Astronomical Instruments

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Astronomical Instruments
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Purposes of a Telescope
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Purposes of a Telescope 1. Gather Light
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• Purposes of a Telescope
• Gather Light
• Increase Resolution

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• Purposes of a Telescope
• Gather Light
• Increase Resolution
• Magnify the Image

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Two main types of Optical Telescopes
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Two main types of Optical Telescopes Refracting
- uses a lens to bend light
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Two main types of Optical Telescopes Refracting
- uses a lens to bend light Reflecting - uses a
mirror
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Reflecting Telescope Designs
Prime Focus Newtonian Cassegrain Coude
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The Yerkes 40-inch Refracting Telescope
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8 meter Reflecting Telescope
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The Keck 36 mirror mosaic
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Mirror Construction
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Glass bricks
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The furnace
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The mirror blank out of the oven
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Putting the mirror blank on the polishing cell
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The finished 8-meter mirror blank
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The Final Product!
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Getting the Mirror to the Mountain
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Both mirrors in the Large Binocular Telescope
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Observatory Considerations
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Why not an observatory here?
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Accessibility/Weather
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Mauna Kea, Hawaii
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The Keck Twin 10 m Telescopes
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Mt. Palomar 200
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Kitt Peak, Arizona
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The Large Binocular Telescope - Mt. Graham
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Las Campanas 100-inch telescope
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Cerro Las Campanas
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Hubble Space Telescope
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Advantages
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Advantages Above the atmosphere
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Advantages Above the atmosphere -gt no seeing
effects
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Advantages Above the atmosphere -gt no seeing
effects -gt no absorption
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Advantages Above the atmosphere -gt no seeing
effects -gt no absorption -gt weather-proof
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Advantages Above the atmosphere -gt no seeing
effects -gt no absorption -gt weather-proof -gt
its always nighttime!
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Radio Telescopes
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Green Bank , West Virginia
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Green Bank , West Virginia
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Green Bank , West Virginia
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Arecibo, Puerto Rico
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The Very Large Array, New Mexico
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VLA 25-meter dishes
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Galaxy Cygnus A in Visible light
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Cygnus A Radio image
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Centaurus A
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The Center of our Galaxy
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Chandra High-Resolution X-ray Telescope
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M82 Visible light
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M82 - Radio
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M82 - Xray
M82 Visible light
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Fermi Gamma Ray Telescope
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Fermi Gamma Ray Telescope
Large Area Telescope Tower Modules
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An 800x800 CCD chip