1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,431 Hubble has given us 26 years of remarkable observations 2 00:00:05,432 --> 00:00:07,335 But what comes next? 3 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:12,583 Over the last two years we have asked some of its most loyal users 4 00:00:12,600 --> 00:00:14,404 advocates, and staff 5 00:00:14,649 --> 00:00:18,341 what they think we can we expect from the telescope’s future. 6 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:21,600 Now it’s the time to share their answers 7 00:00:21,700 --> 00:00:24,863 and their hopes for the future of Hubble. 8 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:26,200 Thirty years from now, 9 00:00:26,200 --> 00:00:29,937 Hubble will be remembered as the telescope that transformed our view of the Universe. 10 00:00:29,937 --> 00:00:33,850 So I think that legacy is secure. What is much more interesting is what will it do next, 11 00:00:33,850 --> 00:00:36,741 and how will it lay the groundwork for the James Webb Telescope? 12 00:00:54,200 --> 00:00:57,500 Hubble’s legacy is undeniable, 13 00:00:57,510 --> 00:00:59,177 and the research it has spawned 14 00:00:59,177 --> 00:01:03,240 has already made a huge impact on our knowledge of the Universe. 15 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:07,908 I mean, it’s told us how old the Universe is, 16 00:01:08,100 --> 00:01:10,516 it’s told us what the early galaxies look like. 17 00:01:10,516 --> 00:01:12,605 And it has produced a whole range of wonderful images 18 00:01:12,605 --> 00:01:15,900 and it engaged the whole population in astronomy 19 00:01:15,900 --> 00:01:19,550 in a way that we have not seen with any other telescope in human history. 20 00:01:19,550 --> 00:01:22,300 And it’s been the most productive telescope in human history. 21 00:01:22,600 --> 00:01:26,098 But instead of looking at the achievements in Hubble’s past, 22 00:01:26,098 --> 00:01:28,652 it’s time to look forward. 23 00:01:28,652 --> 00:01:32,390 What might be in store for the telescope in the future? 24 00:01:32,900 --> 00:01:35,700 A major field Hubble has left to explore 25 00:01:35,700 --> 00:01:38,235 is the study of exoplanets 26 00:01:38,235 --> 00:01:40,905 — planets orbiting other stars. 27 00:01:40,906 --> 00:01:43,900 Planets which, when Hubble was launched, 28 00:01:43,900 --> 00:01:45,842 we had never seen. 29 00:01:45,842 --> 00:01:51,090 Now, there are many telescopes dedicated to finding these alien worlds 30 00:01:51,095 --> 00:01:54,344 and nearly 2000 have been discovered. 31 00:01:58,950 --> 00:02:01,787 Once they are identified, 32 00:02:01,787 --> 00:02:06,013 Hubble plays a critical role in finding out what these planets are like: 33 00:02:06,013 --> 00:02:07,592 How hot are they? 34 00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:09,658 What are they made of? 35 00:02:09,658 --> 00:02:11,200 How much water do they possess? 36 00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:13,443 And much more. 37 00:02:13,600 --> 00:02:16,200 Because the discovery rate for exoplanets is so fast 38 00:02:16,300 --> 00:02:19,457 and this is such a fast-moving field, 39 00:02:19,457 --> 00:02:21,850 the planets we have to study now are much better 40 00:02:21,860 --> 00:02:23,900 than even a couple of years ago, 41 00:02:23,950 --> 00:02:26,800 and this is going to continue throughout the end of Hubble’s lifetime. 42 00:02:26,810 --> 00:02:27,500 So every successive year 43 00:02:27,500 --> 00:02:29,650 there are new and better planets to look at 44 00:02:29,650 --> 00:02:32,450 that we didn't have even just last year, even just last month! 45 00:02:32,500 --> 00:02:36,200 You know, the actual discovery rate is that exciting. 46 00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:42,970 The spectral capabilities of Hubble now, 47 00:02:42,980 --> 00:02:45,550 are so much better than they were a few years ago 48 00:02:45,550 --> 00:02:50,723 that the science questions we are asking are spectacular: 49 00:02:50,780 --> 00:02:53,600 How much water is on a planet? 50 00:02:53,600 --> 00:02:59,000 You can potentially map out a planet and actually look at one side of the planet compared to the other. 51 00:02:59,002 --> 00:03:02,000 So there are science questions we are going to be addressing 52 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:05,759 which I think will blow people away. 53 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:09,567 The exoplanets Hubble has studied, 54 00:03:09,600 --> 00:03:11,550 though hardly close neighbours, 55 00:03:11,550 --> 00:03:13,800 are within our own galaxy. 