The Hubble telescope is celebrating 20 years of stargazing this year. Launched in 1990, Hubble orbits the Earth sending back images of the universe. Scientists have been able to use Hubble to help more accurately determine the age of the universe (somewhere between 13-14 billions years old, just in case you were wondering) and the telescope also played a key role in the discovery of dark matter.
Any ground-based telescope has to contend with Earth’s atmosphere blocking and distorting the light that reaches our planet, but by placing Hubble in space we have been able to see the universe far more clearly than ever before. Some of the images that it has captured have been breathtaking.
Find out more about Hubble from it’s very own NASA website here, or why not follow it on twitter. Hubble is a great way to start a classroom discussion on a wide range of issues concerning the Universe, from the origins and ends of the universe to the question of whether there is life on other planets.
Why not use the ever popular Marketplace technique to cover all the possible sides of the discussion. Also just launched around the UK is the brand new Hubble 3D IMAX film currently showing at the Science Museum, click here for more information.