Page 614 - Ultimate Visual Dictionary (DK)

THE MODERN WORLD
Space telescope IMAGES TAKEN Pillar

BY HUBBLE
of gas
SPACE TELESCOPES ORBIT THE EARTH hundreds of miles above the ground,
their instruments collecting light from stars and galaxies. Telescopes in space
have a clearer view than those on Earth, because they are unaffected by the
Earth’s atmosphere, which absorbs or distorts much of this radiation. There are
a variety of types of space telescope designed to observe different types of light.
The Hubble Space Telescope observes infrared, ultraviolet, and visible light. It
can detect objects that are 100 times fainter than those any telescopes on Earth
can see. When this 12-ton (11,000-kilogram), 43-foot (13-meter) long telescope
was launched by the Space Shuttle in 1990, it was found that its primary mirror CONE NEBULA
was faulty and its images were blurred. Astronauts fitted extra optics to correct
the problem in 1993. Crew handrail
Space shuttle remote High-gain Aft shroud
manipulator system radio
(robot arm) antenna
Guidance
Solar Rotating control
array joint sensor
Axial
instrument unit

Central
deflector
8-foot (2.4-meter)
VIEW FROM COLUMBIA SPACE primary mirror
SHUTTLE
Aperture door
mounting

Secondary
baffle
13-inch (33-cm)
Light
secondary
shield
mirror
Epoxy resin
Aperture
frame
Crew handrail

Aperture
door
Aluminum
shield
Door hinge
EXPLODED VIEW OF HUBBLE Light
SPACE TELESCOPE shield

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