Viewing the Universe: Then, Now and the Future

Name: Class: Date:

Lesson 5: Observing the universe

Extension worksheet:

Viewing the universe: then, now and the future

Stargazing is a captivating pastime and it was inevitable that human beings would devise ways of peering ever more closely into the sky. The development and evolution of the telescope is a fascinating story in itself and emphasises how advances in scientific understanding are linked to developments in technology.

1. Devise an illustrated and annotated timeline to the present day that shows the major developments of instruments used for observing and gathering data on features of the universe. Include a description of the specific advances from one kind of instrument to the next.

Useful starting points:

· What the Hubble telescope can ‘see’:

‘Hubble goes to the extreme to assemble farthest ever view of the universe’, HubbleSite Newscentre, http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2012/2012/37/ (25 September 2012)

· Brief history of telescope design to beyond Hubble:

‘Telescope history’, NASA Education website, http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/912/features/telescope_feature_912.html (12 September 2003)

· Image showing the effects of electromagnetic interference:

‘Analogue TV EMI’, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Analog_TV_EMI.jpg (28 February 2009)

· Comparing the Hubble and James Webb telescopes:

‘James Webb vs Hubble’, NASA website http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/webb_hubble/ (27 May 2010)

· The development of new telescopes

‘Beyond Hubble’, CBC News website, http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/space/beyond-hubble.html (6 September 2007)

2. Australia is at the forefront of radio astronomy and is currently constructing a ‘Square Kilometre Array’ (SKA) that will be the largest radio astronomy receiving area in the world.

Describe the major features of the SKA. Include advances on previous technologies and any limitations. Speculate on the design of the next phase in the evolution of instrumentation to observe the universe.

Useful starting points

· Facts about the SKA telescope:

‘Amazing facts’, SKA website, http://www.skatelescope.org/media-outreach/fun-stuff/facts-figures/ (2013)

How will the Square Kilometre Array telescope work? ABC Science website, http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2012/02/14/3430265.htm (14 February 2012)

© 2013 Australian Science Innovations. You may copy, distribute and adapt this material free of charge for non-commercial educational purposes, provided you retain all copyright notices and acknowledgements.