,almost history,the new telescopes are really megic,wait to see in a couple of years,the ARIZONAS one.
gusripper— Oh yes. The Hubble will be replaced in a few years. I wrote about that in this article. Thanks for your comments.
These are the most awesome pictures I have seen ... I love to look at the stars and actually have a program called Stellarium which shows me where all the starts and constellations are at any given moment. I can watch them move in my computer...I have always been in awe of the Glory which God created yet the human eye is unable to see.....
Thank you for all the wonderful pictures!!!
Wealthmadehealthy— Thank you for the accolades! The heavens are the incredible handiwork of God that we may see his awesome majesty as a Creator. He could have made things plain—but no. Instead, there is no end to the beauties He hath made. I appreciate the encouragement.
What a great topic. Well researched, well written and easily brings to mind the wonders of the Creator. The pictures were amazing.
Duchess OBlunt— Thank you. I am astonished by the Hubble images. If our forefathers only knew what we would see! And who knows what people will see of the universe after we are gone.
Awesome! These pictures are totally amazing - I loved the "Eye of God". Fantastic. Praise God the creator of it all!
And thanks!
bluebird— Thank you! Praise God indeed! You are welcome. I appreciate the visitation.
I am curious: how does one have 59 fans but no Hubs? This I have never seen before. :)
LORD, your such an stylish designer ever![smiling]
interesting photos James A. thanks for sharing!
ladyeagle_cdc— Thank you, dear. You look so sweet in your photo and I can tell by your gracious words that the impression is a true one. You are most welcome.
Im afraid that im not as clever as some of the hubbers above but i will say this,
"if you look hard enough for something then you may find it, but are we ready to see what we are looking for. Look within yourselves and you will find the answers to all of your questions"
paulgc— What you wrote sounds plenty clever. Thank you for this wise word. Welcome to the Hub Pages Community.
There is a God. He is real. And everyone will see that he will destroy the earth with fire and brimstone when he comes back to take the people that have made themselves ready to heaven. I am looking for that day and I cant wait. I cant believe people believe in the "big bang theory" i mean come on, get real. God created the heavens and the earth. He created light, the creatures, animals. He created humans in the image. People get ready Jesus is coming and soon we'll be going home.
samantha— I could not agree more with your comments. Thank you very much for sharing your insights here. Well done!
over all the picture are beautiful but could u answer me this question...has hubble telescope replaced with something else?
devia— The James Webb Space Telescope is to replace the Hubble. Thank you for visiting my Hub and asking such a good question. :)
I teach a rth grade science unit on the Solar System, and have traditionally shown my students the site: Where is the Hubble, which shows where the Hubble is at any given time. Can we still see that, or it that no longer an option? When is the James Webb replacing the Hubble?
Jan— Thank you for visiting my humble Hub. I believe you can see the images from the Hubble here:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/main/inde
The James Webb Space Telescope is due to launch 3 or 4 years from now.
God Bless You for teaching our children. :)
Great Hub. Fabulous pictures. I offer a History of Science and Technology class and one of the student's favorite parts is when we spend time on astronomy, Hubble, and looking at the awesome cosmos all around us.
James: All votes except funny! You have selected beautiful images from Hubble's amazing bounty. That is no easy task, for I continue to be awed by the countless, breathtaking images which NASA shares so generously and so freely with the entire planet on which we live. Every time I remember to look up at the sky with my earthbound vision, which only sees a restricted distance within a restricted spectrum, I recall Abraham Lincoln's pithy (excuse me but I've been looking for an excuse to use that word!) observation, "I can see how it might be possible for a man to look down upon the earth and be an atheist, but I cannot conceive how he could look up into the heavens and say there is no God." And then, of course, there are those memorable words in Psalm 139: "Where can I go from Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your Presence? If I go up to the heavens, You are there."
I treasure this journey which you have shared; your love and reverence for God shine through.
Kind regards, Stessily
phdast7— Thank you!! Thank you very much!
:-)
I am honored to receive such compliments from a real life professor. Welcome to the HubPages Community.
The cosmos is truly awesome. There is no doubt about that. I appreciate the visitation, and I look forward to reading your Hubs.
stessily— You know I sincerely appreciate the voted up and you hitting all the "good" buttons for me (except 'funny' of course).
Isn't NASA great to share with all of us these extraordinary photograghs?
"Pithy" is one of my favorite words. :-)
Gosh, I feel honored by your gracious comments. Thank you ever much for supporting me in my writing journey. I am grateful for your affirmation and encouragement. God Bless You!
James
I used to have a landlord that was one of the designers for the Hubble telescope. I remember when they had to go up and fix the lense of that thing. "That makes sense" I thought. Old Pete was blind as a bat!
Portamenteff— Really?! That is awesome. Blind as a bat, huh? :D
Funny. Makes sense. Thanks for reading my Hub. I enjoy your comments.
Well James, here is another awesome hub!
Think about this, to those people that say there is no god......What if God said there is no people?
Curiad— Thank you so much, kind sir! You make a very good point, brother. What if?
I am glad you liked this Hub. Thank you for visiting and commenting.
These Hubble photos are indeed stunning. A very informative, and awesome hub. Fabulous photos.
Curiad, God spoke things into existence and I'm sure he could reverse that if He wanted to. How could anyone think that these amazing things just happened by accident?
Voting you UP, beautiful, and awesome!
Voting you UP and awesome!
Au fait-- Thank you ever much for taking the time to read my article. I appreciate the lovely laudations! I am grateful to you for the "Voted up, beautiful, and awesome!" :-)
The photographs taken from the Hubble Telescope are extraordinary. I surely agree with you there.
I do not think the universe came to be by accident. Not at all. That is foolishness. I am glad that we are in agreeance about that!
Your comments made my day. Thank you again.
James
quietnessandtrust 2 years ago
UMMMMM....let's see now....and "they" say there is not GOD???
Come now...can anyone be that naive???.....Ignorant????
Perhaps willingly????
Nice work here.