Telescopes
Review of chapter 6.: We will cover the different types of telescopes now in use to study the cosmos. In the past, the use of the simple telescopes, used by Galileo to look at the Moon, other visible planets and the SUN, has come a long way in modern versions of this type of telescope that astronomers use to “LOOK” at objects using their own eyes. As we have learned in Chapter 5, the eye is only sensitive to certain wavelengths and frequencies, that we now associate with different colors of light! The colors of the rainbow are the best example of this phenomena created by sun light during or after a rain. Any other object radiating energy in space outside of the range of human detection by our eyes, simply was not known to exist.
Write a 3 Page summary with illustrations of what you have learned about telescopes in general and their use in modern day astronomy from reading chapter 6. Astronomers now have tools to study the space around us and beyond our solar system and our galaxy. The ability to place optical wave telescopes above our atmosphere revolutionized the way we now do astronomical observations. During this discussion explain how telescopes operating in different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum combine their individual results to give us a greater understanding of what is out there. Explain how some telescopes operate and how the human eye has now been replaced by light sensitive detectors to create images that astronomers can now interpret. 1. What are the advantages of not having an atmosphere to see through? 2. What is another advantage of making observations from an earth orbiting telescope like the Hubble? 3. In the case of X-Ray sensitive telescopes, why do this type of telescope need to operate above the atmosphere? 4. For telescopes operating in the infrared part of the spectrum, what new information can they gather from space? 5. In the case of Radio Telescopes, why do they really do not have to be located in space? 6. Finally: How do we create color pictures of objects in space, and if you were a space traveler in a space ship, like shown on TV or the movies, would you be able to see objects in space in “living” color?
