Tag Archives: telescope

WFIRST: The Newest Vanguard of the Mission to Understand Dark Energy

Posted on February 8, 2020 by Dan Pitagora

At some point this decade, a new space observatory will be launched into orbit; one unlike any that we have seen before with extraordinary equipment and capabilities. WFIRST, the Wide-Field InfraRed Survey Telescope, could potentially revolutionize what astronomers know about our universe and how it behaves by focusing on three major categories: dark energy, exoplanetContinue reading “WFIRST: The Newest Vanguard of the Mission to Understand Dark Energy” Continue reading →

Posted in Instruments, Universe | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on WFIRST: The Newest Vanguard of the Mission to Understand Dark Energy

The window of universe — Various types of Telescope

Posted on February 10, 2019 by Yihao Yan

The science of astronomy is about the telescopes. Without them, our naked eyes can only see thousands of stars in the night sky away from city lights. We get to see galaxies, stars, nebulas and other celestial objects that are light years away from us through telescopes. Furthermore, as the technology improved over the last … Continue reading The window of universe — Various types of Telescope → Continue reading →

Posted in Instruments | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on The window of universe — Various types of Telescope

2200 Nanometers

Posted on January 21, 2019 by jacksonhubble2904

About 1/50th a hair’s width. That’s the size of the error which seriously set back the Hubble telescope. Perkin-Elmer diagnostics was tasked with grinding down the primary mirror, a 7.8 foot wide *almost* flat surface. The mirror’s curvature was determined by a reflective mirror array which bends a laser to precisely trace the surface’s desired … Continue reading 2200 Nanometers → Continue reading →

Posted in Class | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on 2200 Nanometers

European-Extremely Large Telescope

Posted on February 13, 2018 by terranojm

The European Southern Observatory began construction of the European-Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) back in 2014. This telescope is on track to be the world’s largest optical and infrared telescope by the time it is completed in 2024, thus living up to its name. The E-ELT will include a main mirror that is 128 feet in … Continue reading “European-Extremely Large Telescope” Continue reading →

Posted in Galaxies, Observables | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on European-Extremely Large Telescope

James Webb Telescope

Posted on February 8, 2018 by haleytopper04

The James Webb Space Telescope, or JWST, will be a large telescope that is intended to be the premier observatory of the next decade. The telescope will study every phase in the history of the universe, from right after the Big Bang to the formation of the universe that we know today, and even the … Continue reading James Webb Telescope Continue reading →

Posted in Instruments, Observables | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on James Webb Telescope

James Webb Space Telescope

Posted on February 14, 2017 by astr2110tmcm

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is the long awaited successor to the Hubble Space Telescope from which we have received numerous wonderful and famous images of far away stars, galaxies, and other celestial bodies. As the successor to the Hubble, there are, of course, some improvements over the Hubble that are being made with […] Continue reading →

Posted in Class, Instruments | Tagged , , | Comments Off on James Webb Space Telescope

Blog #2

Posted on February 14, 2017 by niharikadar

For most contemporary scholars, the modern telescope owes its existence to Enlightenment thinkers who crafted the device to enhance their own stargazing endeavors. However, observing the night sky is hardly a practice that has been limited to the past few hundred years.  Thus, it seems likely that there may have been telescopic structures created much … Continue reading Blog #2 Continue reading →

Posted in Historical, Instruments, Observables, Science | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Blog #2

The Era of Long Refractors

Posted on February 14, 2017 by Nick Belsten

Telescopes focus light down to a point to increase the light gathering capacity of the astronomer’s eye. The optimal shape for such focus is a parabola, either a parabolic mirror, or a refracting lens of parabolic shape. Unfortunately, parabolic lenses do not have the same curvature everywhere the way spherical lenses do, making their construction … Continue reading The Era of Long Refractors → Continue reading →

Posted in Class, Historical | Tagged , , | Comments Off on The Era of Long Refractors

The successor to the Hubble Space Telescope

Posted on February 14, 2017 by astromalhotra

The Hubble Space Telescope has been delivering high-quality, in-depth images of the universe for almost three decades and has been critical in several astronomy discoveries, such as the rate of expansion of the universe. However, NASA is now planning to fully launch the James Webb Space Telescope in 2018 as the scientific successor to the […] Continue reading →

Posted in Class | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on The successor to the Hubble Space Telescope

Galileo’s Telescope

Posted on February 6, 2017 by vmorehead0

Most people credit Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) with building the first telescope.  He did not, but he made great improvements and ingenious use of the instrument. Before the telescope were lenses.  In the 13th century, Italian artisans created lenses for glasses to be worn by scholars with failing eyesight.  The process of making glass was difficult, as unrefined … Continue reading Galileo’s Telescope Continue reading →

Posted in Class | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Galileo’s Telescope