User:Dream Team 110/sandbox
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Two years after Isaac Newton built the Newtonian reflector, in the year 1670; Johannes Hevelius created a refracting telescope that was a 150 feet long.[1] After almost a decade in 1781, planet Uranus was discovered by Sir William Herschel via a hand-made reflecting telescope. [1] Not too long after, the “Leviathan of Parsontown” was created in 1845. [1] Lord Rosse’s “six-foot diameter primary motor” [1] discovered the first spiral nebulae; “a galaxy having a spiral structure”. [2] Many years passed by until the largest refracting telescope was ever built. [1] The 40 inch telescope was built in 1897 at the Yerkes Observatory. [1]
History:
In the 1940’s, Lyman Spitzer proposed the idea of having an observatory system in space.[3] This idea became a reality on April 25, 1990 when the Hubble Space Telescope was sent into space. [3] Originally, the telescope was supposed to be launched in 1985 but due to the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger, all flights were stopped.[4]The Hubble Space Telescope has made various important discoveries regarding planets, stars and the universe. [1] Many years after the Hubble Space Telescope, the twin-mirrored Large Binocular Telescope was created in 2005. [1] This telescope delivered images 10 times faster that Hubble Space Telescope.[1]
Future The telescope planned to be launched in the year of 2018 is said to “find the first galaxies that formed in the early Universe, connecting the Big Bang to our own Milky Way Galaxy.[5] This large, infrared- optimized telescope is known as the James Webb Space Telescope.[5]
The telescopes main goal will be to observe objects beyond the reach of the universe. Future plans consist of the telescope being placed on the far side of Earth where it will orbit the sun. The James Webb Telescope’s intended use will be for scientific research purposes. Its aim will be to search for stars that were formed after the Big Bang, to study the evolution of galaxies and understand how the planet and the first stars formed.[6]
Impact:
The invention of the telescope had considerable impact on human development and society. The telescope has played an integral role in scientific advancements. The use of the telescope led to the discovery of the planets, as well as playing a pivotal role in determining the shape of the earth, among other things [7] The telescope has allowed human beings to look beyond the earth and provide a clearer picture of the universe. Without the telescope, our understanding and appreciation of the solar system would be much different.
Das, S. (n.d.). 10 Telescopes That Changed Our View of the Universe [Slide Show]:
Scientific American.Science News, Articles and Information | Scientific
American. Retrieved August 7, 2012, from
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=ten-telescopes-galileo