Exploring the Field of View of the Hubble Telescope

In summary, The Hubble Telescope's planetary camera has a field of view of 2.5' x 2', with the ' representing arcminutes. Arcminutes are used in space photography to measure small angles due to the large distances involved. This is similar to using radians to measure distance in a circle. Arc-seconds, which are even smaller, are also used to measure objects in space. The moon is roughly 30' across while Jupiter is roughly 30" across.
  • #1
big man
254
1
I was just reading about the Hubble Telescope and I saw something saying that the planetary camera on it had a field of view of 2.5' x 2'.
I don't actually know anything about astronomy so I was just curious what the field of view is? I found that the ' meant arcminutes, but that doesn' help me really with what the field of view is.

Cheers
 
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  • #2
well I am not an expert on space photography but i know that an arc minute is 1/60 of a degree. space telescopes use arcminutes as units to measure extremely small angles because of the extremely large (relatively speaking) distances from the object they observe. think of it as a unit of distance like a radian of a circle: 2.5' by 2'. do u see it?
 
  • #3
so is it really just the angular area that the camera can cover?
 
  • #4
big man said:
so is it really just the angular area that the camera can cover?
Yes, it is called angular distension. One arc-minute is almost exactly 1 inch at 300 feet. Target shooters would throw away a gun that can't shoot 1" groups at 100 yards.

In space though, an arc-minute is quite large for some objects, so they are measured in arc-seconds (1/60th of an arc-minute, 1/3600th of a degree). I've seen a lot of double stars with a separation of only about 0.8 arc-seconds (homebuilt scope).
 
  • #5
FYI, the moon is roughly 30' across, while Jupiter is roughly 30" across (variable).
 

1. What is the Hubble Telescope and what does it do?

The Hubble Telescope is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990. It is designed to capture high-resolution images of celestial objects, such as planets, stars, galaxies, and nebulae, and transmit them back to Earth for scientific research.

2. How far can the Hubble Telescope see?

The Hubble Telescope has a field of view that extends up to 10-15 billion light years away, which means it can capture images of objects that existed when the universe was only a few hundred million years old.

3. How does the Hubble Telescope capture images?

The Hubble Telescope uses a combination of mirrors, lenses, and detectors to capture images. Light from the celestial objects is collected by the primary mirror, which reflects it to a secondary mirror and then to the scientific instruments. The detectors then convert the light into digital signals, which are transmitted back to Earth.

4. What is the resolution of the images captured by the Hubble Telescope?

The Hubble Telescope has a resolution of 0.1 arcseconds, which is about 50 times better than ground-based telescopes. This means it can capture images with incredible detail and clarity, allowing scientists to study celestial objects in great depth.

5. What discoveries have been made using the Hubble Telescope?

The Hubble Telescope has made numerous groundbreaking discoveries, including the first images of planets outside our solar system, the proof of the existence of dark energy, and the age and expansion rate of the universe. It has also provided valuable insights into the formation and evolution of galaxies, stars, and other celestial objects.

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