Roman Franz Martinu

Hubble Telescope Roman Franz Martinu

Look at the night sky, and you see primarily darkness. A vast multitude of glittering sparks drift over our heads, scattered across the sky. Our gaze registers their beauty but little else. Our vision cannot bring these dazzling pinpoints into focus, observe their true nature. To our eyes, they are mysteries. Since the days of Galileo, humanity has sought to move beyond the limited vision of biology. Telescopes have brought the heavens to Earth, exposed the distant treasures of the universe, revealed countless galaxies cloaked within the apparent darkness. And perhaps no telescope has done so much to bring the wonder and reality of the universe home as the Hubble Space Telescope. Launched in 1990, Hubble - a joint project of NASA and the European Space Agency - orbits Earth 353 miles (569 km) above the planet's surface. Its position allows it to circle free of Earth's atmosphere, which distorts and blocks light from the cosmos. This gives Hubble a pristine view typically unmatchable by ground-based telescopes. As the telescope whips around Earth once every 97 minutes, it collects light - much more light than our human eyes can hope to capture on their own. Light that reveals everything from the nature of storms on Jupiter to some of the most distant galaxies in the universe. Where we see points of light, Hubble sees structure. Where we see a haze, Hubble sees detail. And where we see darkness, Hubble finds the dim glow of the early universe. Hubble's explorations have helped answer some of the most compelling cosmic mysteries of our time - and uncovered a host of new questions, new mysteries awaiting the gaze of future telescopes to further push back the darkness.