THURSDAY, AUGUST 5, 2010
space telescopes and probes
Hubble is the perhaps the best know space observatory. But did you know there
are a couple dozen space telescopes and probes in service, actively used to study
our local star, galactic neighbourhood, and beyond? I show direct links to some,
those with interesting photos!
Wikipedia article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_observatory
There is a good article in the amazing Wikipedia. It explains general concepts
and has interesting graphics showing where these telescopes are operating in terms
of electomagnetic spectrum.
NASA Astronomy and Astrophysics Flights http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/astro/flight_projects.html
An interesting list of all the active (and inactive) flight missions with astronomy
or astrophysics components.
Hubble http://hubblesite.org
Space telescope operating mostly in the visible spectrum. Fantastic photography.
What else needs to be said.
SOHO http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov
A safe way to look at the sun. Or to verify the location of sunspots. Daily photographs
in various spectra.
Herschel http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Herschel/index.html
Herschel, ESA's space observatory, carries the largest, most powerful infrared
telescope ever flown in space.
Planck http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Planck/index.html
ESA's Planck mission is the first European space observatory to study of the Cosmic
Microwave Background - the relic radiation from the Big Bang.
Cassini http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/flybys/
In 2004, the Cassini spacecraft entered orbit around Saturn to begin the first
in-depth, up-close study. With its initial four-year tour of the Saturn system
complete, the spacecraft is conducting an extended mission called the Cassini
Equinox Mission.
Kepler http://kepler.nasa.gov/
NASA's first mission capable of finding Earth-size and smaller planets. It is surveying our region of the Milky Way galaxy to discover hundreds of planets in or
near the habitable zone. The Kepler instrument is a specially designed 0.95-meter
diameter photometer.
COROT http://smsc.cnes.fr/COROT/
The COnvection, ROtation and planetary Transits space telescope is a mission of
astronomy led by France. The spacecraft is equipped with a 27-cm diameter afocal
telescope and a 4-CCD camera sensitive to tiny variations of the light intensity
from stars.
WISE http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/WISE/main/
The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer was launched in December 2009. It will
scan the entire sky unlike Spitzer and Herschel for distant and proximal objects
(like comets).
STEREO http://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/
Dual Sun-facing instruments, one in orbit ahead of the Earth, one after the Earth. Helps analyse storms, CMEs, etc.
Chandra http://chandra.harvard.edu/index.html
The Universe in x-rays. NASA's flagship x-ray space observatory.
SDO http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sdo/main/index.html
The Solar Dynamics Observatory shows impressive, multi-spectrum images of the Sun, at a higher resolution.
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