sponsored motoring ford-future-sessions future-of-science 8206698 ----- # The Hubble Space Telescope: the big picture ## For 20 years the Hubble Space Telescope has shown us amazing images like these. Giles Sparrow, author of Hubble: Window on the Universe, explains why it's a modern marvel. ![Light echoes from a red supergiant star, as captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. ][1] Light echoes from a red supergiant star, as captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. Giles Sparrow 5:37PM GMT 16 Dec 2010 In the two decades since its launch in 1990, Nasa's Hubble Space Telescope has gone from white elephant to scientific powerhouse. Although its 2.4m (8ft) light-gathering mirror is dwarfed by modern Earth- based telescopes, Hubble still gets the sharpest views of the cosmos thanks to its unique vantage point above the atmosphere. Shortcuts during construction saw it launched with an embarrassing flaw - a distorted mirror that initially left the telescope short-sighted. But in 1993 astronauts fitted Hubble with "contact lenses", in the first of five daring servicing missions that have kept it on the cutting edge ever since. Hubble has become the world's best-known telescope thanks to its stunning images of celestial phenomena, ranging from cauldrons of starbirth and planets around other suns to dying stars and distant galaxies. But it has also carried a range of instruments for other types of research, such as measuring the chemistry of distant objects and tracking their movement through space. ## Related Articles * [WIN! a new book about the Hubble Space Telescope's amazing discoveries][2] 17 Dec 2010 * [Images from the Hubble Space Telescope][3] 16 Dec 2010 Perhaps its greatest achievement, however, has been measuring the distance to galaxies many millions of light years away. These precise measurements have allowed astronomers to calculate the rate of cosmic expansion, and hence the size and age of the Universe. Improvements to ground-based instruments mean that Hubble will probably be both the first and last telescope of its kind, but it will leave a spectacular legacy. ### Win a copy of the new Hubble book Hubble: Window on the Universe by Giles Sparrow (Quercus, £20), which showcases the telescope's astonishing contribution to science through a series of 200 spectacular images, is available now. [**Enter here for your chance to win a copy of Hubble: Window on the Universe**][4] [X][5] Share & bookmark Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz [What are these?][6] * Share: [Share][5] [ ][7] [ ][8] [Tweet][9] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/motoring/ford-future-sessions/future-of- science/8206698/The-Hubble-Space-Telescope-the-big-picture.html Telegraph ## [Future of science][10] * ### [Sponsored »][11] * ### [Motoring »][12] * ### [Ford Future Sessions »][13] [X][5] Share & bookmark Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz [What are these?][6] Share: * [ ][5] * [ ][7] * [ ][8] * [Tweet][9] * ![][14] [The Hubble Telescope »][15] ### [WIN! a new book about the Hubble Space Telescope's amazing discoveries][2] [![Light echoes from a red supergiant star, as captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. ][16] ][2] The Telegraph has five copies of Hubble: Window on the Universe by Giles Sparrow, worth £40 each, to give away. ### [The Hubble Space Telescope: the big picture][17] For 20 years the Hubble Space Telescope has shown us amazing images like these. Giles Sparrow, author of Hubble: Window on the Universe, explains why it's a modern marvel. ### [Images from the Hubble Space Telescope][3] [![Images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope from Giles Sparrow's Hubble: Window on the Universe. ][18]][3] Images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope from the book Hubble: Window on the Universe. [The new silicon? »][19] ### [Graphene: our miracle material][20] [![Graphene is a planar sheet of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal pattern. Stacked graphene sheets form graphite, used in pencils. ][21] ][20] Graphene is harder than diamond, just a single molecule thick and conducts electricity. Kat Hannaford talks to the two Nobel prize-winning scientists who discovered it about why it could revolutionise everything. 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