8 of the world's coolest telescopes that are changing the way that we look at the universe

Astronomy has come a long way over the past few millennia.

We went from believing that Earth was the center of a star speckled universe, to being able to observe a seemingly endless number of galaxies full of trillions of stars and planets that stretch back in time billions of years.

And as astronomy evolves, so do the instruments we use to peer deeper and deeper into the cosmos.

Since the invention of the first telescope in the 1600s, we have developed much more impressive and advanced telescopes to look at the universe.

Here are a few of the most powerful telescopes operating right now.

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The Hubble Space Telescope

The Hubble Space Telescope, launched in 1990, has captured iconic images such as the deep field, Crab Nebula, and Eagle Nebula. Because the Hubble orbits the Earth, free from distortion caused by Earth's atmosphere, it can take extremely high-resolution images allowing astronomers to peer deep into space and time.

The W.M. Keck Observatory

The W.M. Keck observatory, which has been operating since 1993, sits on top of Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano in Hawaii. Keck's twin telescopes, each about 33 feet in diameter, are the largest optical and infrared telescopes in the world.

The Chandra X-ray Observatory

The Chandra X-ray Observatory, launched in 1999, is designed to pick up X-rays emitted from extremely hot regions in the universe, such as exploding stars, galaxy clusters, and black holes. Because Earth's atmosphere absorbs most of these X-rays, the Chandra needs to make its observations from space.