Hubble Space Telescope (HST)
The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is a 2.5m diameter telescope operating at Ultraviolet, Optical, and Near-infrared wavelengths. It is a cooperative program of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for the benefit of the international astronomical community. HST provides high-resolution data that is used to understand the structure within galaxies and differentiate the light originating from stars from that originating from black holes. It also has the sensitivity to see the faintest and most distant galaxies.
Spitzer Space Telescope
Spitzer is a 85cm diameter telescope operating at Infrared and Mid-infrared wavelengths. The Spitzer Space Telescope is the final mission in NASA's Great Observatories Program — a family of four space-based observatories, each observing the Universe in a different kind of light. The other missions in the program include the visible-light Hubble Space Telescope (HST), Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory (CGRO), and the Chandra X-Ray Observatory (CXO). Spitzer allows scientists to peer into cosmic regions that are hidden from optical telescopes, including dusty stellar nurseries and the centers of galaxies as well as seeing starlight from very distant galaxies at the edge of the universe.
Herschel is a 3.5m diameter telescope operating at mid-infrared, far-infrared, and sub-mm wavelengths. Operated by the European Space Agency, Herschel is the largest, infrared telescope ever flown in space. Herschel data allows scientists to probe the origin and evolution of stars and galaxies to help understand how the Universe came to be the way it is today.
Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX)
The Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) is an orbiting space telescope observing galaxies in ultraviolet light across 10 billion years of cosmic history. GALEX’s observations are telling scientists how galaxies, the basic structures of our Universe, evolve and change. Additionally, GALEX observations are investigating the causes of star formation during a period when most of the stars and elements we see today had their origins.
The European Space Agency's (ESA) X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission (XMM-Newton) was launched by an Ariane 504 on December 10th 1999. XMM-Newton is ESA's second cornerstone of the Horizon 2000 Science Programme. It carries 3 high throughput X-ray telescopes with an unprecedented effective area, and an optical monitor, the first flown on a X-ray observatory. The large collecting area and ability to make long uninterrupted exposures provide highly sensitive observations. These data allow astronomers to find black holes and see the hot gas in clusters of galaxies.
NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, which was launched and deployed by Space Shuttle Columbia on July 23, 1999, is the most sophisticated X-ray observatory built to date. Chandra is designed to observe high resolution X-rays images from high-energy regions of the universe. These data allow astronomers to find black holes and see the hot gas in clusters of galaxies.
Jansky Very Large Array (J-VLA)
The Jansky Very Large Array, one of the world's premier astronomical radio observatories, consists of 27 radio antennas in a Y-shaped configuration on the Plains of San Agustin fifty miles west of Socorro, New Mexico. Each antenna is 25 meters (82 feet) in diameter. The data from the antennas is combined electronically to give the resolution of an antenna 36km (22 miles) across, with the sensitivity of a dish 130 meters (422 feet) in diameter. These data allow astronomers to probe black holes as well as star formation.
Subaru is an 8.3m telescope on the summit of Manua-Kea in Hawaii. The telescope operates at optical to mid-infrared wavelengths, but has an especially powerful capability to image large areas of the sky at optical wavelengths. Astronomers use these images to economically estimate the distances and properties of galaxies.
The Keck telescopes are two nearly identical 10m telescopes on the summit of Manua-Kea in Hawaii. The telescopes operate at optical to mid-infrared wavelengths, but are especially powerful when used to obtain spectra of galaxies which allow for detailed studies of individual objects.
The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is radio telescope and interferometer in the Atacama desert of northern Chile located on the Chajnantor plateau at 5,000 meters (16,000 ft) altitude. Its full configuration will consist of 66 dishes with a diameter of 12 and 7 meters that will image the sky at wavelengths from 3 mm to 9.6 mm. ALMA provides insight on star birth during the early universe as well as detailed imaging of local star and planet formation.