🔭 Hubble’s Resolution Problem & The Future of Space Telescopes 🚀 📷 Ever wonder why Hubble doesn’t capture every star in ultra-crisp detail? It’s not about distance—it’s about the size of its mirror. ✨ Hubble’s Limitation: Its 2.4-meter mirror avoids atmospheric distortion (since it’s in SPACE) but is too small to overcome diffraction limits. Bigger mirrors = sharper images! But launching a massive solid mirror is… not exactly easy. 🔥 Enter the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST): A 6.5-meter segmented mirror coated in gold to maximize infrared light detection. Infrared vision lets it pierce through cosmic dust and see deeper into the early universe. 🚀 The Next Leap: Space Interferometry Instead of one big mirror, why not link multiple telescopes in space? Interferometry combines signals from multiple smaller telescopes to create a ‘virtual’ telescope as large as the distance between them. Think of it like synthesizing a mirror the size of a football field! 🏟️ 🔬 MIT’s LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna): A future gravitational wave observatory using three spacecraft flying in formation. Measures tiny ripples in spacetime from black holes, neutron stars, and more. The future of space telescopes is about going BIG—but in a smart way. 🌌 Stay tuned for next-gen observatories that will make even JWST seem like yesterday’s tech! 🚀✨
#Hubble #JamesWebb #SpaceTelescopes #Interferometry #MITLISA #Astronomy #NASA #Astrophysics