The Hubble Space Telescope is the greatest tool we have to study the heavens, even though it is almost 30 years old. It has been used to study some of the most profound mysteries of the cosmos, from galaxy formation to black holes to dark energy and the rate that the universe is expanding. But Hubble won't last forever. It is already operating well beyond its original service life of 15 years, and even though a proposal to conduct another servicing mission for iconic the space telescope is being kicked around, Hubble might not last through the 2020s.

Fortunately, we have a number of new, incredibly powerful telescopes under development to replace Hubble. The scope that will serve as the most direct replacement is the James Webb Space Telescope, scheduled for launch in October 2018. But as a new episode of PBS's wonderful YouTube series Space Time explores, the future of telescopes goes way beyond James Webb.

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James Webb will take Hubble's place as the most powerful scope in space, but it will primarily take observations in the infrared spectrum, whereas Hubble viewed the universe in visible and ultraviolet light. So to truly replace Hubble, it's going to take another telescope on the ground, one that takes observations in the visible spectrum: the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT). The GMTs enormous 15-ton mirrors and advanced adaptive optics technology will allow it to not only detect exoplanets, but take the first pictures of planets outside our solar system.

The cosmos is about to get a lot clearer.

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