BGuthrie Photos: DC -- Natl Air and Space Museum -- Gallery 111: (a) Explore the Universe

DC -- Natl Air and Space Museum -- Gallery 111: (a) Explore the Universe:

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. GAL111_140706_001.JPG: Explore the Universe What is the Universe? How big is it? How old is it? How did it begin? Since people first gazed up at the stars, we have searched for answers to such questions. When our view was limited by what our eyes could see, the sky was our Universe. Then telescopes deepened our view, photography enhanced it, and spectroscopy broadened it. The Universe grew from a sky of stars to a realm of galaxies, to an expanding Universe of galaxies. Today our view grows broader and deeper still. Digital technology shows us a Universe that is evolving and elegant, yet in many ways still elusive. We have no final answers to our age-old questions. Our exploration continues.
2. GAL111_140706_010.JPG: The Naked Eye From before the dawn of history until less than 400 years ago, our Universe consisted of what we could see with our eyes: a sky filled with objects in constant motion. The Earth seemed to rest at the center of a starry sphere, and the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars appeared to move around the Earth. People used measuring instruments to map the stars and to plot the changing positions of the Sun, Moon, and planets in order to understand and predict their motions.
3. GAL111_140706_013.JPG: Making Sense of the Universe: Imagine that all you know about the Universe comes from what you can see in the sky. Unchanging patterns of stars move slowly overhead. The Sun and Moon travel from east to west along separate but predictable paths. A few points of light, called planets, move among the stars, but their paths and speeds vary, and sometimes they even change direction. What Conclusions Would You Draw? When you look up at night, does the sky seem endlessly deep? Or does it seem to enclose you like an overturned bowl? Does the Earth seem to be moving or sitting still? How might you explain the movement of the Moon and planets against the stars from night to night?
4. GAL111_140706_016.JPG: Tools of the Astronomer's Trade: Early astronomers used many kinds of instruments to study the heavens. All were basically tools for measuring or calculating the positions of objects in the sky. With them astronomers mapped the stars and made tables to predict the future positions of the Sun, Moon, and planets. This knowledge was important, for the sky served as a clock, calendar, and navigational aid. It told farmers when to plant and harvest and helped seafarers find their way. it was used to mark religious observances and to cast horoscopes. Astronomy: A High Calling: Telling time, maintaining calendars, casting horoscopes, and marking religious observances were pursuits highly valued by many societies and cultures for many reasons: political, economic, and religious. Thus, sultans, kings, and emperors were willing to finance the building of great observatories, and the finest artisans were commissioned to create beautiful yet practical astronomical instruments. "Amazed, and as if astonished and stupefied, I stood still... with my eyes fixed intently upon it... When I had satisfied myself that no star of that kind had ever shone forth before, I was led into such perplexity by the unbelievability of the thing that I began to doubt the faith of my own eyes." -- Tycho Brahe, on the supernova of 1572 Tycho Brahe: A Master Observer Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe's observations of the bright new star that appeared in the sky of 1572 proved the heavens were not changeless. His observations of a comet in 1577 proved that comets moved about freely through the realm of the planets, a discovery that shattered the centuries-old notion of solid, transparent heavenly spheres. Indeed, observing was Tycho's passion, and precision was his obsession. Supported by the king of Denmark, he built two major observatories and filled them with the finest instruments, many of which he designed himself. He cataloged the positions of a thousand stars and tracked the motions of the Sun, Moon, and planets. The accuracy of his measurements remained unsurpassed until the invention of the telescope.
5. GAL111_140706_025.JPG: Tycho Brahe: A Master Observer Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe's observations of the bright new star that appeared in the sky of 1572 proved the heavens were not changeless. His observations of a comet in 1577 proved that comets moved about freely through the realm of the planets, a discovery that shattered the centuries-old notion of solid, transparent heavenly spheres. Indeed, observing was Tycho's passion, and precision was his obsession. Supported by the king of Denmark, he built two major observatories and filled them with the finest instruments, many of which he designed himself. He cataloged the positions of a thousand stars and tracked the motions of the Sun, Moon, and planets. The accuracy of his measurements remained unsurpassed until the invention of the telescope.
