The Hubble telescope, which is now more than 30 years old, is approaching the end of its useful life if POT It does not remedy it and decides to send a mission to raise its orbit and prevent it from colliding with the atmosphere and being destroyed, which is why an international movement has emerged calling for its salvation.
One of the premises driving this movement is that no other telescope currently offers the capabilities of Hubble to study ultraviolet light and blue stars.
The revolution that Hubble implied for astronomy was “greater than what James Webb has meant”indicated the researcher from the Cantabria Institute of Physics (IFCA-CISC-UC), in Spain, Jose Maria Diego.
Specifically, Diego has used the James Webb in research by an international team, led by astronomer Andrew Newman, from the Carnegie Institution for Science, in Washington, in which he and his IFCA colleague Ana Acebron participate.
In this research, it has been possible to measure the mass of a huge black hole located in a very distant galaxy, which originated when the universe began to form.. And it is expected that the images captured will help resolve the doubt about how and at what rate the Universe expands.
Hubble is unique
In an interview with EFE, Diego pointed out, despite the fact that his latest work was carried out with the James Webb, that the Hubble telescope remains a unique instrument today.
“We don’t have anything else that is comparable. Unfortunately, Hubble is in orbit around the Earth, while James Webb is much further away, and little by little it is falling”said this researcher.
Thus, it is estimated that in 2030 it will reach a point where the friction with the outside of the atmosphere will be so great that in a few months it will fall into the sea. “if nothing is done.”
And an international effort has emerged to convince NASA and the Administration of USA to promote a robotic mission with a remote satellite that pushes Hubble “up a few kilometers so it can last about 10 more years.”
“In a year or so we will know if this mission is adopted. We have to start making t-shirts saying ‘Hubble must be saved’ because it is a fabulous instrument,” the researcher joked.
Neither new nor expensive
Diego is optimistic because “it is something that has already been done.” “Commercial missions have been saved with robotic missions, it is neither new nor tremendously expensive”he stated.
And he valued the “enormous” scientific return that extending Hubble’s life until 2040 would have. “There are things that can only be done with this telescope today,” he stressed.
“It is assumed that in 2040 there will be a successor to Hubble. But we are going to be there for 10 years blind in ultraviolet and in the bluest part of the optic. I am optimistic. It is something that even in the face of the United States Administration, which really likes everything media, is being tried,” he stated.