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Ellis Abel Learns.

In my own words

Why I love telescopes

Twelve gold-coated hexagonal mirror segments of the James Webb Space Telescope installed side by side on the telescope's backplane at Goddard. Real NASA photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Telescopes" page.
Twelve gold-coated hexagonal mirror segments of the James Webb Space Telescope installed side by side on the telescope's backplane at Goddard. NASA · Public domain
  • It catches more light than my eye can.
  • Bigger glass means I can see farther back in time.
  • Someone built this by hand and pointed it at the sky.

What it really is

A telescope gathers light over a large area and brings it to one point.

Three things to try today

  1. Look through anything curved and see what it does to light.
  2. Find out the size of the biggest telescope on earth.
  3. Look at the Moon through binoculars.
A technician examines the instrument mounting structure and bulkhead of the German-built infrared telescope inside NASA's SOFIA aircraft. Real NASA photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Telescopes" page.
A technician examines the instrument mounting structure and bulkhead of the German-built infrared telescope inside NASA's SOFIA aircraft. NASA · Public domain

For the grown-up reading this

Aperture, not magnification, is the number that matters. Say so early.

Why I love telescopes — 4,299 places across America

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Love something else too

The Cold Atom Laboratory, two white equipment containers packed with lasers and vacuum hardware, on a bench before flight. Real NASA photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Physics" page.Why I love physicsFive labeled water-quality sample bottles lined up in a bag, ready to be carried to the laboratory for analysis. Real USGS photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Chemistry" page.Why I love chemistryA Keyence optical microscope set up on a laboratory bench with its monitor and sample stage. Real USGS photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Microscopes" page.Why I love microscopesAn optical bench in the Laser Optics Laboratory at Ames Research Center, crowded with mirrors, lenses and beam paths. Real NASA photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Lasers" page.Why I love lasersThe last of four gold solar array wings is lowered into place on the Orion spacecraft's European Service Module. Real NASA photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Solar Power" page.Why I love the sunTwo large gantry 3D printers extrude curved concrete walls of subscale habitat structures side by side at NASA's 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge. Real NASA photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love 3D Printing" page.Why I love 3D printersPale rock outcroppings breaking through prairie grass in Big Cypress National Preserve. Real USGS photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Geology" page.Why I love the earthCylindrical rock cores laid out in trays at the USGS Core Research Center, showing bands of different rock layers. Real USGS photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Rocks" page.Why I love rocks

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