6. GAL111_140706_032.JPG: Islamic Celestial Globe, 1630 A.D. This brass globe served both as a map of the heavens, as viewed from outside the starry sphere, and as a precision tool for making astronomical calculations. Engraved on its surface are various coordinate lines, constellation figures, and Arabic inscriptions. The stars are made of embedded bits of silver. The globe is hollow and was cast in one seamless piece. It was originally set in a cradle of rings, which depicted the horizon and other astronomical circles.
7. GAL111_140706_046.JPG: Hubble Space Telescope Backup Mirror This is one of two nearly identical main mirrors built by Corning for the Hubble Space Telescope. The mirror installed on the Hubble was finished by Perkin-Elmer Corporation using computerized techniques. This backup mirror was finished by Eastman Kodak, which used conventional optical techniques to shape and polish the mirror. Facts: * How big is it? This mirror measures 2.5 meters (98 inches) across and weighs 748 kilograms (1,650 pounds). The useable surface of the mirror in the Hubble was slightly smaller-about 2.4 meters (94 inches)-because the mirror mounting covered the outer edge. * Why doesn't it look like a mirror? This mirror was never used, so it never received a reflective coating. The mirror in the Hubble was coated with a thin layer of aluminum and also overcoated with magnesium fluoride, so it could better reflect ultraviolet light. * What is it made of? The mirror is made of Corning ultra-low expansion glass. The front and back surfaces are fused to a lattice core and to the inner and outer bands, creating a sturdy but lightweight structure.
8. GAL111_140706_048.JPG: WF/PC The Hubble's Original Camera These optical elements are from the Hubble Space Telescope's Wide-Field/Planetary Camera, or WF/PC ("WIF-pik"). WF/PC was part of the Hubble when it was placed in orbit in 1990. The camera was retrieved by Space Shuttle astronauts in 1993 and replaced with WFPC-2, a similar instrument with tiny optical alterations to compensate for a flaw in the shape of the Hubble's main mirror. WF/PC was two cameras in one. Light could be directed to either of two sets of sensors: wide-field sensors for viewing broad areas of the sky, or narrow-field (planetary) sensors for viewing small, bright objects, such as planets or moons. The sensors' CCD chips could record images in visible, ultraviolet, and infrared light. Most of the spectacular images returned by the Hubble were taken by WF/PC's successor, WFPC-2.
9. GAL111_140706_058.JPG: An Elusive Universe: Within our observable Universe -- the portion of the Universe we can examine -- we see remarkable organization: countless stars grouped together as galaxies; countless galaxies clumped into clusters; clusters arranged in vast filaments, sheets, and bubbles. Astronomers thing all this began in a colossal explosion billions of years ago and evolved into the wondrous place we know and marvel at today; beautiful, elegant, violent, bizarre -- and always surprising.
10. GAL111_140706_073.JPG: Eli Dwek: Artist and Astrophysicist: When the Explore the Universe gallery team needed someone who could illustrate and demystify the complex inner workings of some of the exotic instruments on display, they turned to Eli Dwek. As astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Dwek is also a well-known artist who has illustrated posters, articles, and the walls of NASA's offices. Dwek's technical understanding of how detectors work, coupled with his ability to create simple, intuitive graphics, proved ideal for this task.
11. GAL111_140706_077.JPG: Exploring the Universe in the Digital Age Digital technology has transformed how we explore the Universe. Telescopes, photography, and spectroscopy remain our basic tools, but digital light detectors and processors have enhanced their power. Observatories in space have broadened the range of light we can gather. Our view of the Universe now extends from radio waves to gamma rays. And new technologies are revolutionizing ground-based astronomy, enabling us to create larger and more powerful telescopes than ever before.
12. GAL111_140706_090.JPG: Exploring the Universe with Spectroscopy While astronomers were starting to use photography to capture light from celestial objects, they were also learning how to analyze light itself. They found that an object's spectrum, the rainbow of colors that forms when light passes through a prism, could tell them what the object was made of and how it moved. By the late 1920s the use of spectroscopy, creating and studying spectra, produced an amazing discovery: the Universe of galaxies was expanding.
13. GAL111_140706_104.JPG: Observing Cage from the 100-Inch Telescope This structure before you is the upper section of Mount Wilson's 100-inch telescope, one of several interchangeable observing cages used on the instrument. This cage and the camera attached to it were used by Edwin Hubble in the 1920s and '30s during his monumental work on nebulae and galaxies. An astronomer would sit on a platform beside the cage to use the eyepiece or camera mounted on the structure.
