Departmental Colloquium
- Title
- The Hubble Space Telescope: 30 Years of Cosmic Discovery
- Guest Speaker
- Dr. Jennifer Wiseman
- Guest Affiliation
- Hubble Space Telescope Senior Project Scientist NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
- When
- Thursday, November 5, 2020 3:55 pm - 4:55 pm
- Location
- Zoom Meeting
- Details
-
The Hubble Space Telescope is operating at peak scientific capability even 30 years after its launch, thanks to successful astronaut servicing missions and operations that keep the observatory in top condition. I will review the premiere scientific advancements achieved by Hubble, including both those that were planned at launch (e.g. measuring the Hubble constant) and many that were never dreamed of at launch (e.g. finding evidence for dark energy; analyzing exoplanet atmospheres). Hubble and ground-based observations together led to the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the universe and a resulting Nobel Prize. Hubble observations are now driving new quests in Multi-Messenger Astronomy and in revealing fundamental discrepancies in cosmological measurements. Hubble programs are also preparing the field for JWST, the Roman Space Telescope, and other future missions, and are contributing critical data in coordination with ground-based observatories and solar system probes like JUNO. I will discuss how Hubble can be used in its coming final years to provide the best science return, complementing other space-based and ground-based observatories and setting the stage for future breakthroughs in astrophysics.