Peering through the fog
exist 24 and first organic molecules detected in an exoplanet atmosphere 25 – demonstrating the capacity of space telescopes to advance astronomy, even though they are not among the largest of all telescopes. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), a successor to the HST, started observations in 2022, 26 and it is already the source of several exciting results. Conclusion Of course, the vacuum of space is in no ways a forgiving environment and carries its own unique difficulties which rarely come into play in an earthbound setting such as interference from cosmic rays, 27 extremely challenging servicing operations 28 or vacuum outgassing. 29 Not to mention that costs of sending material into space are still ridiculously high. For the time being, much of the cutting-edge astronomy is still being done on the ground and still peers through our atmosphere – using the mitigation methods and technologies outlined above to push back on the fundamental limitations that it poses.
Sources for figures Figure 1: Thomas, M. Astronomical Refraction
https://spsweb.fltops.jpl.nasa.gov/portaldataops/mpg/MPG_Docs/Source%20Docs/A stronomicalRefraction.pdf. Consulted: 26/08/2025
Figure 2: Parkerson S. ‘How an atmospheric dispersion corrector works’, https://astronomytechnologytoday.com/2017/07/06/atmospheric-dispersioncorrector/. Consulted: 29/08/2025. Figure 3: Stephan, H et al. (2009) ‘The AstraLux Sur Lucky Imaging Instrument at the NTT’, The Messenger 137: 3. Figure 4: Gemini Observatory. ‘Gemini releases historic discovery image of planetary “first family”’, https://www.gemini.edu/news/press-releases/gemini0808. Consulted: 26/08/2025. Figure 5: ESO/P. Weilbacher (AIP) ‘Neptune from the VLT with and without adaptive optics’, https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1824b/. Consulted: 26/08/2025. Figure 6: Wikimedia/Ravizza F. ‘Panoroma of Mauna Kea Observatories’, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Panoroma_of_Mauna_Kea_Observatories.jp g. Consulted: 26/08/2025.
24 NASA. ‘Hubble mission team NASA’s Hubble Space telescope discovers a disk fueling a possible black hole’, https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/nasas-hubble-space-telescope-discovers-a-disk-fueling-a-possible- black-hole/. Consulted: 26/08/2025 25 NASA. ‘Hubble mission team Hubble finds first organic molecule on an exoplanet’, https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/hubble-finds-first-organic-molecule-on-an-exoplanet/. Consulted: 26/08/2025. 26 NASA. ‘NASA’s Webb delivers deepest image of universe yet’, https://webbtelescope.org/contents/newsreleases/2022/news-2022-035. Consulted: 26/08/2025. 27 Giardino, G. et al. (2019) ‘The impact of cosmic rays on the sensitivity of JWST/NIRSpec’, Astronomical Society of the Pacific 131: 1003. 28 NASA. ‘Servicing Mission 1’, https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/observatory/missions-to- hubble/servicingmission-1/. Consulted: 26/08/2025. 29 Goddard Space Center. ‘Selection of spacecraft materials & supporting vacuum outgassing data’, https://extapps.ksc.nasa.gov/Reliability/Documents/Preferred_Practices/1410.pdf. Consulted: 26/08/2025.
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