Hubble Space Telescope
The Hubble Space Telescope is a large telescope orbiting Earth since 1990, which has studied asteroids, comets and many other objects.
The Hubble Space Telescope is a telescope with a 2.4-metre mirror that has orbited Earth since April 1990. Because it is above the atmosphere, it sees sharply and can detect ultraviolet light that does not reach the ground.
Though famous for galaxies and nebulae, Hubble has made many discoveries close to home. In 1994 it watched pieces of Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 slam into Jupiter. In 1997 it imaged Vesta and revealed a giant crater at its south pole, now called Rheasilvia, which was the likely source of the HED meteorites. It has tracked the break-up of comets, measured interstellar visitors and photographed the debris from the DART impact in 2022.
Hubble was serviced by astronauts five times between 1993 and 2009. It continues to work alongside the newer James Webb Space Telescope, which observes mainly in infrared light.
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Level: Beginner Ages 7 and up