Astronomy
Man had great fascination for observing celestial bodies from ancient period. Naked eye was one of the means by which the planetary positions were observed. This was a means which astronomers like Aryabhata, Bhaskara and Copernicus used before the invention of the telescope by Galileo. Pole star played an important mark by providing ancient astronomers the reference point they needed and this helped in the forecasting of eclipses keeping the relative positions of the stars in the calculations. Pole star in ancient Egypt was used in the construction of the pyramids by providing the perfect reference point in the night sky.
The telescope was invented in the 15th century and this opened up a new horizon for the space exploration. When the concept of solar system was proposed as geocentric there was no evidence to contradict this, but when telescope came into picture the heliocentric view was established. The olden day telescopes used to be able to provide a clear view of only the planets that were neighboring earth like Venus and Mars. But today we are able to stretch to the outer limits of the solar system with the planets in the outer ring like Jupiter and Uranus observed with ease. In the near future we will be able to have a clear picture of the dwarf planet Pluto, and with the current pace at which technology is growing it is very near.
With the availability of a wide range of telescopes the current scope of astronomy has widened greatly. Not long ago, people had to visit planetariums or observatories to know about the beauty of the stars and the planets. But this has changed with low cost telescopes being available that offer portability and ease of use. A large proportion of the astronomers community are amateurs who would be interested in enjoying the beauty of nature more than going in depths about scientific figures and calculations. There are telescopes like the Meade Telescopes that offer the amateur astronomers the space exploration at their homes.
The telescope’s range differs widely and this is mainly attributed to factors like the diameter of the aperture which go a long way in determining this. The assembling of the telescope has become very simple with the makers themselves providing detailed instructions or help in assembling them. An amateur telescope itself can cover the Saturn’s rings on a clear night.
