Since the night 400 years ago when Galileo turned his small telescope towards the sky, mankind has made gigantic strides in observing the universe. Today’s telescopes observe all kinds of electromagnetic radiation — the familiar visible light that we can see to infra red and even gamma rays. They are monster machines deployed not just on the earth’s surface but orbiting in space. Here are some of these uber-modern eyes and ears
THE FUTURE | The Gran Telescopio Canaria in Canary Islands has a 10.4m span reflecting telescope, making it the biggest single mirror telescope. Started in May. The Atacama Large Millimetre/Submillimetre Array is located 16,000ft up in the Chilean Andes. When this array of 66 radio antennas spread across 10 miles opens, it will be the most advanced radio telescope. To start in 2012. The mother of all telescopes is the 30-metre telescope to be set up in Hawaii. Its giant mirror will be made of 492 smaller ones
Life of Galileo
1564 | Born in Pisa, Italy
1574-1589 | Enrolled in a monastery; shifted to Pisa to study medicine; finally settled for mathematics
1591-1610 | Taught mathematics at Pisa and Padua universities
1609 | Used improved telescope to observe heavenly bodies
1614 | His views on earth's motion around the sun denounced by church
1616 | Church tells him not to advocate his views
1632 | Publishes book reasserting his theory
1634 | Papal court finds him guilty of 'vehement heresy'; put under house arrest
1638 | Goes blind
1642 | Dies in Arcetri, outside Florence
1609 | Used improved telescope to observe heavenly bodies
1614 | His views on earth's motion around the sun denounced by church
1616 | Church tells him not to advocate his views
1632 | Publishes book reasserting his theory
1634 | Papal court finds him guilty of 'vehement heresy'; put under house arrest
1638 | Goes blind
1642 | Dies in Arcetri, outside Florence
Main scientific contribution
Confirmed Copernican theory that earth and planets move around sun; discovered lunar craters, 4 of Jupiter's moons, Saturn's rings, stars in Milky way, sunspots; stated that bodies of unequal weight experience same force of acceleration when falling to earth; developed maths of parabolas; developed various devices
Confirmed Copernican theory that earth and planets move around sun; discovered lunar craters, 4 of Jupiter's moons, Saturn's rings, stars in Milky way, sunspots; stated that bodies of unequal weight experience same force of acceleration when falling to earth; developed maths of parabolas; developed various devices
Books
The Starry Messenger | 1610
The Assayer | 1623,
Dialogue on the Two Chief World Systems | 1632
Kepler Apr 1990
Location: 75m km from Earth
Kepler has just settled down in its lonely slot in space. It will trail Earth at a distance which is about half the distance to the Sun. Kepler is a planet hunter — it is searching for Earth-like worlds
Location: 75m km from Earth
Kepler has just settled down in its lonely slot in space. It will trail Earth at a distance which is about half the distance to the Sun. Kepler is a planet hunter — it is searching for Earth-like worlds
Ferni Gamma Ray Space Tech 2008
LOCATION | Low Earth orbit Named after 20th-century physicist Enrico Fermi, this orbiting telescope measures gamma rays, one of the most powerful radiations. Earth's atmosphere shields us from this lethal cosmic barrage. But Fermi catches these rays miles above the Earth
LOCATION | Low Earth orbit Named after 20th-century physicist Enrico Fermi, this orbiting telescope measures gamma rays, one of the most powerful radiations. Earth's atmosphere shields us from this lethal cosmic barrage. But Fermi catches these rays miles above the Earth
Hubble Space Telescope 1990
LOCATION | Orbiting the Earth This 20-year-old orbiting telescope has given us some of the most iconic images like those of the Crab and Eagle Nebulas. Equipped with a 2.4 metre wide reflector, this 11-tonne telescope is orbiting the earth 559km above the surface. Within weeks of its launch, a flaw was discovered in its giant mirror, which had to be rectified by a special trip. Recently a space shuttle mission sent astronauts to the Hubble for upgrading it. Its biggest legacy will be the images of thousands of galaxies billions of light years away — called the Deep Field images
LOCATION | Orbiting the Earth This 20-year-old orbiting telescope has given us some of the most iconic images like those of the Crab and Eagle Nebulas. Equipped with a 2.4 metre wide reflector, this 11-tonne telescope is orbiting the earth 559km above the surface. Within weeks of its launch, a flaw was discovered in its giant mirror, which had to be rectified by a special trip. Recently a space shuttle mission sent astronauts to the Hubble for upgrading it. Its biggest legacy will be the images of thousands of galaxies billions of light years away — called the Deep Field images
Large Binocular Telescope 2005
LOCATION | Mount Graham, Arizona The Large Binocular Telescope gets its name as it has two giant lenses, each of about 8.4m span. Together they provide as much resolution as would be derived from a single 11.8-metre mirror, and are 10 times more powerful than Hubble's
LOCATION | Mount Graham, Arizona The Large Binocular Telescope gets its name as it has two giant lenses, each of about 8.4m span. Together they provide as much resolution as would be derived from a single 11.8-metre mirror, and are 10 times more powerful than Hubble's
Spitzer Space Telescope 2003
LOCATION | Following the Earth Along with Chandra, Hubble and Compton, Spitzer is the last of Nasa's four great observatories in space. It is made to catch infrared radiation coming from the universe. Human eyes can't detect such rays. It first spied the evidence of ‘hot Jupiters’ —gaseous giant planets in other galaxies, roasting on one side and cool on the other. Nasa thought that it would exhaust its onboard helium supply this April, but in August Spitzer was still sending stunning images of star formation
LOCATION | Following the Earth Along with Chandra, Hubble and Compton, Spitzer is the last of Nasa's four great observatories in space. It is made to catch infrared radiation coming from the universe. Human eyes can't detect such rays. It first spied the evidence of ‘hot Jupiters’ —gaseous giant planets in other galaxies, roasting on one side and cool on the other. Nasa thought that it would exhaust its onboard helium supply this April, but in August Spitzer was still sending stunning images of star formation
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