advanced: observational astronomy
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Cosmic Rays
Cosmic rays remain, for the most part, a cosmic mystery. But then, what about the universe doesn’t still remain partially shrouded in mystery? Cosmic rays are radiation, but they’re not electromagnetic. That is, they’re not on the electromagnetic spectrum. So,…
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Infrared & High-Energy Astronomy
You probably recognize this image. You see something like it whenever you look up at the sky. Some days are clearer than others — some, you might even see a completely blue sky — but regardless, you know that this…
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Radio Astronomy: Advantages
Whoa…what’s this thing? It’s a radio telescope, the largest in the world. It’s so huge that a normal support system can’t support its weight. So it’s basically suspended between three mountaintops. It’s 300 m across, which is 1000 feet. It’s…
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Radio Astronomy: Limitations
Astronomy is a labor of love, and radio astronomy is no different. As I covered in my last post, radio astronomy deals with the longest wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum (a spectrum that includes visible light). Radio waves are not sound…
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Radio Astronomy
Ever seen one of these before? Yeah, it’s a bit bigger than your average radio antenna. That’s because its job isn’t to direct radio signals to your house. It’s a radio telescope, and its job is to collect as many radio…
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Telescope Imaging Systems
Have you ever seen an image like this? Okay, maybe you have…online. What with the spread of the internet these days, I’m guessing that at one point you have seen something like this on a page of image search results.…
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Interferometry
Imagine you have an image like one of these. This object is faint and faraway, so you can’t make out much more detail. You know that other stars like it — closer, brighter stars — have looked like this and…
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Improved Telescope Mounting
So, any idea what this handy-dandy thing is? Okay, so maybe I sort of gave it away in the post title… I know what you’re about to say next. Why are we looking at a mount? What’s so special about a…
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Improved Telescope Mirrors
When it comes to telescopes, bigger is always better. Bigger means more light-gathering power and better resolution. And a longer telescope — meaning, a longer focal length — can actually do wonders for your magnification power. Light-gathering power, by the way,…
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Improved Reflecting Telescopes
Can you tell the difference between these two telescopes? I’ll give you a hint. They are both reflectors. I know I wrote before that you’ll normally find the eyepiece (the little bit tacked onto the telescope tube) on the side with…
