Imagination Station, Toledo’s hands-on science museum, is hosting an “out of this world” new exhibit designed to expand visitors’ understanding of the universe.

Hubble Space Telescope: New Views of the Universe is a visually stimulating exhibition that celebrates the achievements of NASA’s deep space exploration by magnificently displaying and describing the wonders of the night sky.

“New Views of the Universe brings the legacy of Hubble to life,” says Maurice Henderson, a Hubble Outreach Engineer who installed the exhibit at Imagination Station. “Its purpose is to educate and inform the community about scientific advances that Hubble has continued and will hopefully continue to supply for another decade.”

The exhibition immerses visitors in the magnificence and mystery of the Hubble mission. A scale model of Hubble is the focal point of the installation. “Satellite” units incorporate hands-on activities about how the telescope works, and a “Space/Time” section features Hubble’s contributions to the exploration of planets, stars, galaxies and the universe.

The exhibit contains images and data taken from Hubble of planets, galaxies, black holes and many other fascinating cosmic entities.

It is comprised of spectacular backlit color images and numerous interactive displays. Using a computer, visitors will be able to “hit” Jupiter with a comet, attempt to put star clusters in order of age, use the Hubble Deep Field image to estimate the number of galaxies in the universe, match before and after images of colliding galaxies and find specific galaxy distances from Earth using Cepheid variable stars. Using an infrared camera, visitors can also learn about the different wavelengths of light by taking pictures of their hand in visible and infrared light.

There is also an interactive companion, the successor to Hubble, the James Webb Space Telescope. Through computer games, videos and displays, visitors will be able to experience how the Webb telescope will work. They’ll learn about the cutting-edge technology of the Webb telescope like one that will see the universe in infrared light. All the new technology will enable scientists to see farther back in time than any other satellite in existence and make many scientific breakthroughs. Visitors can step through distances in the universe with the “Cosmic Distance Scale”; and “Scope it Out!” teaches players about two different types of telescopes and shows how the Webb telescope is similar, yet different than other telescopes.

One of the displays will also offer a comparison between the Hubble and the Webb telescope. One thing that catches the eye is the difference in the size of the mirrors on the Webb, versus the Hubble. Webb will have a much larger mirror than the Hubble, which means the Webb telescope will have excellent resolution. The completed primary mirror will be 6.6 meters (7.2 yards) in diameter, about 2.75 times larger than the Hubble’s primary mirror, which is 2.4 meters (2.6 yards) in diameter. Viewers will learn about the engineering challenges of the mission, such as folding the telescope up in the rocket for launch, and unfolding it once deployed in space.

The Hubble traveling exhibit was developed by the Space Telescope Science Institute and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES).

The exhibit will be at Imagination Station through Jan. 2, 2011. An online version of the exhibit is available at http://jwst.gsfc.nasa.gov.

Imagination Station is located at One Discovery Way, Toledo. For more information, call  419-244-2674 or visit www.imaginationstationtoledo.org.

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