Chaotic Astronomy » education

Optical Telescopes Part I

admin — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 08:05:07 +0000

The beginning of modern Astronomy is often linked to Galileo building his first telescope in 1609 — roughly 400 years ago! While he was not the first person to use a telescope, Galileo made many fascinating discoveries, ultimately revealing that the Earth orbits the sun.

This video showcases the Zenith Telescope, built by Troughton & Simms in London, England circa 1872. Surveyors used this telescope to mark the boundary between Canada and the United States along the 49th parallel in western Canada.

To learn more about Telescopes, visit the Canada Science and Technology Museum.

http://www.sciencetech.technomuses.ca/

Duration : 0:2:25

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Radio Telescopes

admin — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 05:53:15 +0000

The Sun and stars emits radio waves — not just visible and infrared light. In the 1930s, Karl Jansky built the first devise to “listen” to the sun, collecting radio waves from far off stars and focusing them onto a detector. This invention provided astronomers with a completely different view of the Universe — prompting the discovery of radio stars, quasars, and black holes.

This video features a model of the Algonquin Radio Observatory (ARO), located in Ontario’s Algonquin Provincial Park. In 1968, astronomers combined signals from the ARO with those from the Dominion Astrophysical Radio Observatory in Penticton, British Columbia forming a new instrument called a Long Baseline Interferometer.

To learn more about Astronomy and Telescopes, visit the Canada Science and Technology Museum.

http://www.sciencetech.technomuses.ca/

Duration : 0:3:7

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Ancient Astronomy

admin — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 19:12:12 +0000

Ancient Astronomy – Best Of Carl Sagan’s Cosmos (Part 17)

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Subscribe to Science & Reason:
• http://www.youtube.com/Best0fScience
• http://www.youtube.com/SagansCosmos
• http://www.youtube.com/FFreeThinker
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BEST OF CARL SAGAN’S “COSMOS”:

1) 10 Years After: Carl Sagan & Ann Druyan Reflect:

2) Lost Between Immensity And Eternity:

3) The Realm Of The Galaxies:

4) Our Galaxy, The Milky Way:

5) Our Solar System:

6) Eratosthenes And The Round Earth Model:

7) The Library Of Alexandria:

A Short History Of The Universe:

9) Artificial And Natural Selection:

10) The Cosmic Year:

11) Tree Of Life – 4 Billion Years Of Evolution:

12) The Miracle Of Life:

13) DNA – The Common Basis Of Life:

14) Abiogenesis The Origin Of Life:

15) Astronomy vs Astrology:

16) Pictures In The Sky:

17) Ancient Astronomy:

18) Triumph Of Modern Science Over Medieval Superstition:

19) The Mysterious Tonguska Event:

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Carl Edward Sagan, Ph.D. (1934-1996) was an American astronomer, astrochemist, author, and highly successful popularizer of Astronomy, astrophysics and other natural sciences. He pioneered exobiology and promoted the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI).

He is world-famous for writing popular science books and for co-writing and presenting the award-winning 1980 television series “Cosmos: A Personal Voyage”, which has been seen by more than 600 million people in over 60 countries, making it the most widely watched PBS program in history.

A book to accompany the program was also published. He also wrote the novel “Contact”, the basis for the 1997 Robert Zemecki’s film of the same name starring Jodie Foster.

During his lifetime, Sagan published more than 600 scientific papers and popular articles and was author, co-author, or editor of more than 20 books. In his works, he frequently advocated skeptical inquiry, secular humanism, and the scientific method.

http://www.carlsagan.com

Duration : 0:8:58

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Roy Gould: WorldWide Telescope

admin — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 17:43:58 +0000

http://www.ted.com Science educator Roy Gould and Microsoft’s Curtis Wong give an astonishing sneak preview of Microsoft’s new WorldWide Telescope — a technology that combines feeds from satellites and Telescopes all over the world and the heavens, and weaves them together holistically to build a comprehensive view of our universe. (Yes, it’s the technology that made Robert Scoble cry.)

Duration : 0:7:22

Technorati Tags: Astronomy, collaboration, demo, education, Gould, Roy, science, space, technology, ted, tedtalks, universe