Hubble space telescope

Telescope is an optical instrument for making distant objects appear larger and therefore nearer. There are
basically three type of telescope

 Reflecting telescope-use mirror to form image

 Refracting telescope-use lenses to form the image
 Compound telescope-use both mirror and lenses

Refracting telescope Reflecting telescope

Hubble Space Telescope is an orbiting astronomical observatory operating from the near-infrared into the
ultraviolet. It is named after the American astronomer Edwin Hubble.it is a reflecting type of telescope.
Hubble faces toward space. It takes pictures of planets, stars and galaxies. Hubble has seen stars being born.
Hubble has seen stars die. It has seen galaxies that are trillions of miles away.

 HST was launched by the Space Shuttle Discovery in 24 April, 1990.

 It is about the size of 13.2m*4.2m and a mass of about 11,000 kg.
 Hubble is in a low-Earth orbit with an altitude of 547 km an inclination of 28.5º, with equator (so it can
be serviced by the Space Shuttle) and velocity in this orbit is 7160m/s.
 It Orbits the Earth about once every 96 minutes. Each orbit is about 1 hour in sunlight (orbit day) and
1/2 hour in darkness (orbit night).
 it can observe wavelengths in the range of 100–2500 nm. (Visible light lies within this range, from
400–700 nm.).
 Hubble is able to look deep into space up to 14 billion light years away.

The reason Hubble is in orbit around the Earth rather than on the ground is to get above the Earth’s atmosphere.
The Turbulence in the Earth’s atmosphere causes blurring of the image and also some light is lost when it passes
through the atmosphere which is avoided when the telescope is above the atmosphere.

Working

As Hubble orbits Earth, the Fine Guidance Sensors lock onto stars. The Fine Guidance Sensors are part of the
Pointing Control System and aim Hubble in the right direction. The telescope can lock onto a target that is one
mile away without moving more than the width of a human hair.

Once the target is acquired, Hubble's primary mirror collects light. The mirror can collect about 40,000 times
more light than the human eye. The light bounces off the primary mirror to the secondary mirror. The secondary
mirror focuses the light back through a hole in the primary mirror. From there, light comes into Hubble's
scientific instruments. Each instrument has different way of interpreting the light.

Instruments

Hubble has five scientific instruments which include cameras and spectrographs. A spectrograph is an
instrument that splits light into its individual wavelengths.
  The Wide Field Camera 3(WFC3) is Hubble’s main camera. It studies everything from the formation
of distant galaxies to the planets in the solar system. The camera can see three different kinds of light:
near-ultraviolet, visible and near-infrared. But Hubble can only see each kind of light one at a time.
Human eyes can see visible light. Near-ultraviolet and near-infrared are just beyond what our eyes can
see.

 The Advanced Camera for Survey (ACS) captures images of large areas of space. These images
have helped scientists’ study some of the earliest activity in the universe.

 The Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) reads ultraviolet light. This spectrograph studies how
galaxies, stars and planets formed and changed.

 The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) helps scientists determine the temperature,
chemical composition, density and motion of objects in space. It also has been used to detect black
holes.

 The Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) sees objects in deep space
by sensing the heat they emit. It captures images and it is also a spectrograph. NICMOS helps
scientists’ study how stars, galaxies and planetary systems form.

Pointing control system

While operating in Earth orbit, the Hubble Space Telescope depends on a robust Pointing Control System to
determine the direction in which it is pointing (called its attitude), to turn toward a celestial target, and to remain
fixed on that target during observations.

The Pointing Control System uses two sets of hardware: sensors and actuators. Sensors gather information about
the spacecraft’s attitude from the Sun, the stars and Earth’s magnetic field. Actuators physically rotate the
telescope to point in a particular direction.

Sensors

The Coarse Sun Sensors determine the orientation of Hubble in relation to the Sun. The sensors use silicon
diode detectors to determine whether the Sun is present in their field of view and, if so, the angle of the Sun
relative to the sensor. This information is used to help point the telescope and to protect the observatory’s
sensitive instruments and optics.
The Magnetic Sensing System acts as Hubble’s compass, measuring the telescope’s orientation in relation to
Earth’s magnetic field. The system consists of magnetometers and dedicated electronics, which, like a compass,
assess the orientation of the telescope.
When Hubble rotates, its gyroscopes measure the direction the telescope is turning and the rate of that rotation..
Typically, three gyroscopes are used at a time to measure Hubble’s rotation rate in all three dimensions in order
to maximize the efficiency of the Pointing Control System .

The Fixed Head Star Trackers determine Hubble’s attitude by measuring the locations and brightness of stars
in their field of view. Stars form random and unique patterns throughout the sky, which the onboard computer
can match to a star map using the position and brightness information provided by the Fixed Head Star Trackers.
This increases the accuracy of the observatory’s attitude to within 60 arcseconds, and it allows the computer to
correct attitude errors following vehicle manoeuvres so that the Fine Guidance System can lock onto guide stars.

The Fine Guidance System is Hubble’s most accurate pointing sensor, and it is comprised of three Fine
Guidance Sensors (FGSs). The FGSs use starlight captured by the telescope’s mirrors to find and maintain a
lock on guide stars to ensure that the spacecraft’s attitude does not change.

Actuators

Two actuator systems physically rotate Hubble: the Reaction Wheel Assemblies and the magnetic torquers.
Neither of these systems uses propellants, since the by-products could contaminate the telescope’s field of view.

Reaction wheel assemblies, Newton’s third law of motion states that for every action, there is an equal and
opposite reaction. Hubble utilizes this principle with its four reaction wheels, which are large, massive wheels
that spin under the control of Hubble’s computer. If one of the reaction wheels turns clockwise, Hubble will turn
counter clockwise. Changing the spin speed of any of the wheels produces a rotational force called torque. The
combined changes in the spin speeds of the wheels allow Hubble to manoeuvre to point at any location in the
sky. The four reaction wheels are each approximately two feet wide (smaller than a car tire), but in microgravity
they can move the school-bus-sized Hubble because of their high spin rate and their mass. However, at its
fastest, Hubble only moves as quickly as the minute hand of a clock (approximately 90 degrees in 15 minutes).

Magnetic torquers are eight-foot iron rods wrapped in wire that produce a magnetic field when commanded by
Hubble’s computer. The magnetic field produced by the magnetic torquers pushes or pulls Hubble toward
Earth’s magnetic field, rotating the telescope. There are four magnetic torquers installed on Hubble, located at
90-degree intervals on the outside of the spacecraft. The magnetic torquers are used to help reduce reaction
wheel speeds, which can build up because of drag caused by Earth’s atmosphere (which, at Hubble’s orbit, is
very thin but still present).

Hubble has helped scientists learn about our solar system. The telescope observes comets and planets. Hubble
even discovered moons around Pluto that had not been seen before. The telescope has helped scientists
understand how planets and galaxies form. Galaxies contain billions of stars. A picture called "Hubble Ultra
Deep Field" shows some of the farthest galaxies ever seen. Pictures from Hubble help scientists learn more
about the whole universe. Because of Hubble pictures, scientists think the universe is almost 14 billion years
old.
Hubble has spotted black holes. Black holes suck in everything around them. They even suck in light. And
Hubble has helped scientists learn more about explosions that happen when huge stars burn out.

NASA is building another space telescope. It is called the James Webb Space Telescope. It will be bigger than
Hubble. Webb will not orbit Earth as Hubble does. Webb will orbit the sun in a spot on the other side of the
moon. The Webb telescope will be able to see a different kind of light than the light Hubble sees. Webb will
help NASA see even more of the universe.

SAURABH NAGARIYA
(19AE60R12)