Watching the Stars

Watching the Stars

Have you ever looked up to the sky at night, and wondered what stars look like up close? Have you ever wondered how astronomers take pictures of other planets with such detail? Although the human eyes are superb detectors, they cannot see extremely faint objects or fine details on distant objects. For example, you would not be able to read the print on your skateboard magazine when it is on the other side of a dimly lit room. However, if you had something that would collect more light than your eye and also increase the details that are discernible, you would be able to read the fine print in the magazine. Now, imagine that your magazine is a star far away in space. A telescope would be the ideal instrument to better see that star. Telescopes allow observers to see faint objects in space by first gathering light, then focusing it by either reflection or refraction, and finally projecting the image to the observer.
To understand how important the a...