Astronomers using Hubble data have published 1,700 scientific papers.
The total amount of Hubble data placed in archives is 4.44 terabytes, which fills 710, 12-inch optical disks (6.66GB/disk).
The telescope has taken about 120,000 exposures.
HST provided us with a rare look at what happens when a comet collides with a planet. Shomaker-Levey9 showed us the reality of a possible disaster in our own future (STSI).
The Next Generation Telescope
The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has provided the world with information about our universe. It has confirmed beliefs and answered questions. It has also raised some questions to such things as the age of our universe and properties of black holes.
Soon however, it will be time for the HST to retire from it's tedious work. The Next Generation Space Telescope (NGST) is next in line to provide answers to our questions and, inevitably, new questions about our existence.
It is thought that an NGST could be built and launched by about 2007 but no finalizations on the project have been made(NGST FaQ Answers). It is also estimated that the cost of building will be around 500 million dollars, which is less than a quarter of what Hubble cost.(NGST FaQ Answers) NASA is taking advantage of all the technological advancements to reduce the cost of building.
National Solar Observatory/Sacramento Peak
NSO photograph
The Richard B. Dunn Solar Telescope is the largest of the solar research instruments atop Sacramento Peak. The tower portion rises 13 stories (136 feet, or 41.5 m) above ground level.
Like an iceberg, only a part of the telescope's bulk is visible above ground. Approximately 67 meters (220 feet) of this telescope lie out of sight underground. The whole building from top to bottom is a single instrument. The telescope's entire optical system - from the top of the Tower to the base of its underground portion, plus the 12 meter (40 foot) diameter observing room floor - is suspended from the top of the Tower by a mercury float bearing. The bearing in turn is hung on three bolts, each only 76 millimeters (3 inches) in diameter. The entire optical and mechanical structure of the telescope is longer than a football field and weighs over 250 tons.
In spite of its complexity, the DST is quite a simple instrument, consisting of three principal mirrors, two windows and an evacuated optical path. Sunlight enters the tower through a 76-centimeter (30 inch) window located on a steerable turret at the top. Placing the entrance window high above ground avoids distortion of the solar image from local air turbulence. Within the turret, a pair of movable 1.1-meter (44-inch) mirrors direct the sunlight down to a 1.6-meter (64-inch) diameter mirror at the bottom of the telescope tube. On the observing room floor, a 51-centimeter (20-inch) diameter image of the sun is produced for detailed studies.
For testing new instruments, there is a pair of mirrors, together called a heliostat, that redirect sunlight to an optics room. The heliostat follows the Sun as it crosses the sky, keeping the beam of sunlight reflected onto the test equipment.
A unique instrument at the focus of the Dunn Solar Telescope is the Universal Birefringent Filter, or UBF. (There are only three other similar filters in the world.) It can be tuned to look at any particular visible color in the Sun's spectrum. A picture can then be taken of that region of the sun. This allows scientists to observe different altitudes and temperatures on the sun, as each chemical element emits or absorbs its own color of light.
Another of the telescope's instruments is the Advanced Stokes Polarimeter, or ASP. This uses a horizontally-mounted Spectrograph to study complex magnetic fields, such as are common in sunspots. The ASP can also be used with the UBF to produce simultaneous, coordinated data sets.
The Echelle Spectrograph is a general purpose spectrograph that allows measurements in two or more wavelengths simultaneously, even if they are far apart. (The spectrum ranges from red light on one end, to orange, green, yellow, blue, and finally violet on the other end of the visible spectrum. Observations in the near ultraviolet and near infrared, outside the visible range, are also accessible.)
In order to record images or spectra, an electronic camera called a CCD is often used. The pictures are read by a computer and stored either on disk or magnetic tape for later analysis.
Information taken directly from Dunn Solar Telescope Instrumentation page at the NSO/Sacramento Peak web site.
Their instruments are the twin Keck Telescopes, the world's largest optical and and infrared telescopes. Each stands eight stories tall and weighs 300 tons, yet operates with nanometer precision. At the heart of each Keck Telescope is a revolutionary primary mirror. Ten meters in diameter, the mirror is composed
of 36 hexagonal segments that work in concert as a single piece of reflective glass.
Made possible through grants totalling more than $140 million from the W.M. Keck Foundation, the observatory is operated by the California Institute of Technology, the University of California, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which joined the partnership in October, 1996. The Keck I telescope began science observations in May, 1993; Keck II began in October, 1996.
The Keck Observatory's capabilities make full use of the summit site. Surrounded by thousands of miles of relatively thermally-stable ocean, the 13,800 foot Mauna Kea summit has no nearby mountain ranges to roil the upper atmosphere or throw light- reflecting dust into the air. Few city lights pollute the viewing. For most of the year, the atmosphere above Mauna Kea is clear, calm and dry.
The summit is a dedicated science reserve managed by the University of Hawaii's Institute for Astronomy. By the year 2000, a dozen major research telescopes telescopes will call it home, representing a capital investment of more than $500 million and employment for hundreds of Big Island residents.
Amid this gathering of telescopes, the Kecks stand alone.
neighborhood.
