Breakthrough!: 100 Astronomical Images That Changed the WorldThis unique volume by two renowned astrophotographers unveils the science and history behind 100 of the most significant astronomical images of all time. The authors have carefully selected their list of images from across time and technology to bring to the reader the most relevant photographic images spanning all eras of modern astronomical history. Based on scientific evidence today we have a basic notion of how Earth and the universe came to be. The road to this knowledge was paved with 175 years of astronomical images acquired by the coupling of two revolutionary technologies – the camera and telescope. With ingenuity and determination humankind would quickly embrace these technologies to tell the story of the cosmos and unravel its mysteries. This book presents in pictures and words a photographic chronology of our aspiration to understand the universe. From the first fledgling attempts to photograph the Moon, planets, and stars to the marvels of orbiting observatories that record the cosmos at energies beyond the range of human vision, astronomers have always relied on images to "break through" to the next level of understanding. A subset of these breakthrough images has profound significance in documenting some of the greatest milestones in modern astronomy. |
Contents
1 | |
A Series of Firsts from Daguerreotypes to Dry Plates | 14 |
The Photographic Exploration of Deep Space and the Realm of the Nebulae | 31 |
The Universe in Color and the Transition to Electronic Imaging | 49 |
The Hubble Telescope and the Era of Satellite Observatories | 67 |
The Multiwavelength Universe | 119 |
Common terms and phrases
amateur American astronomer Apollo Apollo 13 astronomers Astronomical Images astrophotography atmosphere black hole bright camera captured celestial century Cepheid variable Chandra X-ray Observatory cluster color comet cosmic daguerreotype dark matter Deep Field deep sky deep space detected detectors disk distance early Earth emission emitted energy Eta Carinae exposure galactic galaxy’s Gendler giant ground-based HII region Hubble Deep Field Hubble Space Telescope Hubble’s hydrogen infrared instrument interstellar ionized Jupiter known launched light-years located main sequence Mars massive stars Milky mirror mission molecular cloud Moon Mount Wilson NASA NASA’s objects observations optical orbit Palomar pixel planet planetary nebula produced radiation radio redshift refractor released revealed ring satellite Saturn Schmidt Sky Survey spacecraft spectrum spiral arms spiral galaxy spiral nebulae Spitzer star formation star’s stellar structure Sun’s supernova remnant surface temperature ultraviolet universe variable stars visible light wavelengths WMAP world’s young stars