How much fainter can the Hubble Space Telescope see compared to the largest ground telescopes?
Answer
10 times fainter
The Hubble Space Telescope derives a major advantage from its operational location above Earth's atmosphere, which eliminates both twinkling distortion and atmospheric blocking of specific light wavelengths. Because it avoids these terrestrial limitations, its ability to collect light is greatly enhanced relative to ground-based instruments, even the largest ones. This advantage permits Hubble to observe celestial objects that are significantly dimmer than those visible from the ground, specifically allowing it to capture images of objects ten times fainter than what the largest terrestrial telescopes can detect.
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