Research topic: Hubble Space Telescope

Hubble Space Telescope (HST), the first large optical orbiting observatory . Built from 1978 to 1990 at a cost of $1.5 billion, the HST (named for astronomer E. P. Hubble ) was expected to provide the clearest view yet obtained of the universe. Using a Ritchey-Chrétien design that affords wider and flatter fields of view than traditional Cassegrain systems, the telescope has a 7.9-ft (2.4-m) primary mirror that can observe 24 hours a day (but usually observes less than 20% of the time) in a sky that is always clear and always has perfect seeing . Among the instruments are two... Read more