14. GAL111_140706_108.JPG: Exploring the Universe with Photography By the late 1800s, photography was changing the way astronomers studied the Universe. The telescope had become a high-powered camera that recorded images of objects on photographic plates. These images were more accurate than hand drawings and revealed objects and details far too faint for the eye to detect. Astronomers would soon discover that the Milky Way was only one of countless galaxies, each one a vast swirl of stars.
15. GAL111_140706_131.JPG: Exploring the Universe with Telescopes In 1609 Galileo began using a new kind of instrument that magnified distant objects: a telescope. When he trained it on the heavens, he saw countless stars and other faint objects never before seen. Suddenly, the Universe was no longer limited to what the naked eye could see. As telescopes improved, astronomers continued to push back the boundaries of the known Universe, peering ever deeper into the surrounding sea of stars known as the Milky Way.
16. GAL111_140706_142.JPG: Armillary Sphere (Replica): Armillary spheres large and small were used for centuries to study the sky and to teach about the celestial coordinate system, which astronomers used to locate objects in the sky. This is a full-scale replica of an armillary sphere built and used by Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe in the late 1500s. An observer could use its moveable rings and sighting devices to measure the position of a celestial object or differences between the positions of two objects.
17. GAL111_140706_154.JPG: A Sun-Centered Universe: According to this model, the Sun resided at the center of the Universe, and the Earth, plants, and stars moved around it. Only the Moon orbited the Earth. A starry sphere still enclosed the Universe. Once it was shown that planets traveled in slightly elongated paths rather than perfect circles, epicycles were o longer needed to explain planetary motions. In time, the Sun-centered model replaced the Earth-centered model of the Universe.
18. GAL111_140706_161.JPG: An Earth-Centered Universe: According to this model, a vast, starry sphere surrounded the Earth and rotated slowly around it. Many imagined that the Sun, Moon, and planets were attached to the rotating, transparent spheres nested within the starry sphere. To predict the irregular motions of the planets, Greek astronomers worked out a scheme in which each planet also moved around on a smaller circular orbit called an epicycle. Using this complex geometrical model, they could predict fairly well the future positions of the Sun, Moon, and planets as well as lunar and solar eclipses.
19. GAL111_140706_165.JPG: Two Models of the Universe: To most people long ago, the Earth seemed to be the center of the Universe. This view reflected people's day-to-day experience. The Sun, Moon, planets, and stars appeared to move across the sky, so it was natural to believe they did. One could not feel the Earth move, so it was natural to believe it didn't. In the 1500s a different idea was introduced. It placed the Sun at the center of the Universe, with the Earth, planets, and stars moving around it.
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Description of Subject Matter: Explore the Universe
September 21, 2001 – March 27, 2022
Through objects, interactives, and videos, this exhibition explains what scientists think our universe is like, how the present scientific view of the universe came to be, how it is being shaped today, and what mysteries remain. With the development of each new tool to explore the universe—telescopes, photography, spectroscopy—our understanding of the universe changed dramatically. Despite these new advances, many of our questions remain unanswered: What is the universe? How big is it? How old is it? How did it begin? A changing section on what's new in our exploration of the universe will keep the exhibition up to date and attempt to answer these questions.
* Exploring the Universe with the Naked Eye examines our first, basic understanding of the universe. Featured artifacts include Islamic astrolabes and a replica of the armillary sphere and portable mural quadrant used by Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe.
* Exploring the Universe with the Telescope illustrates how the telescope revolutionized the way we see the universe. Featured artifacts include the telescope tube through which William Herschel discovered thousands of nebulae and star clusters, leading him to postulate that other galaxies exist beyond our Milky Way.
* Exploring the Universe with Photography shows how photographs changed the way astronomers recorded the universe. Featured artifacts include the camera used by Edwin Hubble in discovering other galaxies.
* Exploring the Universe with Spectroscopy demonstrates how the composition of light reveals histories within the universe. Featured artifacts include an early spectrograph from the late 1800s and a 1912 letter from Albert Einstein discussing the warping of space by matter.
* Exploring the Universe in the Digital Age explains how digital detectors and processors have enhanced the power of the earlier tools. Featured artifacts include the "Z machine" that gathered data for the first 3-D map of the universe.
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