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- LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory)
Recently NASA retired its Kepler space telescope as it ran out of fuel.
HUBBLE TELESCOPEIt was built by the United States space agency NASA, with contributions from the European Space Agency. NASA named the world’s first space-based optical telescope after American astronomer Edwin P. Hubble (1889 — 1953). Dr. Hubble confirmed an “expanding” universe, which provided the foundation for the big-bang theory. It is a large space telescope and was launched in 1990 and is still operational. It is expected to decay by 2030-2040 Hubble features a 2.4-meter mirror, and its four main instruments include ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum It is the only telescope that has been designed in a manner that it can be serviced by astronauts in space. Till date 5 Space Shuttle missions have been conducted to repair and upgrade the parts of the telescope LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory)It is the world’s largest gravitational wave observatory and wonder of precision engineering. It comprises of two enormous laser interferometers located thousands of kilometers apart, each having two arms which are 4 km long. It exploits the physical properties of light and of space itself to detect and understand the origins of Gravitational Waves (GW). Gravitational waves are created when two black holes orbit each other and merge. the first gravitational wave was actually detected by LIGO only in 2015. LIGO detectors Two LIGO detectors work as one unit to ensure a remarkable precision, which is needed to detect a signal as weak as a gravitational wave. Its detector components are completely isolated and sheltered from the outside world. Unlike optical or radio telescopes, it does not see electromagnetic radiation (e.g., visible light, radio waves, and microwaves) because gravitational waves are not part of the electromagnetic spectrum. It doesn’t need to collect light from stars; it doesn’t need to be round or dish-shaped like optical telescope mirrors or radio telescope dishes, both of which focus EM radiation to produce images. Download 2.63 Mb. Share with your friends:
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