Astronomy Day 2021: Remembering Lyman Spitzer visionary behind Hubble telescope

Marking 2021’s second Astronomy Day, on October 9, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has paid tribute to American astrophysicist Lyman Spitzer, who laid the foundation of Hubble’s mission. It was spitzer who dreamed about the discoveries, an outer space telescope could make, an idea that he presented a decade before the first satellite entered the orbit, the agency stated. Moreover, it was his ideas that brought together NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) in 1978 for building the Hubble telescope.

Who was Lyman Spitzer?

Lyman Spitzer was born on June 26, 1914, in the US state of Ohio and had a curiosity for space from an early age. Spitzer, who was interested in exploring the universe, was also an avid skier and mountain climber. In his ambitions to explore the Earth, he became one of the first to climb Mount Thor in Auyuittuq National Park in Canada in 1965. 

Besides, in 1965 he rose to prominence when he was made the head of a community established by the National Academy of Sciences to define the scientific objectives for a proposed large space telescope. After retaining this position, Spitzer persevered to convince the scientific community and the US government to put a large telescope in space for better exploration of the cosmos. 

Contributions of Lyman Spitzer

NASA had informed that the idea of a space-based observatory was presented by Spitzer in 1946 in his paper 'Astronomical Advantages of an Extra-Terrestrial Observatory.' The motive behind the idea was to observe wavelengths of light not easily seen by ground-based telescopes and get better quality pictures as the outer space telescope would be free from the limitations of Earth’s atmosphere. 

As per NASA, Spitzer argued that the orbiting observatories will be installed not only 'to supplement the present ideas of the universe we live in, but rather to uncover new phenomena not yet imagined, and perhaps to modify profoundly the basic concepts of space and time." 

Moreover, he urged that humanity will get a better understanding of the magnitude of our universe with a large, reflecting telescope placed in orbit around Earth. We can say that his predictions came true as scientists are now also able to explore the structures of galaxies, globular star clusters, and other planets in the cosmos.

(Image: NASA/PIXABAY)