Large Telescopes and Why We Need Them
Beyond the Solar System, all astronomers have to work with is the light that falls to the Earth from distant cosmic objects. Newer, larger telescopes are always needed to boost scientific progress, and the next generation of facilities - whether the 42m diameter optical-infrared Extremely Large Telescope, or the Square Kilometre Array of radio dishes - will represent a huge advance. We shall look at the science driving the need for such large telescopes,
through history and to the present-day and beyond. Many scientific and engineering challenges are involved in the design and construction of the largest telescopes and their mirrors, and technological developments will be essential to their success.
Carolin Susan Crawford is a British communicator of science, astrophysicist researcher, lecturer and academic based at the Institute of Astronomy and Emmanuel College, Cambridge.
(from gresham.ac.uk)
| Large Telescopes and Why We Need Them |
| Related Links |
| Hunting the Edge of Space This is a two-part PBS documentary examining how a simple instrument, the telescope, has fundamentally changed our understanding of our place in the universe. |
| The Cosmos: A Beginner's Guide This is a BBC documentary series presented by Adam Hart-Davis, offering an introductory look at the world beyond us. |
| 400 Years of the Telescope This lecture coincides with the 400th anniversary of the first use of a telescope to observe the heavens by Galileo Galilei in 1609. |
| A New Era in Astronomy: NASA's James Webb Space Telescope As revolutionary as Hubble has been, we have pushed it to its scientific limits in many ways. Hubble's successor, the James Webb Space Telescope, has been in the works for almost two decades and is scheduled to launch in late 2018. |
| Watchers of the Skies How our knowledge and understanding of the universe has increased over the centuries so that we now have a surprisingly accurate idea of its size, age and makeup. |
| The Multiwavelength Universe The light we see with our eyes only tells a small part of the Universe's story. To get a complete picture of how the Universe works, astronomers must study objects over the full range of light, the electromagnetic spectrum. |
| Hubble Space Telescope A documentary film to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the launch of the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, and beautiful images from the Hubble Space Telescope. |