PBS PRESENTS: “400 YEARS OF THE TELESCOPE: A JOURNEY OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND THOUGHT”

Telescopes.

 

From the lightweight Newtonians and Maksutovs, weighing a few pounds, to the heavyweights such as the famous Hubble Telescope, weighing tons, from the refractors, to the reflectors, to the catadioptric telescopes, to the radio telescopes of Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico—–telescopes have given humans glimpses into a universe that centuries ago was seen only with the unaided eye, and understood with the limited knowledge, and with the wonder and awe of nebulas, galaxies, constellations, planets, and stars.

 

This Tuesday, April 14, 2009, PBS presents, “400 Years of Telescopes,”  a program that showcases the long and fascinating history of telescopes. Astrophysicist Neil de Grasse Tyson narrates this history of the telescope, which was invented in 1609 by Galileo Galilei. The documentary features incredible imagery captured by the Hubble Space Telescope, and previews planned construction of telescopes the size of football stadiums.

 

(Check local programs for listings of air date times.)

 

We have come a long way from Galileo, Copernicus, Newton, Kepler and so many others who blazed a path for those of us who have an undying love for telescopes.

 

Tune in and revel in the beauty and joy of telescopes—–the windows on the heavens. 

 

 

 

 

A 50cm refracting telescope at Nice Observatory in Nice, France.

 

 

 

 

The VLA, or Very Large Array of 27 radio astronomy telescopes, at Socorro, New Mexico, United States.

 

The 1,000 ft. (305m) diameter of Arecibo Radio Telescope is the largest single-dish telescope in the world. The spherical dish is too large to move. Pointing is accomplished by the rotation of the Earth. A 40-degree wide band of the sky parallel to the celestial equator is visible to the telescope.

 

 

 

A group of Newtonian Telescopes at Perkins Observatory, Delaware, Ohio.

 

 

 

 

 

Commercially manufactured 105mm aperture Meade ETX “spot” Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope.

 

 

 

 

A 150mm aperture Maksutov-Cassegrain Telescope.

 

 

 

 

 

The Hubble Space Telescope as seen from Space Shuttle Columbia during Servicing Mission 3B (STS-109), in the grip of Columbia’s robot arm on the third day of the STS-109 mission.

 

 

 

 

Star forming pillars in the Eagle Nebula, as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope’s WFPC2. Further information at: http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/releases/2003/34/image/a

Photos courtesy of Wikipedia.