Telescopes: Discoveries, Places to Visit, Key Facts
We have 29 telescopes in space and over 350 on Earth. To build one, 8 villages were relocated. Some telescopes cost $16B. Why are we investing, and how does it advance our civilization?
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Why Are Telescopes Important?
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Our paid subscribers will have exclusive access to a curated selection of websites offering telescope rentals for star photography, along with a comprehensive guide to observatories that are open for visits, perfect for family excursions to spark your children's interest in astronomy. Additionally, we provide an array of beneficial resources, including a detailed list of space conferences scheduled for 2024 and insights into the latest industry trends.
You can get full access to it for a month for as little as $ 15 or for a year for $ 149.
We had a long way from flat Earth to observing black holes and exploring the Big Bang (check out our previous article: How astronomy and space exploration are shaping our civilization landscape). Telescopes have revealed discoveries like exoplanets, dark energy, gravitational waves, and cosmic background radiation, opening new frontiers and challenges in our quest to understand the universe.
Across centuries of astronomical evolution, these devices have undergone a remarkable transformation from Galileo Galilei's inaugural telescope in 1609. Back then, it offered a mere 8x magnification, yet it allowed Galileo to witness lunar craters, individual stars in the Milky Way, and Jupiter's satellites.
Telescopes: Key Facts
Telescopes come in two flavors: earth-based and space-based. When we're stargazing from Earth, the pesky atmosphere plays a spoiler – it's like trying to spot stars through foggy glasses. That’s why they aim to tackle this by setting up shop in the mountains with a thinner atmosphere, lower temperatures, and more stable weather.
Now, an alternative fix is flinging telescopes into space - where the view is crystal clear. This cosmic approach lets smaller devices (James Webb Space Telescope - the biggest one with 6.5 meters in diameter) peer into the farthest reaches of our universe without the atmospheric interference we deal with down here. It's like swapping foggy glasses for a direct line of sight to the stars.
It is important to realize the physics of light to understand the difference in telescopes. The varied wavelengths of colors allow us to perceive the spectrum. Yet, beyond what meets the eye, there exist unseen wavelengths like infrared, X-rays, and others, unveiling crucial details in space.
Space telescopes observe in various spectral ranges, each of these spectral ranges provides unique information about the properties and composition of celestial objects, enabling scientists to study and understand various aspects of the universe:
Visible light: This range covers the colors that the human eye can perceive. Telescopes operating in this range provide high-resolution images of celestial objects.
Infrared: infrared radiation is beyond the visible spectrum. Telescopes operating in the infrared range can penetrate through dust and gas clouds, allowing observation of objects hidden from visible light.
Ultraviolet: This range is beyond the violet end of the visible spectrum and can be hazardous to human eyes. Telescopes operating in the ultraviolet range can detect objects emitting in this spectrum, for example - hot stars, quasars, young stellar objects, etc.
X-rays: Telescopes operating in the X-ray range can detect high-energy phenomena such as black holes, neutron stars, pulsars, etc.
Gamma Rays: This range is the most high-energy. Telescopes detecting gamma-ray emissions are used to study cosmic events like gamma-ray bursts, emanating from the most powerful sources in the universe.
The electromagnetic spectrum graph. Source: https://scied.ucar.edu/
This leads us to the array of space telescopes, each tailored to specific observing ranges and sizes. It's akin to assembling a team of specialists, each equipped to reveal distinct facets of the cosmic space. With different wavelengths, these telescopes collaboratively work to provide a comprehensive understanding of the celestial panorama.
In recent years, there has been a noticeable surge in interest in astronomical observations among professional and amateur researchers. National space agencies are channeling increasing funds into telescopes and research endeavors. The analytical center of Space Ambition identified, based on data from arxiv.org, 240,000 articles in astronomy and astrophysics, featuring contributions from over 42,250 unique authors.
Now, Let’s crunch some market numbers. We analyzed the Astronomical Science Funding (AST) in the U.S. from 1999 to 2023. Here's the scoop: the annual budget or expenses for AST hover around $350 million, while the broader Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS) budget ranges from $1.25 billion to $1.75 billion. This financial commitment underscores the growing significance placed on advancing the astronomical science.
If we consider amateurs - The Astronomical Telescopes market size was valued at $263.71 million in 2022 and is projected to reach $495.95 million by 2030, at a CAGR of 10.68% from 2023 to 2030. This is attributed to the increasing technical capabilities of telescopes as well as the growing interest in astrophotography.
Top Space Telescopes and Observatories
Since 1970 there have been more than 90 Space Telescopes placed into Orbit by NASA and ESA. An Average of 2 per year. Now there are 29 active telescopes in space. There are a lot more observatories on the Earth. Only in the U.S., there are 350+ professional observatories operating telescopes for research. We have prepared a small description of some of the telescopes and the largest observatories.
*The prices shown below include the cost of designing and building the telescope, but do not include the cost of operating it. Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent each year to maintain, operate and manage telescopes.
