question:
5. While the short s tory never directly provides a definition for space
based astronomy, what do you think i t is?
story
Space Based Astronomy
I f you go to the country, far f rom ci ty l ights, you can see about 3,000 s tars
on a clear night . I f your eyes were bigger , you could see many more stars .
Wi th a pai r of binoculars, an optical device that ef fectively enlarges the
pupi l of your eye by about 30 times , the number of stars you can see
increases to the tens of thousands . Wi th a medium-sized telescope wi th a
l ight -col lecting mi r ror 30 centimeters in diameter , you can see hundreds
of thousands of s tars. Wi th a large observatory telescope, mi l l ions of s tars
become visible.
I t would seem that when i t comes to observing the universe, the larger the
instrument , the bet ter . This is true up to a point , but there are l imi ts —l imi ts
not imposed by technology but by nature i tsel f .
Sur rounding Ear th i s a l i fe-sustaining atmosphere that s tands between our
eyes and the radiation that fal ls upon Ear th f rom outer space. This
radiation is compr ised of a very broad spectrum of energies and
wavelengths. Col lectively, they are refer red to as the electromagnetic
spectrum. They range f rom radio and microwave radiation on the low
energy (long wavelength) end through inf rared, v isible, ul traviolet, and xrays
to gamma rays on the high energy (shor t wavelength) end. Gases
and other components of our atmosphere distor t, f i l ter , and block mos t of
this radiation permi tting only a par tial picture, pr imar i ly visible radiation
and some radio waves, to reach
Ea r t h ’ s s u r f a c e . Al t h o u g h ma n y
things can be learned about our
universe by studying i t f rom the
sur face of Ear th, the story is incomplete.
To view celestial objects over the whole
range of the
electromagnetic spectrum,
i t is essential to cl imb
above the atmosphere into
outer space.
Space Based Astronomy
I f you go to the country, far f rom ci ty l ights, you can see about 3,000 s tars
on a clear night . I f your eyes were bigger , you could see many more stars .
Wi th a pai r of binoculars, an optical device that ef fectively enlarges the
pupi l of your eye by about 30 times , the number of stars you can see
increases to the tens of thousands . Wi th a medium-sized telescope wi th a
l ight -col lecting mi r ror 30 centimeters in diameter , you can see hundreds
of thousands of s tars. Wi th a large observatory telescope, mi l l ions of s tars
become visible.
I t would seem that when i t comes to observing the universe, the larger the
instrument , the bet ter . This is true up to a point , but there are l imi ts —l imi ts
not imposed by technology but by nature i tsel f .
Sur rounding Ear th i s a l i fe-sustaining atmosphere that s tands between our
eyes and the radiation that fal ls upon Ear th f rom outer space. This
radiation is compr ised of a very broad spectrum of energies and
wavelengths. Col lectively, they are refer red to as the electromagnetic
spectrum. They range f rom radio and microwave radiation on the low
energy (long wavelength) end through inf rared, v isible, ul traviolet, and xrays
to gamma rays on the high energy (shor t wavelength) end. Gases
and other components of our atmosphere distor t, f i l ter , and block mos t of
this radiation permi tting only a par tial picture, pr imar i ly visible radiation
and some radio waves, to reach
Ea r t h ’ s s u r f a c e . Al t h o u g h ma n y
things can be learned about our
universe by studying i t f rom the
sur face of Ear th, the story is incomplete.
To view celestial objects over the whole
range of the
electromagnetic spectrum,
i t is essential to cl imb
above the atmosphere into
outer space.
