Jan. 2-8, 2014, Current Events Lesson Plan
Current Event:
The Hubble Space Telescope recently photographed 58 galaxies that had been too faint, small, and ancient to be seen by even the most powerful telescopes. The images show the galaxies as they appeared some 10 billion years ago, only 4 billion years after the Big Bang, the event that scientists believe created the universe. The newly detected galaxies are about 100 times as faint as previously discovered ancient galaxies. The images were taken by Hubble’s new Frontier Fields program, a three-year survey of the ancient universe using ultraviolet light. Even so, the galaxies would have remained hidden without the magnification provided by a group of galaxies known as Pandora’s Cluster, which lies between Earth and the galaxies. In a phenomenon known as gravitation lensing, the Pandora Cluster acted like a zoom lens. Its gravitational force “bent” the light from the galaxies, focusing and brightening it.
Objective:
The Hubble Space Telescope is a powerful orbiting telescope that provides sharper images of heavenly bodies than other telescopes do. The telescope is named after American astronomer Edwin P. Hubble, who made fundamental contributions to astronomy in the 1920′s. The space shuttle Discovery launched the telescope into orbit in 1990. In orbit about 380 miles (610 kilometers) above Earth, the Hubble Space Telescope views the heavens without looking through Earth’s atmosphere. Because an orbiting telescope is above the atmosphere, it can produce pictures in much finer detail than a ground-based telescope can. The Hubble Space Telescope can also observe ultraviolet and infrared light that is blocked by the atmosphere. The Behind the Headlines news stories and related World Book articles explore the Hubble Space Telescope and other astronomical topics.
Words to know:
- Astronomy
- Big Bang
- Edwin P. Hubble
- Galaxy
- Hubble Space Telescope
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
- Telescope
Discussion Topics:
1. Ask your students to debate, “Space exploration is important.”
2. Ask your students to debate, “Astronomy is the most interesting school subject.”
3. Ask your students to use World Book’s Timelines feature to create a timeline of the history of the Hubble Space Telescope. (Students may wish to use the “History” section of World Book’s Hubble Space Telescope article for help.)