Articles
Bakich, M. “Meet the User-friendly EVScope.” Astronomy (March 2021): 58. Review of an electronically enhanced amateur telescope that lets you see deep-sky objects even with city lights.
Hall, S. “SOFIA’s End.” Sky & Telescope (April 2023): 12. On the discoveries and discontinuation of the flying infrared observatory.
Hannikainen, D. “The Radio Sky.” Sky & Telescope (August 2020): 12. Survey of major radio instruments and projects.
Harrington, P. “First Scopes for Adults.” Astronomy (June 2022): 46. A primer on how to choose a first amateur telescope.
Hyman, R. “Trailblazing Astronomers and Their Observatories.” Astronomy (April 2021): 24. On Nancy Roman and Vera Rubin, their work, and the telescopes named after them.
Irion, R. “Prime Time.” Astronomy (February 2001): 46. On how time is allotted on the major research telescopes. 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.
Mason, Todd & Robin. “Palomar’s Big Eye.” Sky & Telescope (December 2008): 36. On the Hale 200-inch telescope.
Shilling, G. “Monster Science.” Sky & Telescope (November 2018): 14; (December 2018): 14. On the giant ground-based telescopes that are being planned for the future (in two parts).
Subinsky, R. “Who Really Invented the Telescope.” Astronomy (August 2008): 84. Brief historical introduction, focusing on Hans Lippershey.
Talcott, R. “30 Years of Hubble’s Greatest Hits.” Astronomy (March 2020): 18. 12-page album with explanations.
Talcott, R. “Warm and Not So Fuzzy.” Astronomy (June 2020): 18. Review of the operations of the Spitzer Space Telescope; mostly an album of its images.
Verschuur, G. “Arecibo’s Legacy.” Sky & Telescope (August 2021): 34. A history of the giant radio telescope that was destroyed by a storm in 2020.
Young, M. “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) pose to the darkness of the night sky for astronomers.
Young, M. “X-Ray Explorers: Pioneers of the Invisible Universe.” Sky & Telescope (August 2019): 14. A history of X-ray Astronomy, focusing on the early space telescopes and their discoveries.
James Webb Space Telescope
Geithner, P. “Building the James Webb Space Telescope.” Sky & Telescope (November 2021): 20. The instruments and engineering challenges.
Mather, J. “The James Webb Space Telescope Lives.” Astronomy (October 2021): 14. The senior project scientist previews the giant infrared telescope NASA is launching.
Talcott, R. “How the Webb Telescope is Changing Astronomy.” Astronomy (June 2023): 14. On the work of the Webb in its first year and some of the first images.
Young, M. “First [James Webb Telescope] Images: A Deeper View.” Sky & Telescope (November 2022): 12. A quick overview of the first images released.
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
Catching Light: https://www.eso.org/public/videos/esocast46a/. ESOCast #46: A dramatic introduction to detectors and spectrographs for modern telescopes, made on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of ESO (10:56). See also: https://www.eso.org/public/videos/esocast112a/ (3:58).
Day in the Life of an ESO Astronomer: https://www.eso.org/public/videos/esocast4/. ESOCast #4: What it’s like to observe with a large telescope in our modern era; takes you behind the scenes at the observatory housing the Very Large Telescope (6:00).
First Results from the James Webb Space Telescope: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=te2zSAbyAo0. Dr. Alex Filippenko of Berkeley gives an excellent insider’s view of what the telescope is expected to do and what it did in the first few months; from the Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures (1:29:44).
From Silver to Silicon: https://esahubble.org/videos/hubblecast21a/. Hubblecast #21: A history of astronomical detectors from drawings to CCD’s (7:42).
From Ultraviolet to Infrared: Comparing the Hubble and James Webb Telescopes: https://esahubble.org/videos/hubblecast126a/. Hubblecast #126: Contrasts their capabilities in different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum (4:47).
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 (6:23).
How to Stop a Star’s Twinkle: https://www.eso.org/public/videos/esocast34a/. ESOCast #34: On the adaptive optics technique for getting better resolution, focusing on a laser guide-star instrument (8:50).
Hubble’s History by Hubble Scientists: https://esahubble.org/videos/hubblecast41a/. Hubblecast #42: Interviews with key people show how the Hubble was planned, built, and repaired (9:41).
Introduction to the James Webb Space Telescope Mission: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VqG3Jazrfs. Basic primer for the public on the new space infrared telescope (3:44).
Keck Telescope: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzpGxyuKo_M. A silent film, with captions, about the Keck telescopes and the work being done there, with some nice footage (6:49).
Making the Universe Come to Life: Behind the Hubble Images: https://esahubble.org/videos/hubblecast10a/. Hubblecast #10: Explains how the raw data from Hubble are converted into the beautiful Hubble images that fill our textbook (6:28).
Nancy Roman: The Mother of the Hubble: https://esahubble.org/videos/hubblecast113a/. The life and career of the woman astronomer at NASA whose work led to the Hubble Space Telescope (5:25).
Seeing the Invisible: https://esahubble.org/videos/hubblecast23a/. An introduction to the non-visible bands of the electro-magnetic spectrum, to the telescopes that allow us to detect them, and to what objects are prominent (9:12).
SOFIA: An Airborne Observatory: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5z6fZKOtP4. On the infrared telescope that flies inside a converted 747 airplane (11:25).
Technology to the Rescue: https://esahubble.org/videos/hubblecast20a/. Hubblecast #20: A good discussion of how recent technology has enabled astronomers to build bigger and more efficient telescopes (9:23).
The Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA): https://www.eso.org/public/videos/almatrailer2016a/. A dramatic, musical, visual, and captioned introduction to the giant array of radio telescopes in South America (3:19).
The History of Telescopes: New Views of the Skies: https://esahubble.org/videos/hubblecast17a/ (13:04) and Bigger is Better: https://esahubble.org/videos/hubblecast19a/ (9:35). In these two episodes of the Hubblecast from ESA, host Dr. Joe Liske takes viewers on a good-natured tour of telescopes, how they work, and how they evolved over the years.