Category Archives: Instruments

includes telescopes and space probes

Dark Matter Discovered?

Posted on April 3, 2013 by Megan C

Scientists announced today that they may have finally found dark matter. Dark matter is the invisible matter making up most of the universe, but scientists can’t see it because it emits no light.  Scientists only know it exists because dark matter’s gravity bends light – gravitational lensing – and because stars are orbiting in galaxies […] Continue reading →

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GRAIL Maps the Gravity of the Moon

Posted on March 20, 2013 by JT McJunkins

  Twin NASA probes orbiting the moon for the Gravity Recovery and Interior Labority (GRAIL) mission have created the most highly detailed gravity field map of any celestial body. Pictured above, this map reveals an abundance of features includ… Continue reading →

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Mars: Trend in Water Presence

Posted on March 19, 2013 by indianwm

Last week, the Mars rover named Curiosity, found evidence for water-bearing minerals in rocks. The rover Curiosity was launched in 2011 from Cape Canaveral and landed on Mars in August, 2012. This rover is equipped with many devices that have multiple uses for observing and testing the terrain and environment on Mars. Among these is […] Continue reading →

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Voyager 2 and Its Solar System Exploration

Posted on March 19, 2013 by indianwm

Voyager 2 is the second spacecraft to explore the outer solar system, following the Voyager 1. However, Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft that has accomplished the task of studying Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune at close distances. Voyager 2 was launched on August 20th, 1977 to study the outer solar system, as well as […] Continue reading →

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Magellan to the New World

Posted on March 16, 2013 by a2megal

In class we recently discussed the four primary types of robotic missions that we can send into space: flyby orbiter lander or probe sample return mission In general the concept of sending physical objects into space so that we can collect data about plates, stars, or anything really that we can’t directly observe here on […] Continue reading →

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The Webb Space Telescope: the Future of Viewing the Past

Posted on February 20, 2013 by zvgio

Every time you look at the stars , you are looking back in time. The universe is a big place and light takes time to move through it, so if you’re currently admiring Polaris, the photons hitting your eyes have been traveling for about 434 years to reach you. That may seem like a long […] Continue reading →

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The OWL

Posted on February 20, 2013 by marknshirleyvu

While reading about different types of telescopes here on Earth I stumbled across a cancelled project known as the OWL (Overwhelmingly Large) Telescope, and overwhelming might be an understatement.  This telescope, a concept developed by the European Southern Observatory, would boast a single aperture measuring 100 meters in diameter, longer than a football field! It […] Continue reading →

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Interferometry

Posted on February 20, 2013 by eaangel

The concept of interferometry is really cool to me.  The fact that multiple telescopes can be combined to make larger images makes perfect sense, but I have trouble wrapping my head around the idea that even though there are huge … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Hubble Images: Not as Easy as Just Taking Pictures

Posted on February 20, 2013 by zvgio

Most people have heard of the Hubble Space Telescope, a visible light telescope that has been orbiting Earth since 1990, and if they haven’t, they’ve probably at least seen some of it’s images of distant galaxies and majestic nebulae. These pictures are vibrantly colorful and awe-inspiring, but they don’t start off that way. All of […] Continue reading →

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Neutrino Detectors

Posted on February 19, 2013 by Will K

Over the past several decades telescope technology has improved dramatically. Not only are we able to view the galaxy from massive observatories on Earth, but we can capture light through telescopes orbiting in space. Although these advances have allowed us to detect light from many different ranges across the electromagnetic spectrum, telescopes cannot detect all […] Continue reading →

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