The primary capabilities of the telescope are in the ultraviolet and visible parts of the spectrum from 100 to 800 nanometers, though the telescope can also see light with wavelengths as long as 2,500 nanometers.ĪCS is used predominantly to collect light in visible wavelengths but is also capable of seeing ultraviolet and near-infrared light. Hubble's cameras can see the universe from the infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum through visible light wavelengths all the way up to ultraviolet light. As a result, the telescope's 7.8-foot-wide (2.4 meters) primary mirror collects an immense amount of light across a wide range of wavelengths that ground telescopes can't see and curves it toward the telescope's instruments and cameras. One of the advantages that Hubble has as it zooms around Earth about 15 times each day is that it can pick up wavelengths of light that would normally be absorbed by our planet's atmosphere. (Image credit: NASA, STScI) What wavelengths does Hubble see? Related: NASA's Hubble Space Telescope servicing missions (photos)Ī diagram showing the range of light Hubble is capable of seeing.

Because elements and chemicals emit and absorb light at characteristic wavelengths, Hubble allows astronomers to learn about the composition of the objects it observes. The spectrometers break light down so its component parts can be seen. Other observational devices among Hubble's total of six instruments are its two spectrometers, the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS), and the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS). The space telescope's previous cameras include the Wide Field and Planetary Camera, the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2, the High-Speed Photometer and the Faint Object Camera. Hubble had cameras prior to the installation of these instruments, of course. That 2009 repair was performed during Hubble's Servicing Mission 4, which also installed the WFC3 system, now the telescope's main imager. Astronauts were able to repair one of the cameras two years later, restoring the ability of ACS to take high-resolution, wide-field pictures. Two of those channels became inoperable in 2007 due to an electronics failure. The ACS system is composed of three cameras or 'channels' that capture different types of images, allowing Hubble to perform surveys and broad imaging campaigns. Both camera systems were installed on Hubble by spacewalking astronauts after the observatory's April 1990 launch aboard the space shuttle Discovery.ĪCS joined Hubble in 2002 and was designed primarily for wide-field imagery in visible wavelengths. Working in unison, the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) are able to provide astronomers with wide-field imaging over a broad range of wavelengths. Hubble has two primary camera systems, according to NASA, which the telescope uses to observe the universe from its position roughly 332 miles (535 kilometers) above Earth's surface.

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