Hubble Targeting the Big Questions

From the creator

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope is working on three of the most ambitious projects in its history just now. These multicycle treasury programs are using Hubble's unique ability to observe across the spectrum from ultraviolet, through visible, to infrared light, to build up a library of data which will serve astronomers for many years. After circling the Earth for over two decades, Hubble has been responsible for many fascinating scientific discoveries. After the visit by astronauts in 2009 to service the spacecraft and to install new instruments, the telescope is now at the height of its powers. As the observatory has matured, attention has turned to some ambitious projects on a scale that would not have even been considered a few years ago. Between them, these projects could help answer some of the biggest questions in astronomy today, and will contribute to science for many years to come. Now, observing time on Hubble is a very precious commodity and it's hugely sought after. That means that when astronomers want to use Hubble, they have to apply for observing time. And in their application, they have to be very detailed about what it is exactly they want to study, and how they're going to do it. Now this process works just fine for the vast majority of projects which usually have very focused scientific goals. However, once in a while, Hubble gets used for something much bigger, with much broader scientific goals. And in these cases, the normal way of handing out

Published 2011-04-22 · Watch on YouTube ↗
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