Word: supersharp
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...taking supersharp pictures of space, the go-to telescope is the Hubble, in orbit above the earth. But astronomers can't just use the space telescope whenever they feel like it; they have to bid for time on the badly oversubscribed instrument. After about 2010, when the aging Hubble starts to fail, astronomers won't be able...
Will adaptive optics make space telescopes obsolete? Not entirely. Space is still the best place to take supersharp pictures in ordinary light. And some radiation--ultraviolet, for example, and some wavelengths of infrared--can't penetrate the atmosphere at all. Moreover, telescopes radiate infrared light of their own, which contaminates celestial images. That's why NASA's plan to launch a Next Generation Space Telescope by 2009 still makes sense. With an 8-m mirror of its own, NGST will be able to see distant galaxies, for example, that no earthly telescope could ever see through the glare...
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