Telescope

By: Alex E.

Modern day scientists are able to explore the infinite expanse of space from billions of miles away because of the wonders of the telescope. In the 1600’s, the first practical telescope was invented in the Netherlands using simple glass lenses, and was later improved by the renowned scientist Galileo (Antiquetelescopes.org, March 2^nd 2012). Since then, the telescope has been drastically improved. Today, there are telescopes that use x-rays, gamma rays, radio waves and high-energy particles to form images of objects beyond our reach (Wikipedia.org, March 2^nd 2012). The Hubble space telescope is one of the most well-known telescopes around the world. It is situated 353 miles above the earth and has been used to make many discoveries such as new planets and solar systems. For example, the Hubble telescope has taken images of what scientists call “The Hubble Deep Field”, which is a small speck that reveals approximately 3000 galaxies (Hubblesite.org, March 2^nd 2012). As improvements are made to the telescope we come closer to unlocking many mysteries in the universe and one day we may be able to answer the question of whether we are alone in the Universe.