Download Sample Radio Image

TELESCOPE TOUR
• Radio and visible waves can go through
Earth’s atmosphere
Mauna Kea Observatory
Optical telescopes
• Need clear weather
• Away from city lights (light pollution)
• Above clouds (mountain tops)
– Less distortion
• Many in AZ and HI
REFRACTING TELESCOPES
Use multiple lenses to focus light
and magnify images.
The USNO 26-inch Refracting Telescope
REFLECTING TELESCOPES
Uses a series of mirrors to gather and focus
light.
8” REFLECTOR
Keck Observatory
10 m reflector
largest in world
LBT
2- 8.4 meter mirrors
10x resolution of Hubble
REFRACTORS VS REFLECTORS
REFRACTORS
•good for observing solar system objects
•See details
•expensive to manufacture (lens, support)
•Chromatic aberration (halo affect;bad)
•Smaller- easy to travel with
• REFLECTORS
• cheaper to manufacture (mirrors are easier
than lenses & mirrors can be supported
from behind)
• See farther than refractors
– Lose detail
• Can build larger (10 meters vs. 1 meter)
CATADIOPTRIC TELESCOPES
combines the best features of refractors
and reflectors
Radio telescopes
• Gather incoming radio waves
• Convert waves to colors
• Produce false color images
Very Large Array
Socorro, NM
40 meter radio telescope
Green Bank, WV
305 meter
Arecibo Radio Telescope
SUPERNOVA REMNANT
THE MOON
A GALAXY
Advantages of Radio Telescopes
• Use anytime (day, clouds, etc)
• No dome needed
• “see” much farther
McMath Solar Observatory
HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE
Advantages of Space Telescopes
• No atm. Interference
– See clearer
• NOT CLOSER
• Can detect wavelength
that atm. blocks
Hubble vs. Ground based telescopes
Spitzer infrared telescope
launched 2003
GLAST- gamma ray telescope
proposed launch 2006
Chandra X-ray telescope
launched 1999
HUT (HOPKINS UV
TELESCOPE)
Clumpy universe
Milky Way Visible
Milky Way Radio
Milky Way Gamma rays
Milky Way- X Ray