Question

Adaptive optics now allow ground-based observatories to equal or better Hubble's image quality. Explain why, despite these advances, the Hubble Space Telescope and other space observatories are not becoming obsolete

Answer 1

1. Ground-based adaptive optics today only works at infrared wavelengths.
2. Hubble is sensitive to all wavelengths from the ultraviolet to the near infrared. Many of these wavelengths are blocked by the atmosphere and inaccessible from Earth.
3. Despite advances in image quality, the sensitivity of groundbased telescopes is limited by the enormously greater foreground radiation from the Earth’s atmosphere.
4. Hubble images are stable.Hubble stability is the main reason it is used to detect the atmospheres of extra-solar planets such as Osiris.