Difference between revisions 954783 and 954832 on enwikiversity

{{yawn}}
Astronomy is performed by location and is subject to local conditions. The shapes and sizes of observatories have changed over time, as have their altitude. The motivations for putting an observatory manned or unmanned at different altitudes has led to a great variety in '''lofting technology'''.
{{secondary}}
{{tertiary}}
{{research}}
{{article}}
{{lecture}}
{{astronomy}}
(contracted; show full)kwork switch inside the observatory that would turn off the nearest streetlights for about 20 minutes. This clockwork system was upgraded in 1987. As the electricity supply has been removed in 2006, this facility is no longer available. ... In its current location, the observatory will be an island in a sea of houses and some people fear that it will be targeted by vandals or, perhaps, will have to be protected with high, unsightly fences.”, per Wikipedia [[w:Aldershot Observatory|Aldershot Observatory]].

{{clear}}
==Tuorla Observatory==
[[Image:Tuorla observatory tower.jpg|thumb|left|100px|This image shows the tower lofting technology of the Tuorla observatory. Credit: Xepheid.]]
From the Wikipedia article [[w:Tuorla Observatory|Tuorla Observatory]], Tuorla “is located about 12 kilometres from Turku in the direction of Helsinki.” The observatory is at an altitude of 60.6 m above sea level (asl).
{{clear}}
==National Observatory of Athens==
[[Image:Obser.jpg|thumb|right|200px|This image shows the setting for the National Observatory of Athens. Credit: [[w:User:Dimboukas|Dimboukas]].]]
The National Observatory of Athens is 107 m asl, per the Wikipedia article [[w:Athens|Athens]].
{{clear}}
==Mountain tops==
[[Image:Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope with moon.jpg|thumb|left|200px|The Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope is located at the Mauna Kea Observatory in Hawai'i. Credit: [[commons:User:Fabian_RRRR|Fabian_RRRR]].]]
[[Image:Kitt Peak McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope.jpg|thumb|right|200px|This view is of the McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory, near Tucson, Arizona. Credit: [http://www.flickr.com/photos/oceanyamaha/ ocean yamaha].]]
"The Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) is a 3.6 m optical-infrared telescope located on 
the summit of Mauna Kea on the island of Hawaii."<ref name=Murdin>{{ cite book
|author=Paul Murdin
|title=Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, In: ''Encyclopedia of Astronomy and Astrophysics''
|publisher=Institute of Physics 
|location=Bristol
|month=November
|year=2000
|editor=Paul Murdin
|pages=
|url=
|bibcode=2000eaa..bookE4166.
|doi=10.1888/0333750888/4166
|pmid=
|isbn=
|pdf=
|accessdate=2011-11-14 }}</ref> From the Wikipedia article [[w:Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope|Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope]]: the CFHT is "at an altitude of 4,204 meters". "[[w:Mauna Kea|Mauna Kea]] last erupted 4,000 to 6,000 years ago [~7,000 b2k].", from the Wikipedia article and "The Mauna Kea Observatories are used for scientific research across the electromagnetic spectrum from visible light to radio, and comprise the largest such facility in the world."
{{clear}}
==Balloons==
[[Image:Maxislaunch.jpg|thumb|right|150px|The MeV Auroral X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy experiment (MAXIS) is carried aloft by a balloon. Credit: .]]
Balloons are used as a long-duration facility above 99 % of the Earth's atmosphere. The MeV Auroral X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy experiment (MAXIS) is carried aloft by a balloon for a 450 h flight from McMurdo Station, Antarctica. The MAXIS flight detected an auroral X-ray event possibly associated with the solar wind as it interacted with the upper atmosphere between January 22nd and 26th, 2000.<ref name= Millan >{{ cite journal
|author=R. M. Millan, R. P. Lin, D. M. Smith, K. R. Lorentzen, and M. P. McCarthy
|title=X-ray observations of MeV electron precipitation with a balloon-borne germanium spectrometer
|journal=Geophysical Research Letters
|month=December
|year=2002
|volume=29
|issue=24
|pages=2194-7
|url=http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2002.../2002GL015922.shtml
|arxiv=
|bibcode=
|doi=10.1029/2002GL015922
|pmid=
|pdf=
|accessdate=2011-10-26 }}</ref>
{{clear}}
==Airborne observatory==
[[Image:NASA C-141A KAO.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The telescope is within the rectangular black hole on the side of the C-141A KAO aircraft. Credit: NASA.]]
(contracted; show full)
| author=Alfred Krabbe
| title=SOFIA telescope, In: ‘’Proceedings of SPIE: Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation’’
| pages=276–281
| date=March, 2007
| publisher=SPIE — The International Society for Optical Engineering
| location=Munich, Germany
| arxiv=astro-ph/0004253 }}</ref> The aircraft can also travel to almost any point on the Earth's surface, allowing observation from the northern and southern hemispheres.

