observatories and telescopes
DESCRIPTION
General introduction to the history of the development of the different types of telescopes.TRANSCRIPT
From the Greek:tele = 'far' and skopein = 'to look or see'; teleskopos = 'far-seeing'
Hans Lippershey (1570 – 1619)
Hi There, I’m German telescope inventor Hans Lippershey! In 1608 after some
considerable messing about with optical lenses in my spectacle shop I submitted a
patent application for the ‘Dutch Perspective Glass’. It could magnify
objects by a factor of three. I never did receive that patent but was amply
compensated with a ton of cash! Auf Wiedersehen!
Galileo Galilei (1564 – 1642)
Buon Giorno! In 1609 I had heard about Hans Lippershey’s telescope
design and decided to build my own. It was great! (a magnification of
x33!). It was so great in fact that in 1610 I used it to discover three
moons orbiting the planet Jupiter! This supported Nicolaus Copernicus’
idea that the Earth was not the centre of the universe. Unfortunately
this got me into trouble with the Catholic Church (who eventually had
me put under house arrest for Heresy!). Still, never mind! Ciao!
Refracting Telescope
A refracting telescope (or spyglass) uses the principle of an objective lens to gather light and an eyepiece lens to focus it. The lenses refract (bend) the light. The greater the quality of the lens, the better the image.
Sir Isaac Newton (1643 – 1727)Somewhat typically, I, Sir
Isaac Newton have improved upon the original refracting telescope design
with my new reflecting telescope (built by me in 1670). This uses a big
mirror instead of a lens and is much less likely to suffer
distortion effects.
William Herschel (1738 – 1822)Hi! I’m William Herschel. In 1781 I discovered The
Planet Uranus and in 1789 I used this massive 12m telescope to discover a new moon of the planet
Saturn!
William Parsons (1800 – 1867)
Hi There! William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse here. In 1845 I
built the world’s biggest telescope (it had a 72” mirror!).
I used this telescope to show the spiral nature of galaxies, in fact I discovered the Whirlpool
Galaxy!
Reflecting Telescope
A reflecting telescope uses a system of curved mirrors to collect light. An eyepiece is used to focus the light for viewing. Nearly all large telescopes are reflectors. They are less likely to distort the images and are easier to make on a large scale.
Grote Reber (1911 – 2002)Gee Whiz! Hi there everyone! It’s
me! Grote Reber, the father of Radio Astronomy! Following on from Karl
Jansky’s 1933 discovery of radio waves emanating from the centre of the galaxy I built a radio telescope in
my back garden in 1937! This enabled me to complete a radio
frequency sky map in 1941! This in turn lead to an explosion in radio
astronomy at the end of the Second World War.
Jodrell Bank (1966 - ) Hi there! I’m the Lovell telescope at Jodrell Bank
in the North West of England. I’m the
biggest steerable radio telescope in the world
and am personally responsible for the
discovery of Pulsars in deep space!
Very Large Array (1980 - )Hello! I’m part of the Very Large
Array radio telescope in New Mexico. We started scanning the
skies in 1980. Each dish is 25 meters across and weighs 209 tonnes! These were used to
receive radio signals from the Voyager 2 spacecraft as it flew past
the planet Neptune! Impressive!
Chandra X-Ray Telescope
Hi there, I’m the Chadra X-ray telescope. This image is of me just
before I was carried into orbit by the space shuttle. I need to be up
there because the Earth’s atmosphere absorbs x-rays. One of my most famous discoveries was a
jet of x-rays emanating from a Supermassive Black Hole in the
constellation of Sagittarius.
Hubble Space Telescope (1990 - )
Hello, I’m the Hubble Space Telescope! I was launched in 1990 as an orbiting optical
telescope. I have a 4m mirror which has allowed me to capture some stunning images of deep space (like these ones on the right). I
still need periodic maintenance as I was originally only designed to work for five years!
Telescopes:Observing SpaceA Telescope is a device which makes things visible to the naked eye which we would not normally be able to see. The Earth’s atmosphere absorbs almost all electromagnetic radiation (except light, ultraviolet and radio waves). This limits the amount of information we can collect from space. We need to use satellites to collect data on the wavelengths of the spectrum that are absorbed high in the atmosphere. We can also use orbiting optical telescopes to get clearer views of deep space. These orbiting observatories have been used to discover gamma ray bursts, pulsars, black holes and extra solar planets.