Astronomical Instruments (Astronomy)

Recall cards on the telescopes and detectors astronomers use to study the universe. Telescopes: their light-gathering and focusing functions, aperture and collecting area, refractors versus reflectors, chromatic aberration, the Newtonian and Cassegrain focus, and the history from Lippershey and Galileo to Newton's first reflector and the great refractors. Telescopes today: the 8-to-10-meter giants (Keck, Gran Telescopio Canarias, VLT, Subaru, Gemini, Hale), segmented mirrors, high and dark sites, and active and adaptive optics. Detectors: photographic plates, CCDs, imaging versus spectroscopy, diffraction gratings, and cooled infrared detectors. Radio telescopes: Jansky and Reber, dishes and receivers, Green Bank, Arecibo, and FAST, and interferometry from the VLA and ALMA to the VLBA. Space observatories: Hubble, IRAS, Spitzer, JWST, SOFIA, Chandra, and Fermi. And the future giants: the ELT, TMT, GMT, Vera Rubin Observatory, and the Cherenkov Telescope Array.