{{clear}}
==Space cannon==
[[Image:Project Harp.jpg|thumb|right|200px|This image shows the High Altitude Research Project (HARP) 16 inch (406mm) gun. Credit: [[w:User:Noahcs|Noahcs]].]]
(contracted; show full) forces, and causes severe energy losses that may not be easily overcome. The lower troposphere is the densest layer of the atmosphere, and some of these issues may be mitigated by using a space gun with a "gun barrel" reaching above it (e.g. a gun emplacement on a mountaintop). A space gun, by itself, is generally not capable of placing objects into stable orbit around the planet, unless the objects are able to perform course corrections after launch.”, from Wikipedia [[w:Space gun|space gun]].

{{clear}}
==Sounding rockets==
[[Image:Black_Brant_8_Microcalorimeter_launch.gif|thumb|left|150px|Carried aloft on a Black Brant 9 sounding rocket such as this, the calorimeter arrays observed the diffuse soft X-ray emission from a large solid angle at high galactic latitude. Credit: .]]
Additional technology used to benefit astronomy includes [[w:Sounding rockets|sounding rockets]] which may carry gamma-ray, X-ray, ultraviolet, and infrared detectors to high altitude to view individual sources and the background for each wavelength band observed.
{{clear}}
==Aircraft assisted launches==
[[Image:Lockheed_TriStar_launches_Pegasus_with_Space_Technology_5.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Orbital Sciences' L-1011 jet aircraft releases the Pegasus rocket carrying the Space Technology 5 spacecraft with its trio of micro-satellites. Credit: NASA.]]
“The Pegasus is carried aloft below a carrier aircraft and launched at approximately 40,000 ft (12,000 m). The carrier aircraft provides flexibility to launch the rocket from anywhere rather than just a fixed pad. A high-altitude, winged flight launch also allows the rocket to avoid flight in the densest part of the atmosphere where a larger launch vehicle, carrying much more fuel, would be needed to overcome air friction and gravity.”, per the Wikipedia article [[w:Pegasus (rocket)|Pegasus]].
{{clear}}
==Orbital rocketry==
[[Image:TRACE in cleanroom during assembly.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The TRACE spacecraft is imaged in its cleanroom during assembly. Credit: NASA.]]
Additional technology used to benefit astronomy includes [[w:Sounding rockets|sounding rockets]] which may carry gamma-ray, X-ray, ultraviolet, and infrared detectors to high altitude to view individual sources and the background for each wavelength band observed.
[[Image:Atlas IIAS launch with SOHO.jpg|thumb|left|200px|The Solar Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) is launched atop an ATLAS-IIAS expendable launch vehicle. Credit: NASA.]]
With the advent of lofting technology comes the possibility of placing an observatory as a free floating yet when necessary either a geostationary, rotating, or fixed form in orbit.

Lofting an observing system into an orbit around the Earth requires designing and testing for survival of the rocket trip upward and the orbiting technique (usually a second stage for orbital insertion). At right is an early X-ray observatory (Solrad 3), the spherical silver ball with antenna, atop a stack of satellites, being fitted with a nose cone to reduce atmospheric drag and to protect the satellites.

Once the satellite is securely aboard the second stage, the lofting rocket is fueled (when liquid fuel is used), and the launch commences.
{{clear}}
==Shuttle payloads==
[[Image:STS-103 Reflection on astronaut's visor.jpg|thumb|left|150px|The Space Shuttle Discovery's Cargo Bay and Crew Module, and the Earth's horizon are reflected in the helmet visor of one of the space walking astronauts on STS-103.]]
{{clear}}
⏎
⏎
==Orbital platform with observer==
[[Image:Salyut7 with docked spacecraft.jpg|thumb|right|200px|This view of the Soviet orbital station Salyut 7 follows the docking of a spacecraft to the space station. Credit: NASA.]]
[[Image:Skylab and Earth Limb - GPN-2000-001055.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Skylab is an example of a manned observatory in orbit. Credit: NASA.]]
(contracted; show full)orbit about the libration point some 240 Earth radii upstream between the Earth and Sun. ISEE-3 was renamed ICE (International Cometary Explorer) when, after completing its original mission in 1982, it was gravitationally maneuvered to intercept the comet P/Giacobini-Zinner. On September 11, 1985, the veteran NASA spacecraft flew through the tail of the comet. The X-ray spectrometer aboard ISEE-3 was designed to study both solar flares and cosmic gamma-ray bursts over the energy range 5-228 keV.
{{clear}}

⏎
⏎
==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=12em}}
* [[Alignment telescope]]
* [[Astronomy]]
* [[Gamma-ray astronomy]]
* [[Light and optics]]
* [[Mathematical astronomy]]
* [[Orange astronomy]]
(contracted; show full)[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Astronomy Project]]
[[Category:History of science]]
[[Category:Original research]]
[[Category:Physics and Astronomy]]
[[Category:Research]]
[[Category:Research projects]]
[[Category:Resources last modified in 
SeptemOctober 2012]]

<!-- interlanguage links -->