Regional Science Centre & Planetarium, Calicut will be organising a exhibition titled “25 Years of Hubble Space Telescope”. Background
The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is a space telescope of very high quality. A space telescope is any instrument placed in outer space that is used for observation of distant planets, galaxies and other outer space objects. HST was launched into low Earth orbit in
1990, and remains in operation. With a 2.4-meter mirror, Hubble's four main instruments observe in the near ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared spectra. The telescope is named after the astronomer Edwin Hubble, whose one of the prime contribution was to show that the galaxies are moving away from each other, thereby displaying high redshift. Hubble's orbit outside the distortion of Earth's atmosphere allows it to take extremely high-resolution images with negligible background light. Hubble has recorded some of the most detailed visible-light images ever, allowing a deep view into space and time. Many Hubble observations have led to breakthroughs in astrophysics, such as accurately determining the rate of expansion of the universe. Although not the first space telescope, Hubble is one of the largest and most versatile, and is well known as both a vital research tool and a public relations boon for astronomy. The HST was built by the United States space agency NASA, with contributions from the European Space Agency, and is operated by the Space Telescope Science Institute. Exhibition
To mark the unique contribution of HST for the past 25 years as well as educating and informing the residents of Malabar region, this centre will be organising an exhibition during the third week of July 2015. The exhibition will consist a very large static replica of HST showcasing the different components of the telescope. It will have diorama of the launch of the HST as well as models of different repair missions carried out in space to upgrade as well as correct some of the optics used in the telescope. There will be model showcasing the corss section of a refractor and a reflector. Also there will be models of the next generation space telescope called “James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)”. There will be computer kiosk displaying movies, animations relating to the working of HST. There will a large number of large panels showcasing the spectacular images captured by HST, which otherwise would have been impossible to capture with astonishing clarity from an earth based telescope.
