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The
Hubble Space Telescope (often referred to as
HST or
Hubble) is a
space telescope that was launched into
low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the
first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most versatile and is well known as both a vital research tool and a public relations boon for astronomy. The Hubble telescope is named after astronomer
Edwin Hubble and is one of NASA's
Great Observatories, along with the
Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, the
Chandra X-ray Observatory, and the
Spitzer Space Telescope.
Hubble features a 2.4-meter (7.9 ft) mirror, and its four main instruments observe in the
ultraviolet,
visible, and
near infrared regions of the
electromagnetic spectrum. Hubble's orbit outside the distortion of Earth's atmosphere allows it to take extremely high-resolution images with substantially lower background light than ground-based telescopes. It has recorded some of the most detailed visible light images, allowing a deep view into space. Many Hubble observations have led to breakthroughs in
astrophysics, such as
determining the rate of expansion of the universe.