Telescopes in space can observe the whole sky and can operate both night and day. However, they are difficult and expensive to launch and maintain. If anything goes wrong, only astronauts can fix them. Using telescopes Distant stars and galaxies are too far away for us to reach. Optical telescopes Optical telescopes observe visible light from space.
Optical telescopes on the ground have some disadvantages: they can only be used at night they cannot be used if the weather is poor or cloudy Other telescopes Radio telescopes detect radio waves coming from space. Herschel willbe the largest, mostpowerful infrared telescope , looking at the far-infrared to sub-millimeterwavelengths of light generated by some of the coldest objects in space.
Herschel is designed to look for water, both in nearby comets and faraway dustclouds, and will also peer into the womb of star formation.
Astronomers expectto catch a glimpse of baby stars in the act of forming? Like its predecessor Spitzer, Herschel will alsotake a peek at a few exoplanets. Herschel's launchpartner, thePlanck Observatory , will be concentrating on the microwave light of theuniverse. Planck will be looking at the remnants of the first light to shinefreely in the universe, the Cosmic Microwave Background CMB. Planck will also probe the mysteries of darkmatter and dark energy and map the magnetic field of the Milky Way in 3-D.
Also new tothe space scene is Kepler, NASA's new planet-huntingtelescope that will specifically be searching for other Earth-like planetsin the galaxy. Kepler will be looking for characteristic variations in thelight from a pre-selected target group of , stars. Dips in the light fromthe stars can indicate a planet passing in front of the star from Earth'sperspective. Astronomers are hoping that Kepler fill find planets in thestars' habitable zones, where temperatures are just right for liquid water toexist.
After getting settled into its new orbital home, Kepler officially beganits search in May. First light from the telescope came on April Fermi formerly GLAST joined the ranks of the space telescopes last summer, and hasalready given astronomers their best-ever view of the most extreme energy inthe cosmos: gammarays. Gamma rays can reveal some of the most energetic and mysteriousevents in the universe, including dark matter, black holes and spinningpulsars. Not longer after arriving in orbit, it took an all-sky map that showsgamma rays from numerous sources, including our own sun.
Create a List. List Name Save. Rename this List. Rename this list. List Name Delete from selected List. Save to. Save to:. Save Create a List. Create a list. Save Back. Space Telescopes. Grades 3—5 , 6—8 , 9— How can scientists get a clear look at objects in outer space? How can they search for planets that might orbit nearby stars? Telescopes have been used to study the heavens for over years. But Earth-based telescopes have a serious handicap.
The atmosphere surrounding Earth interferes with almost all radiation reaching us from space. Instead, mirrors are arranged in specially shaped tubes so that the X-rays coming into the telescope just skim off the surface of the mirror similar to skipping a stone on the surface of a lake and onto a detector.
Gamma-ray telescopes such as the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope do not use mirrors at all and instead have special detectors to measure the energy and direction of the most energetic electromagnetic radiation in the universe, gamma-rays. Studying gamma-rays helps astronomers learn more about many things including active galactic nuclei, blazars, gamma-ray bursts, pulsars and solar flares.
Space Telescopes. Infrared Astronomy Water vapor in the atmosphere absorbs much of the infrared radiation from space so the infrared observatories on Earth are located on high, dry mountains such as Mauna Kea in Hawaii. Visible Wavelengths Visible wavelengths make it through Earth's atmosphere, but turbulence in the atmosphere causes images of stars to be blurred and spread out by at least 0. Gamma-Ray Astronomy Gamma-ray telescopes such as the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope do not use mirrors at all and instead have special detectors to measure the energy and direction of the most energetic electromagnetic radiation in the universe, gamma-rays.
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