Age of the universe, the discovery of dark energy, Hubble telescope explores the cosmos since eighty years. For Alain Lecavelier Ponds, the Hubble telescope is a “cornerstone in the understanding of exoplanets and now,today we celebrate the 20th anniversary of Hubble telescope.
What do you think the strong image that best symbolizes the activity of Hubble telescope?
There are many. Those who touch me and that fascinates many people, take the structure of the universe, cosmology with galaxies colliding spectacular supernova. I look like an amateur …
Others, such as the stereotype of the Orion Nebula, have a significance greater professionally. As a teenager, already, I watched with my telescope. The image of this nebula taken by Hubble telescope shows the planetary systems in formation, or young planetary systems and extrasolar planets, exoplanets, are now my research at the Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris.
This is an area where, through its data, Hubble telescope is a cornerstone in understanding – first of the mechanisms at work at the time of formation of these planets, and then their evolution. It was well done after the birth of planets, it still happens a lot of things, that planetary systems continue to evolve …
Hubble telescope systems which provides keys to understanding?
Hubble telescope is part of a whole, but it is true instrumentation – including a spectroscope – has provided us with unique information. We lead by example, to probe the atmosphere of an exoplanet passing in front of its star. Like the HD 209458b – aka “Osiris” – that Hubble has surveyed in great detail. It has been noticed and the evaporation of Osiris.
Warmed by its star, it loses its gas. A planet that evaporates, it was an unexpected finding that may explain the absence of planets very close to their stars. These observations were made with Hubble in the ultraviolet, through the spectroscope repaired by astronauts of the space shuttle Discovery.
There is a know-how, a trademark Hubble telescope?
Surely … There is also a do-that NASA through the Space Telescope Science Institute has orchestrated to make the comments available to the greatest number in a mix of science and communication.
Hubble has become the ambassador of NASA – in some ways his award. It is also one of the best title to fame astronauts ….
Without them and their maintenance tasks we would not be where we are. Even scientists who are not favorable to spaceflight agree …
And tomorrow you expect even more gains linked to Hubble?
The harvest is expected to grow. Today we became aware of the variety of extracurricular planets, Hubble, Spitzer as that observed in the infrared, will allow us to observe tens, identify their differences and classify them. We will go further when it is considered the successor to Hubble, the James Webb Telescope will be launched in 2015.
It will be much more efficient, will sail to 1.5 million kilometers from Earth – 600 km cons for Hubble – it will not be in Earth orbit and the objects under observation no longer be hidden, half the time on our planet! Still, the James Webb will not operate in the ultraviolet. Hubble will be the last space telescopes working in this field.
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