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Galileo experiments
Constructed his own, improved device and was the first to use it to explore space. With his telescope, he discovered four satellites of Jupiter and resolved nebular patches into stars. -
Newton
Early telescopes such as Galileo's consisted of glass lenses mounted in a tube, which Isaac Newton discovered caused differing refraction when different coloured lights passed through it. To solve this problem Newton designed a telescope which used mirrors, known as a reflector telescope. This improved telescope was presented to the Royal Society, causing much excitement. -
Earl of Rosse
Built an enormous telescope with a mirror 6ft in diameter. The telescope was placed in a pit near his home, and consisted of a giant tube, at the bottom of which was a large metal mirror. -
Ritchey-Chrétien
His telescope only uses hyperbolic mirrors to eliminate optical errors like coma and chromatic aberrations off-axis while producing the flattest focal plane possible without lenses. -
Edwin Hubble
In the 1970s work began on a telescope that was to become the Hubble Space Telescope. On 25 April 1990 it was deployed to its position beyond the earth's atmosphere where it now orbits the planet. From this position, it is able to give a view of the universe free from distortion. Its use has led to many significant discoveries, such as the age of the universe, the identity of quasars and the existence of dark energy. -
James Webb
Began plans for the next generation space telescope. A large infrared-optimised space telescope. -
Alma Observatory
the most complex astronomical project in the world begins capturing images of some of the most distant objects in the universe.
