In a previous post I talked about the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), a large telescope being built in Chile which will spend 90% of its time surveying most of the sky a total of 1000 times over a 10 year period (in the remaining 10% it will revisit areas of specific interest). In this… Continue reading Surveying the Cosmos – Part II
Tag: Milky Way
Dark Sky Places
In this post I will talk about the work of the International Dark-Sky Association (https://www.darksky.org/)and the visit I made a few years ago to the Kielder Observatory, which is in the Northumberland Dark Sky park in northern England. The International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) was founded in 1988 by David Crawford a professional astronomer, who spent… Continue reading Dark Sky Places
Galileo and the telescope
Telescopes, developed first in the early 17th century, are instruments using lenses to magnify distant objects. Galileo refined early designs for astronomical observations, notably discovering Jupiter's moons and the phases of Venus, supporting heliocentrism. Further advancements led to Keplerian telescopes, and modern reflectors surpassed refractors in size and clarity.
Dark Skies.
"All humans, everywhere in the world and throughout history, have looked up at the sky and wondered at it. This experience is now denied to most people, because of the background light in towns and cities. It is important to ensure that there will be somewhere in England where young people can fully enjoy a cosmic… Continue reading Dark Skies.
A Brief History of the Universe
Updated August 2026 This post gives a (brief!) history of the Universe from the Big Bang until the the present day. As I am sure you'll agree, it's a big topic; so I'll only give a outline of some of the key events and when we believed they happened. This post is one of many… Continue reading A Brief History of the Universe
