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Methods of observation - Coggle Diagram
Methods of observation
historically, stars, planets, comets and the Moon have been discovered and plotted with the naked eye
distant stars can be seen because they're so hot and powerful emitters of electromagnetic radiation (e.g. visible light)
optical telescopes
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detect visible light and convex refracting lenses and concave reflecting mirrors are used in their construction
the bigger the diameter of the objective lens, the better the quality of the image
the greater the optical quality of the lenses, the better the resolution
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anything that changes and reflects or emits visible light can be detected and by using long-time exposures you can detect very faint very distant objects
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the bigger the telescope, the greater the resolution of the image produced
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from the 1940s onwards, radar technology collects information EM waves cannot
e.g. radio waves can penetrate through star dust that scatters visible light so we see other features of star systems like detecting stars being born
Infrared radiation penetrates gas and dust, for seeing objects behind the 'stellar debris'
ultraviolet is also used to study young star development and the shapes of galaxies + identifies elements from uv spectral lines
x-ray telescopes give information on very high energy particle interactions happening at the highest temperatures
e.g. when the temperature is many millions of degrees centigrade in the violent explosions of supernovae