To boldly go... Exploring Space Tools and Techniques

Astronomy It is the study of the physical and chemical properties of objects and matter outside the earth's atmosphere.

Space is the region beyond the Earth's atmosphere or beyond the solar system ~Merriam-Webster Dictionary “Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind- bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space.” Douglas Adams The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy English humorist & science fiction novelist (1952 - 2001)

We look to the skies… We receive electromagnetic radiation (EMR) on Earth from “out there” Electromagnetic waves travel at the speed of light http://digitalcolors.biz/nature-light.html 300,000 kilometers/second or 186,000 miles/second Now that’s fast!! “It is impossible to travel faster than the speed of light, and certainly not desirable, as one’s hat keeps blowing off.” ~ Woody Allen

The light we see… We see in the visible light portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, with wavelengths from about 380 to 750 nanometers (nm) The individual colors that make up white light comes out. White light goes into a prism… ~750 nm ~380 nm

…and the light we don’t see

Replica of Galileo’s telescope Optical telescopes At first, we used just our eyes. But eventually, we developed tools… Replica of Galileo’s telescope Galileo improved upon a refracting telescope he heard about while in Venice in May, 1609. He used this telescope to chart the phases of Venus and describe the 4 major moons of Jupiter. He drew the Pleiades, as well as the craters on the Moon.

Refracting telescopes use convex lenses to bend light to a focal point Optical telescopes Refracting telescopes use convex lenses to bend light to a focal point

Optical telescopes Sir Isaac Newton is credited with creating the first practical reflecting telescope in 1669.

Reflecting telescopes use curved mirrors to direct light Optical telescopes Reflecting telescopes use curved mirrors to direct light

Other optical telescopes Space-based observatories like the Hubble Space Telescope The new James Webb Telescope (coming soon to a solar system near you!)

Hubble Trouble Hubble was placed in orbit in 1990, but had a faulty mirror. http://hubblesite.org/explore_astronomy/piercing_the_sky/piercing.swf Corrective mirrors were installed in 1993. The difference was quite impressive….

Other optical telescopes Land based observatories like the Sphinx Observatory in the Swiss Alps European Extremely Large Telescope in Chile Twin Keck Telescopes in Hawaii

Chandra X-Ray Observatory Other Non-optical telescopes Chandra X-Ray Observatory Radio telescopes like the Very Large Array in New Mexico or the Arecibo Radio Telescope in Puerto Rico These collect and record radio waves given off by some objects in space

Kepler Space Telescope Mission: To search a portion of our galaxy for exoplanets

Key Finding: NASA's Spitzer Confirms Closest Rocky Exoplanet The view from the Spitzer Space Telescope Mission Overview Launched: Aug. 25, 2003 Goal: Provide a unique, infrared view of the universe and allow us to peer into regions of space that are hidden from optical telescopes. Key Finding: NASA's Spitzer Confirms Closest Rocky Exoplanet