Hubble’s Amazing Journey tracks the startling discoveries made by the famous space telescope

The spectacular Red Spider Nebula is 3,000 light-years away and in the constellation of Sagittarius
The spectacular Red Spider Nebula is 3,000 light-years away and in the constellation of Sagittarius. Cr: ESA/NASA

Hubble’s Amazing Journey takes a look at the remarkable discoveries that have been made by the world’s most famous space telescope.

Hubble was named after the famous astronomer Edwin Hubble and has given us tantalising images of distant nebulas, astrophysical jets and even exoplanets.

A lenticular galaxy
A lenticular galaxy that is thought to be swallowing up two nearby dwarf galaxies. Credit ESA/NASA

However, when it was first launched over 25 years ago the telescope was seen as a bit of a disaster. Costing  $2.8bn, the expectations for the telescope were sky high and so when the first images came back blurry the blame game really started.

The Toucan and the cluster
The Toucan and the cluster. Credit: ESA/NASA

It turned out there was an optical fault on the mirror and this was ruining all the pictures. Luckily a reverse image of the fault was manufacturer and a Shuttle mission managed to make a full repair.

Since then Hubble has opened the deep parts of the universe to our examination and must rate as one of the most important developments in our exploration of space.

Hubble had teething troubles but has been a huge success
Hubble had teething troubles but has been a huge success. Credit: NASA

Hubble’s website is offline just now but you can find out more at NASA’s site.
Take a peek through Hubble’s Amazing Journey at 8 PM on National Geographic Channel.

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