A Main Reason Why the Hubble Telescope was Created
Edwin P. Hubble, the famed name behind the Hubble Telescope, wasn’t necessarily the idea behind the telescope. Edwin P. Hubble was known for determining that “some of the numerous distant, faint clouds of light in the universe were actually entire galaxies—much like our own Milky Way. The realization that the Milky Way is only one of many galaxies forever changed the way astronomers viewed our place in the universe.” (http://hubblesite.org/the_telescope/h...)
It wasn’t until some twenty-five years after Edwin P. Hubble changed the way we look at galaxies, that a man in 1946, an astrophysicist — Lyman Spitzer — wrote about the need for a space-based observatory, where images would be seen unhindered, and solar system and multi-galactic images would be limitless in comparison to what earth-based telescopes are able to see. Thus, one of the main reasons for the Hubble Telescope.
Let’s step back for a moment, and make this more realistic, more personal, so you can get a gist of what I’m getting at here.
Imagine you’ve jumped into the deep end of a warm swimming pool and you’re floating down to the deepest point. There you sit at the bottom, hearing the calm water around you and the echoes of sounds penetrating the thousands of gallons of water you’re submersed in. Now, look up. What do you see?
In most cases, unless you have super-human eyesight, you’ll see blurry images of the outside world, such as, the sky and some clouds and maybe several people at the edge of the pool, looking down at you, wondering what the hell you’re doing.
That’s what it’s like looking through a telescope from Earth into outer space. Don’t get me wrong, I fully understand that a telescope is much clearer than being under water, but keep in mind that a telescope must puncture through each of earth’s spheres — the stratosphere, the atmosphere, the exosphere, etc., in order to see what is beyond. And, what if clouds are slowly moving by? Well, on some days, you can’t see anything at all.
This has been a problem for hundreds of years. If you could bypass the atmosphere, you could see infinitely farther away and the universe literally opens up to you, just like the world does when coming out from under the water.
This isn’t amazing or astounding information, but it might be a little bit enlightening, and for some, it makes the Hubble Telescope make a lot more sense.
Much Love,
Brandon Ellis
www.brandon-ellis.com
The post A Main Reason Why the Hubble Telescope was Created appeared first on .