Space Telescopes
Hubble Space Telescope
Based: 547 km from the Earth (low Earth orbit (LEO))
Owner: NASA
Launch year: 1990
Observation spectrum: visible, ultra-violet and a small portion of the infrared spectrum
Size: 2.4 meters in diameter
Cost: $16 billion
Achievements: The Hubble Space Telescope remains one of the finest telescopes in the world, despite its age and modest size. It outperforms many of the most advanced ground-based telescopes and is still considered cutting-edge in visible light and ultraviolet astronomy - the demand for its use in research each year far exceeds the available observing time. It helped to pin down the age of the universe now known to be 13.8 billion years. It discovered two moons of Pluto, Nix, and Hydra, it helped determine the rate at which the universe is expanding, it discovered that nearly every major galaxy is anchored by a black hole at the center, and created a 3-D map of dark matter.
James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)
Based: 1.5 million km from the Earth (point between Sun and Earth - second Lagrange point L2)
Owner: NASA
Launch year: 2021
Observation spectrum: from the visible to the mid-infrared
Cost: $10 billion
Size: 6.5 meters in diameter
Achievements: Since 1990s scientists have managed to capture images of exoplanets a mere 24 times. The game-changer JWST delivered its direct image of an exoplanet. This milestone unequivocally showcased JWST's capability to produce highly sensitive images of previously elusive celestial objects. Moreover, this telescope has made it possible to study the atmospheres of exoplanets and find Earth-like planets.
The triumphs don't end there. James Webb Telescope found two of the oldest and most distant galaxies , has already observed never-before-seen stars within the Tarantula Nebula, immortalized the iconic Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula, and laid claim to discovering the most distant galaxies in observational history.
Why is the James Webb Telescope so unique? The James Webb Telescope expands our observational capabilities by covering a wider range of wavelengths than previous space telescopes - even to observe in the infrared spectrum. The location is also very important - L2 point is ideal for astronomy because a spacecraft is close enough to readily communicate with Earth, can keep Sun, Earth and Moon behind the spacecraft for solar power and (with appropriate shielding) provides a clear view of deep space for our telescopes.
X-ray telescopes: Chandra X-ray (NASA) and XMM Newton (ESA) telescopes
Based: highly elliptical orbits, rotating around the Earth
Launch year: 1999
Observation spectrum: X-ray
Cost: $3 billion for Chandra and 689 million Euros for XMM Newton
Size: Chandra - 1.2 meters in diameter, XMM Newton - 70 centimeters in diameter
Achievements: Two pivotal missions have recently marked their 20th anniversaries: NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the European Space Agency's X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission (XMM-Newton), both launched in 1999. As big observatories, they've significantly advanced our comprehension of black hole physics. They've presented compelling evidence supporting the existence of dark energy, offering a distinct method to measure its density and state. The four-decades-old question of the nature of the X-ray background radiation was solved within a few months of the launch of Chandra. Chandra's observations have revealed the presence of many previously undetected stellar black holes in the Milky Way and nearby galaxies, including a possible new class of black holes. The first sighting of hot gas sloshing within a galaxy cluster by XMM Newton. While this kind of motion has been predicted theoretically, it has never been seen before in the cosmos. Also, XMM Newton finds never-before-seen insight into the process responsible for Jupiter’s X-ray auroral flares.
Gaia telescope
Based: 1.5 million km from the Earth (point between Sun and Earth - second Lagrange point L2)
Owner: ESA
Launch year: 2013
Observation spectrum: from the near ultraviolet to the near-infrared
Cost: 740 m euro
Size: 1.45 m × 0.5 m
Achievements: Gaia's comprehensive 3D map of the Milky Way galaxy and its outer space, containing data on 1.8 billion stars, will allow scientists to continue digging deep into our cosmic history. Gaia is assembling one of the most comprehensive and accurate catalogs of stars in the world. Gaia maps 150,000+ asteroid orbits which finds more proof of Einstein's relativity theory.
Earth Based Observatories
500-meter aperture spherical telescope (FAST)
Based: China
Owner: National Astronomical Observatories/Chinese Academy of Sciences
Launch year: 2016
Observation spectrum: radio
Cost: $170 million + $269 million
Size: 500 meters in diameter
Achievements: China built the world's largest observatory, the 500-meter spherical telescope, with a price tag of $170 million. This astronomical giant demands a radio silence radius of five kilometers (three miles), necessitating the relocation of 8,000 residents from eight neighboring villages. In a bid for international scientific recognition, the Chinese government allocated around $269 million from poverty relief funds and bank loans to facilitate the relocation process, exceeding initial estimates.
During its operational phase, FAST captures radio waves emitted by celestial objects. Due to its colossal size, the telescope can intercept signals from the farthest corners of space.
