HET: The New Largest Optical Telescope
27.12.1996

Most of our universe is too dim to see. To peer into our cosmos' unknown depths, astronomers must deploy new tools - and the classic new tool is a larger telescope. Pictured above is the new Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET) which recently declared "first light" in western Texas.

James Webb Space Telescope over Earth
26.12.2021

There's a big new telescope in space. This one, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), not only has a mirror over five times larger than Hubble's in area, but can see better in infrared light.

A Very Large Array of Radio Telescopes
21.06.1996

Pictured above is one of the world's premiere radio astronomical observatories: The Very Large Array (VLA). Each antenna dish is as big as a house (25 meters across) and mounted on railroad tracks. The VLA consists of 27 dishes - together capable of spanning the size of a city (35 kilometers).

Around the World in 80 Telescopes
3.04.2009

Want to go on an extraordinary voyage? Today you can, by watching Around the World in 80 Telescopes. The 24-hour long webcast is organized by the European Southern Observatory for the International Year of Astronomy cornerstone project 100 Hours of Astronomy.

A Very Large Array of Radio Telescopes
27.07.1997

Pictured above is one of the world's premiere radio astronomical observatories: The Very Large Array (VLA). Each antenna dish is as big as a house (25 meters across) and mounted on railroad tracks. The VLA consists of 27 dishes - together capable of spanning the size of a city (35 kilometers).

Earth Rotating Under Very Large Telescopes
1.06.2011

Why is the Earth moving in the above video? Most time lapse videos of the night sky show the stars and sky moving above a steady Earth. Here, however, the frames have been digitally rotated so that it is the stars that stay (approximately) steady, and the Earth that moves beneath them.

Keck: The Largest Optical Telescopes
27.12.1997

In buildings eight stories tall rest mirrors ten meters across that are slowly allowing humanity to map the universe. Alone, each is the world's largest optical telescope: Keck. Together, the twin Keck telescopes have the resolving power of a single telescope 90-meter in diameter, able to discern sources just milliarcseconds apart.

The Helix Nebula from the VISTA Telescope
31.01.2012

Will our Sun look like this one day? The Helix Nebula is one of brightest and closest examples of a planetary nebula, a gas cloud created at the end of the life of a Sun-like star.

Mars Through a Small Telescope
19.08.2003

How does Mars appear through a small telescope? Viewed with the unaided eye or through a small telescope, possibly the most striking part of Mars' appearance is it's red color. The color derives from rust, iron oxide, which composes perhaps 10% of the Martian soil.

Keck: The Largest Optical Telescope
15.07.1996

In buildings eight stories tall rest mirrors ten meters across that are slowly allowing humanity to map the universe. Alone, each is the world's largest optical telescope: Keck. Together, the twin Keck telescopes have the resolving power of a single telescope 90-meter in diameter, able to discern sources just milliarcseconds apart.