Discoveries
Many discoveries have been made since the
invention of the telescope. Some that were hotly
debated for a number of years, others that
fundamentally changed the way we view our world,
and others that are still huge mysteries left to
be solved. newscientist.com
released an article in 2009 chronicling important
discoveries by various people since the invention
of the telescope. From the proposal that the earth
revolved around the sun, to the sight of the most
distant object ever confirmed in the universe,
this article reveals important discoveries that
may never have been made without the use of
telescopes.
From newscientist.com
Galileo's Refractor - 1609:
Galileo realized that telescopes could be used to
see more then just things on Earth. He
discovered
four moons that revolved around Jupiter and his
observations supported the idea of a sun centered
solar
system.
Mount Wilson 60 inch telescope
- 1908: George Ritchey used this telescope as a
way to pioneer deflecting light
outside of
the telescope into instruments to analyze the
light in different wavelengths.
Hooker 100 inch telescope - 1917: Edwin Hubble
discovered that the universe was expanding after
using this
telescope
and noticing that galaxies he could see were
moving away from the Earth.
Very Large Array- 1980: 27
radio antennas are used together to act as a
massive telescope to study all sorts of things
in space, from black holes to
planetary nebulae.
Swift - 2004: Designed to study
gamma-ray bursts and in 2009 detected one that
became the most distant object ever
confirmed in the
universe.
The discoveries we make by observing the sky
give us more then just scientific data, it reveals
to us a whole new outlook on life. We tend to
realize how small and fragile our planet is
compared to the rest of the universe, and we often
feel humbled and lucky to be here.
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