For Further Exploration
Articles
Blades, J. C. “Fixing the Hubble One Last Time.” Sky & Telescope (October 2008): 26. On the last Shuttle service mission and what the Hubble was then capable of doing.
Brown, A. “How Gaia will Map a Billion Stars.” Astronomy (December 2014): 32. Nice review of the mission to do photometry and spectroscopy of all stars above a certain brightness.
Irion, R. “Prime Time.” Astronomy (February 2001): 46. On how time is allotted on the major research telescopes.
Jedicke, Peter & Robert. “The Coming Giant Sky Patrols.” Sky & Telescope (September 2008): 30. About giant telescopes to survey the sky continuously.
Lazio, Joseph, et al. “Tuning in to the Universe: 21st Century Radio Astronomy.” Sky & Telescope (July 2008): 21. About ALMA and the Square Kilometer Array.
Lowe, Jonathan. “Mirror, Mirror.” Sky & Telescope (December 2007): 22. On the Large Binocular Telescope in Arizona.
Lowe, Jonathan. “Next Light: Tomorrow’s Monster Telescopes.” Sky & Telescope (April 2008): 20. About plans for extremely large telescopes on the ground.
Mason, Todd & Robin. “Palomar’s Big Eye.” Sky & Telescope (December 2008): 36. On the Hale 200-inch telescope.
Subinsky, Raymond. “Who Really Invented the Telescope.” Astronomy (August 2008): 84. Brief historical introduction, focusing on Hans Lippershey.
Young, Monica “The New Space Race (and Problem).” Sky & Telescope (March 2020): 14. A good discussion of the danger that huge numbers of new reflective satellites (to provide Wi-Fi) poses to the darkness of the night sky for astronomers.
Websites
Websites for major telescopes are given in Table 6.1, Table 6.2, Table 6.3, and Table 6.4.
Information on Swarms of Satellites on Low-Earth Orbit
- American Astronomical Society page on the issue with updates and links: https://aas.org/posts/advocacy/2020/12/impacts-large-satellite-constellations-astronomy-live-updates
- Lawler, S. “Space-X’s Starlink Satellites are About to Ruin Stargazing Forever” on the Astronomy magazine website (November 25, 2020): https://astronomy.com/news/2020/11/spacexs-starlink-satellites-are-about-to-ruin-stargazing-for-everyone
- Patel, N. “Satellite Mega-constellations Risk Ruining Astronomy Forever” in Technology Review, September 2, 2020: https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/09/02/1007938/satellite-mega-constellations-risk-ruining-astronomy-forever/
Videos
Astronomy from the Stratosphere: SOFIA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NV98BcBBA9c. A talk by Dr. Dana Backman (1:15:32)
Galaxies Viewed in Full Spectrum of Light: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=368K0iQv8nE. Scientists with the Spitzer Observatory show how a galaxy looks different at different wavelengths (6:22)
Lifting the Cosmic Veil: Highlights from a Decade of the Spitzer Space Telescope: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkrNQcwkY78. A talk by Dr. Michael Bicay (1:42:44)
