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Inventions That Led Up to the Hubble Telescope

The Hubble telescope is unique in the world of astronomy --- it is the first telescope to look at the sky without the distorting lens of Earth's atmosphere. Because of its advanced technology, the Hubble telescope has provided scientists with a myriad of new data about the universe. Without the inventions that contributed to Hubble's creation, this amazing instrument, and its unprecedented data, would never have been possible.

Terrestrial Telescope
- The telescope was invented in 1608.
  
  The first invention to precede the Hubble telescope is, of course, the terrestrial telescope --- all telescopes that are used from the surface of the Earth. Galileo Galilei was the first scientist to use his telescope to observe the stars and planets, after its invention in 1608 by Flemish spectacle-maker Hans Lipperhey.
  
  The primary difference between the Hubble telescope and a normal telescope is that the Hubble telescope can peer far deeper and more accurately into the depths of space because its images are not obscured by the Earth's atmosphere.
Spectrograph
- An artist's depiction of Isaac Newton's spectrograph experiment.
  
  A spectrograph is an instrument that divides light into its various wavelengths so it can be recorded and analyzed. A very simple spectrograph is a prism, which divides white light into the colors red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. Sir Isaac Newton was one of the first scientists to experiment with prisms, in 1666.
  
  The spectrographs used in the Hubble telescope are much more advanced versions of these simple prisms and are designed to interpret light waves from celestial bodies across the universe. The Hubble's spectrographs capture and analyze light information that help analysts on Earth produce stunning images of distant galaxies, planets and stars.
Infrared Camera
- Infrared technology is used to "see" the heat emitted from celestial bodies.
  
  Infrared light waves were first observed by astronomer Sir William Herschel in 1800. Infrared light beams carry heat but cannot be seen by the human eye. The heat infrared emits is what is viewed and recorded on an infrared camera. The camera captures variations in heat and produces images based on those temperature variations.
  
  American astronomers Seth Nicholson and Edison Pettit observed celestial bodies in infrared for the first time in 1920. Eleven years later, Kodak produced the first film sensitive to infrared light, which opened the door for infrared photography.
  
  Today, the Hubble telescope uses infrared cameras to capture heat imprint images from across the Universe. Hubble combines infrared images with visible light images to produce accurate depictions of far-off planets, galaxies, stars, and other formations.
Global Positioning System
- The ideas used for common GPS was translated to space for the Hubble telescope.
  
  Although the word "global" does not apply to Hubble's positioning system, the triangulation technology used in the telescope's Fine Guidance System was first used on Earth to locate precise points on its surface. Where GPS uses the coordination of satellites to determine a GPS unit's position, the Hubble telescope uses anchor stars to determine the location of the telescope, as well as other bodies, in space. By calculating the distance between Hubble, its anchor stars and an intended object, Hubble can determine where that object resides in space. The Fine Guidance System is also used to rotate and redirect Hubble's view to record information from different points in space.

Astronomy