Q&A: General Astronomy and Space Science
How many years is the Hubble telescope scheduled to be in
operation, and what is next. Hubble can see 11 billion
light years into the known universe ... how far will the next
telescope reach?
The Hubble Telescope should be in operation until at least 2007
and, we hope beyond. The Next Generation
Space Telescope (NGST) is in the conceptual design phase. It is
planned for 2007. With a diameter of 6 to 8 meters, it will be
optimized for cosmological studies in the near infrared. It
should be able to see galaxies that have spectral redshifts of
ten or more, corresponding to more than 90% of the way back to
the beginning of the expansion of the universe, that is, the Big
Bang. Estimates of the age of the universe vary from 12 to 20
billion years. If we take a number in the middle, such as 16
billion years, then the NGST will see objects that are more than
14 billion light years away. One of the most exciting prospects
for the NGST is that astronomers will be able to see back to the
time before galaxies formed.
