Through images produced by Hubble, astronomers have proven theories and formulated new concepts. Here are the top five discoveries of the telescope:
Dark energy. Results obtained by the Hubble telescope throughout the 1990s provided one of the most important scientific discoveries of recent decades. Since the 1920s, astronomers have known that the universe is expanding.
Images of the early universe. The telescope achieved an image obtained with exposure time of about 10 days. During the period, the telescope took consecutive images of the same region. The photos were then added together, so scientists were able to produce the deepest image of space ever taken in astronomy.
Age of the universe. Since the Big Bang, the Universe has been expanding, but until recently it was not known how fast it was happening. Using Hubble imagery to measure the distance from Earth to other galaxies and analyze stars called white dwarfs, two groups of scientists have been able to make the most accurate determination to date of the speed of expansion and hence the age of the universe. The results were published in 1999 and 2002 and estimate that the universe is between 12 and 14 billion years old.
Supermassive black holes. The center of galaxies is a region of intense activity, which was credited with the high concentration of stars, gas and dust. Hubble finds that this movement is actually caused by supermassive black holes.
Young planets. Hubble has discovered flat dust disks around young stars, indicating that there are planetary systems in formation.
The important discoveries of Hubble space telescope were on discovering the age of the universe, finding the depths and expanse of the universe, along with researching on the black holes and finding visible wavelength images. Finding planets in the inner solar system like Pluto, and an outer solar system like Exoplanets.
