Answers and Questions

During its observations, Hubble has pro­vided some amazing, and often very beautiful, images of galaxies, nebulas, and individual stars. The data it has col­lected has helped to solve some long­standing problems in astronomy.

The telescope has taken pictures of galaxies more than 12 billion light-years away. A light-year is the distance that light travels in a year, so the light that Hubble receives from such distant sources began its journey 12 billion years ago. Hubble has given scientists their most detailed look at the farthest known galaxies in the universe. It has also detected evidence about the atoms present in the atmosphere of a distant planet far beyond our own solar system. Such distant objects are too far away to be visited by a spacecraft, so scientists rely on Hubble for evidence that may answer one of the great questions of modern science: Are there any worlds outside our solar system where the con­ditions for life exist?

SEE ALSO:

• Challenger and Columbia

• Future of Spaceflight • Satellite

• Space Shuttle

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