April 2021 saw the 31st anniversary of what has to have been one of the greatest advances ever made in astronomy. The insights that Hubble has provided are summarized perfectly in an interview with Betway Casino. What Hubble brought us, as well as images of stars that were never before possible, was a way for us to establish the limits of the universe.
Space has always been a big deal. Not just in terms of the whole ‘final frontier’ aspect, but also in terms of the sheer size of what exists. The great observatory in the sky that is Hubble has allowed us to establish that the universe is at least 94 billion light-years. In truth, we suspect that it is much, much, bigger. It is not just about the size of the universe though. Hubble has brought us so much more.
What has 31 years of Hubble brought us?
The impact of Hubble has been nothing short of spectacular. Having been in orbit for over 30 years, this space telescope has been the most important piece of technology that has ever existed. Some of the key discoveries made by Hubble include:
The age of the universe
Hubble has helped scientists to go further towards determining exactly how old the universe is. The age of the universe is understood to be 13.8 billion years.
The two moons of Pluto
It is the images captured by Hubble that led to the discovery of two new moons of Pluto, Nix and Hydra.
Black holes
Hubble discovered that super black holes exist in every galaxy that has a burst of stars at their center.
The universe is expanding
An unintentional by-product of determining the age of the universe was the discovery of dark energy. This is the name given to the energy that is seeing the universe continue to expand.
The Hubble launch experience
In an interview with Betway Casino, Dr Steven Hawley speaks about his involvement with the Hubble launch. Five years after joining NASA, he was assigned this first mission. With this taking place in 1983, it was still some seven years until Hubble would launch. From the moment Hawley signed up with NASA, the truth was that he wasn’t even sure he’d ever end up in space himself.
Going on to serve numerous space missions, his involvement with the Hubble launch was key. He played a major role in ensuring that Hubble safety entered orbit back in 1990 as well as playing a pivotal part in the 1997 maintenance mission.
The future of Hubble
With the speed at which technology develops, it may be somewhat surprising to see that the Hubble telescope is still going strong some 31 years on. Of course, this technology could never stand the test of time forever. During the same year that over three decades of Hubble are being reflected on, it is set to be replaced.
The replacement is known as Webb Space Telescope and will be launched before the end of the year. Not only has Hubble provided us with some answers to some of the most complex queries related to the universe, but it has also provided us with the most stunning images that we have ever seen. The Webb Space Telescope certainly has a lot to live up to.
