10 most powerful space telescopes ever built
01 Jul, 2025
Credit: Nasa
Launched in 2021, JWST is the most powerful space telescope ever built. It observes in the infrared, peering deep into the early universe, studying the formation of galaxies, stars, and potentially habitable exoplanets.
James Webb Space Telescope
Launched in 1990, Hubble transformed astronomy with stunning images in visible, ultraviolet, and near-infrared. It's responsible for major discoveries about the age and expansion of the universe.
Hubble Space Telescope
Launched in 1999, Chandra studies high-energy regions like black holes, neutron stars, and supernovae by detecting X-rays from deep space. It's essential for understanding cosmic violence and high-energy phenomena.
Chandra X-ray Observatory
Operated from 2003 to 2020, Spitzer observed the universe in infrared, revealing cool objects like exoplanets, brown dwarfs, and
dusty regions. It helped map out early galaxy formation and the structure of the Milky Way.
Spitzer Space Telescope
Operational from 2009 to 2018, Kepler was designed to find Earth-like planets by detecting transits. It confirmed over 2,600 exoplanets, reshaping our understanding of how common planets are in the galaxy.
Kepler Space Telescope
Launched in 2018, TESS is surveying the entire sky for exoplanets around nearby bright stars. It continues Kepler's legacy, but focuses on planets closer to Earth and easier to study.
TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite)
Launched by ESA in 2013, Gaia is creating a precise 3D map of over a billion stars. It's revolutionising our understanding of the Milky Way's structure, formation, and evolution.
Gaia
It will observe large areas of space with Hubble-like resolution. Aimed at studying dark energy, exoplanets, and wide-field surveys of galaxies.
Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope
Focused on dark matter and dark energy, Euclid is mapping billions of galaxies across cosmic time. It uses visible and near-infrared instruments to chart the geometry of the universe.
Euclid Space Telescope
It replaces Japan's ill-fated Hitomi telescope to study the universe in high-resolution X-rays. It probes galaxy clusters, black holes, and supernovae with unprecedented spectral detail.
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