Fast radio bursts (FRB), which were first discovered in 2007, are the brightest radio bursts in the universe. It’s a new topic in astronomy. So far, scientists have detected several hundred events of FRBs. However, a team of scientists using the FAST telescope detected 1,652 independent bursts from the source in about 50 days. The FAST telescope helped to map hydrogen gas in space and helped scientists study pulsars in more detail.
Developers express confidence that this monumental telescope will significantly contribute to the quest for gravitational waves and the exploration of transient sonic bursts from deceased stars. Gravitational waves are a new topic in astrophysics. In 2017, a group of scientists won the Nobel Prize for the detection of these waves. This is one of the key topics that astrophysicists are currently working on - and this telescope makes a significant contribution to this topic. We will talk about gravitational wave projects in the following articles.
FAST stands as a testament to China's commitment to advancing cutting-edge astronomical research. Also, The FAST telescope joined the Breakthrough Listen SETI project to search for intelligent extraterrestrial communications in the Universe.
Very Large Telescope (VLT)
Based: Chile
Size: 4 telescopes with mirrors 8.2 meters in diameter and 4 with mirrors 1.8 meters in diameter
Owner: European Southern Observatory
Launch year: 2000
Observation spectrum: from deep ultraviolet to mid-infrared
Cost: 330 million EUR
Achievements: The Very Large Telescope, managed by the Southern European Observatory, is located at Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert, northern Chile. Contrary to its name, it's not just one but a quartet of separate telescopes. While these telescopes are typically employed individually, they can join forces when needed, releasing a combined observational power that delivers exceptionally high angular resolution. This setup enables the VLT to tackle a wide range of astronomical inquiries with remarkable precision. VLT using for exoplanets, probing Black Holes, Sagittarius A (supermassive black hole at the heart of Milky Way, High-Resolution Imaging etc.)
Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA)
Based: Chile
Owner: European Southern Observatory
Size: Its main 12-meter array has fifty antennas, each measuring 12 meters in diameter, which together act as a single telescope — an interferometer.
Launch year: 2011
Observation spectrum: radio
Cost: $1.4 billion
Achievements: ALMA, an array of 66 radio telescopes, comprises of 54 with a diameter of 39.4 feet (12 meters) and 12 with a diameter of 23 feet (7 meters). Working as an astronomical interferometer, these antennas collaborate to produce a unified image. By varying the combinations within this array, the visibility range is altered, a crucial aspect for pinpointing specific galactic regions.
Among ALMA's breakthroughs is the identification of the farthest oxygen in space, a record it has surpassed more than once. In 2018, ALMA set a milestone by detecting oxygen 13.28 billion light years away. The evidence was gleaned from the galaxy MACS1149-JD1. Due to the Universe's expansion, the infrared light emitted by this oxygen got stretched into microwaves, and ALMA played a pivotal role in capturing this signal.
The search for extraterrestrial civilizations is also one of the important tasks of telescopes. Therefore, some telescopes have been built with the investment of enthusiasts in the search for extraterrestrial life. In addition to this, some telescopes also search for extraterrestrial civilizations in addition to their main tasks. We have a separate article on this topic: Why Do the Brightest Minds of Our Generation Invest in the Search for Extraterrestrial Life?
Several observatories are scheduled to be launched in the near future: Extremely Large Telescope in Chile, Giant Magellan Telescope also in Chile, Square Kilometre Array in South Africa and so on. We will tell about them and future space telescopes in the following articles.
How to Rent a Telescope
There are about 1,100 planetariums in North America alone, of which 30% are available to school groups only and 70% serve both school and public performances.
That said, professional observatories are available for tours and visits too. Moreover, if you are a professional researcher and you do your scientific work about stars, you can rent a professional observatory. There are three possible types of rentals:
Short-term Observation Sessions (a few hours): Prices typically range from a few hundred to several thousand dollars.
Long-term Observations (several nights or more): Costs can significantly grow, depending on factors like the time of year, the scientific importance of the project, and other variables.
Free Research Support Programs: Certain observatories extend free telescope access, particularly for science projects contributing valuable data or exhibiting exceptional scientific significance.
Booking an observatory for these purposes is conveniently done online, as most observatories provide accessible online services for such arrangements, for example:
Las Campanas Observatory, Located in Chile
La Silla Observatory, Located Chile
Mount Lemmon Observatory, Located in Arizona
Of course this list is much longer. We just listed some of the available observatories.
And if you're an amateur, you can stargaze online. Services provide remote access to telescopes. For example, iTelescope.Net allows you to watch the stars for $40 per hour, and Slooh provides access for schools and universities. Keep in mind that you need to book ahead if you want to observe some astronomical event since many people are also waiting for them.
Are you personally engaged with telescopes or perhaps interested in astrophotography? Share your experiences, contributions, and passion for astronomy with us. The celestial frontier is huge, and every perspective adds a unique dimension to our collective understanding of the cosmos.
Feel free to reach out to us as always at hello@spaceambition.org.
