Option : Telescopes in Astronomy

View the following interactive multimedia located in the Classroom:

Telescopes self-guided tutorial

Light and Spectroscopy self-guided tutorial

Write a 1050- to 1,200-word paper in which you discuss the science of sunlight and stars. Include the following elements:

Explain how the telescope changed our view of the universe and our place in it.

Explain the major designs of telescopes and discuss their strengths and weaknesses.

Describe the best places to build ground-based telescopes and why astronomers choose those places.

Contrast the strengths and weaknesses between building telescopes on the Earth, in orbit, or even on the Moon.

Explain how different frequencies of light tell more about the birth, life, and death in the nature and properties of the Sun, the stars, and the universe.

Explain how telescopes manage to operate in wavelengths of light that stretch from radio waves to gamma rays.