Top 5 Strongest Telescopes On Earth

Our knowledge about the universe is commonly obtained through the telescope. Telescope allows us to see far away into the universe around us that our very own eyes cannot see.

There are so many telescopes that can be found on earth but how does the strength of a telescope is determined? There are several factors that directly influence its role and some of them include the height of the observatory area as well as the lens size.

Here we would like to share with you the top 5 strongest telescopes on earth and just to tell you that size alone will not show how strong the telescope is.

5. Fermi Gamma Ray Space Telescope(GLAST)

The Fermi Gamma Ray Space Telescope(GLAST) detects gamma rays in space. Gamma rays are the shortest wavelength of light and are commonly emitted by a high-energy process in space.

Gamma rays are usually absorbed by the earth's atmosphere. To enable this telescope to accurately research gamma rays, it is placed outside of the earth's atmosphere. By accumulating gamma rays, GLAST will be able to identify further the supermassive black hole, neutron stars, and quasars.

Physicists can study subatomic particles at an energy level far much greater than what can be seen through a particle accelerator based on land. Cosmologists obtain this priceless information about the birth and early evolution of the universe.

The telescope was launched in 2008 and GLAST still remains operational to this day.

4. Spitzer Space Telescope

Spitzer is a telescope designed to detect infrared radiation. Optic telescopes are usually limited to the information that is gathered due to the limitation of the optic light wavelength.

This telescope has enabled scientists to see beyond what regular optic telescopes could not see in space. Spitzer was placed in different orbits from other telescopes. Instead of orbiting the earth, Spitzer orbits the sun in a heliocentric orbit.

The Spitzer's heliocentric orbit causes it to move 0.1 astronomical unit further from the earth each year. This is equivalent to almost 10 miles in distance. This specialized telescope was placed in orbit since infrared telescopes produce a lot of heat but must also remain cool to collect the desired data.

Spitzer emits excessive heat in the vacuum space making it the telescope which uses minimum coolant in the form of liquid helium. After being operational for 16 years, the Spitzer Space telescope was brought out of operation in 2020.

3. Keck Telescope

This is one of the telescopes that is placed on earth as the Keck telescope is handled together by Caltech and the University of California in the Mauna Kea mountains in Hawaii.

It was built back in 1992(Keck 1) and 1996(Keck 2), with a diameter lens of 32.8 feet(10 meters). This telescope has a much bigger lens than the most powerful telescope in the world.

One of the reasons for this telescope being included on this list as it was considered the most powerful based on its height. At the staggering height of 13,599 feet from sea level, there is much less disturbance due to the atmospheric layer here being less compared to sea level.

2. Hubble Space Telescope

Launched in 1990, the Hubble Space telescope gives many people the chance to see the unique imagery of outer space. Hubble has a lens size of 7.8 feet(2.4 meters) which seems not too big if compared to other telescopes on the earth's surface with an average lens of 330 feet.

So what makes the Hubble Space telescope so special? The answer will be on its environment or location. When the telescope is located on the earth's surface, it will have to overcome the earth's atmosphere to see through them. This is known as atmospheric distortion.

On its basis, when light travels through the atmosphere it will be less precise causing the data that will be extracted to have high margins of error. Hubble is at a unique location on top of the atmosphere where it is not subjected to atmospheric distortion.

This is what makes the image on the Hubble Space telescope appear so clear despite having a small lens.

1. James Webb Space Telescope

The James Webb Space telescope orbit around the sun at the end of 2021. This telescope orbit as far as 1 million miles(1.5 million km) on earth with a lens of 21 feet long and 4 inches wide.

As of now, the James Webb Space Telescope is the strongest telescope on earth ready to be used by scientists. It can see a distance of 13.6 billion light years away.

Its two main objectives will be to study the early universe and the exoplanet atmosphere. Considering that this telescope is in its orbit in less than a year, James Webb will surely find much uniqueness and secret to the universe that has yet to be discovered.

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