56 00:03:14,500 --> 00:03:18,600 Other discoveries are likely to lie much, much, further afield. 57 00:03:20,309 --> 00:03:22,450 The Hubble Deep Fields 58 00:03:22,550 --> 00:03:27,296 are among the most influential images the telescope has ever taken. 59 00:03:27,296 --> 00:03:31,350 But Hubble can look even deeper into the cosmos 60 00:03:31,546 --> 00:03:37,165 by using the Universe’s natural gravitational lenses to magnify distant objects 61 00:03:37,165 --> 00:03:41,414 — something that’s being done through the Frontier Fields programme. 62 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:46,360 We will be studying places in the sky 63 00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:49,800 where the most massive objects in the Universe are, 64 00:03:49,800 --> 00:03:52,100 even the strong lensing clusters. 65 00:03:52,100 --> 00:03:55,800 Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity tells us that 66 00:03:55,991 --> 00:04:01,169 these massive objects actually bend space and time around them. 67 00:04:01,169 --> 00:04:04,200 And so galaxies that are behind these clusters 68 00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:07,500 will appear brighter and larger than they would otherwise. 69 00:04:07,500 --> 00:04:10,759 So basically these things act as nature's telescopes. 70 00:04:10,759 --> 00:04:12,359 So we will be using Hubble 71 00:04:12,359 --> 00:04:18,000 with these natural telescopes to peer deeper into the Universe than we have ever been able to before. 72 00:04:18,600 --> 00:04:22,212 Well, first I think the deeper the better. 73 00:04:22,212 --> 00:04:24,918 If we can have programmes 74 00:04:24,918 --> 00:04:29,631 to follow up all these Hubble Deep Fields programmes further 75 00:04:29,631 --> 00:04:33,000 and even over a patch of sky 76 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:35,200 and just look deeper and deeper and deeper, 77 00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:37,573 almost all the way back to the beginning, 78 00:04:37,573 --> 00:04:38,962 I think it’s wonderful, 79 00:04:38,970 --> 00:04:42,180 because the amazing thing with those Hubble deep fields is that 80 00:04:42,180 --> 00:04:44,966 when we first looked at them the reaction was, 81 00:04:44,966 --> 00:04:49,100 after so many years of just talking about how these galaxies formed, 82 00:04:49,100 --> 00:04:51,584 we see how these galaxies form. 83 00:04:51,584 --> 00:04:54,584 We actually see it, we see a time sequence, in time. 84 00:04:54,584 --> 00:04:58,053 We see how it evolved with time — because we live in a time machine 85 00:04:58,053 --> 00:05:01,443 I think if we can extend it a bit more that’s wonderful 86 00:05:01,443 --> 00:05:04,300 and then also to look at different environments. 87 00:05:04,350 --> 00:05:07,450 The way galaxies look in dense environments 88 00:05:07,450 --> 00:05:09,377 what we call clusters of galaxies, 89 00:05:09,377 --> 00:05:11,954 compared with the field. 90 00:05:11,954 --> 00:05:16,550 I think in those two areas Hubble can still do a fine job. 91 00:05:18,550 --> 00:05:21,000 So Hubble’s work is far from over. 92 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:27,000 There is much left to learn, and many new questions yet to be posed. 93 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:29,000 And the astronomers know this. 94 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:34,000 There are still thousands of astronomers waiting for the chance to use Hubble for their research 95 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:40,000 with ten times as many applications to use the telescope than can be accommodated! 96 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:45,000 Hubble is just at the peak of its power now. 97 00:05:45,000 --> 00:05:48,000 We are learning new ways to use the Hubble, 98 00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:52,000 we haven't even scratched the surface of what we can do with exoplanets. 99 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:58,000 We’ve got this new approach of using gravitational lenses to actually magnify the Universe 100 00:05:58,000 --> 00:06:01,000 in ways that we won’t be able to get to until we get to JWST. 101 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:04,000 We are learning new things about stellar populations. 102 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:07,000 In some sense, the discoveries are just beginning, 103 00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:11,000 yet again we are on another regeneration of discoveries. 104 00:06:11,500 --> 00:06:15,000 Transcribed by ESA/Hubble. Translated by ---