Timeline of telescopes, observatories, and observing technology

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Timeline of telescopes, observatories, and observing technology.

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Before the Common Era (BCE)

=1900s BCE=

=1500s BCE=

=600s BCE=

=200s BCE=

  • Thirteen Towers solar observatory, Chankillo, Peru
  • Antikythera Mechanism, a geared astronomical computer that calculates lunar and solar eclipses, the position of the Sun and the Moon the lunar phase (age of the moon), has several lunisolar calendars, including the Olympic Games calendar. It is at the National Archaeological Museum, Athens, Greece.{{Cite journal |last1=Freeth |first1=T. |last2=Bitsakis |first2=Y. |last3=Moussas |first3=X. |last4=Seiradakis |first4=J. H. |last5=Tselikas |first5=A. |last6=Mangou |first6=H. |last7=Zafeiropoulou |first7=M. |last8=Hadland |first8=R. |last9=Bate |first9=D. |last10=Ramsey |first10=A. |last11=Allen |first11=M. |last12=Crawley |first12=A. |last13=Hockley |first13=P. |last14=Malzbender |first14=T. |last15=Gelb |first15=D. |date=November 2006 |title=Decoding the ancient Greek astronomical calculator known as the Antikythera Mechanism |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature05357 |journal=Nature |volume=444 |issue=7119 |pages=587–591 |doi=10.1038/nature05357 |pmid=17136087 |bibcode=2006Natur.444..587F |s2cid=4424998 |issn=0028-0836|url-access=subscription }}

=100s BCE=

Common Era (CE)

=400s=

=600s=

=700s=

=800s=

  • 9th century – quadrant invented by Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī in 9th century Baghdad and is used for astronomical calculations{{Citation |last=King |first=David A. |year=2002 |title=A Vetustissimus Arabic Text on the Quadrans Vetus |journal=Journal for the History of Astronomy |volume=33 |issue=112 |pages=237–255 [237–8]|bibcode = 2002JHA....33..237K |doi=10.1177/002182860203300302 |s2cid=125329755 }}
  • 800–33 – The first modern observatory research institute built in Baghdad, Iraq, by Arabic astronomers during time of Al-Mamun{{Citation |last=Kennedy |first=Edward S. |year=1962 |title=Review: The Observatory in Islam and Its Place in the General History of the Observatory by Aydin Sayili |journal=Isis |volume=53 |issue=2 |pages=237–239 |doi=10.1086/349558 }}
  • 825–35 – Al-Shammisiyyah observatory by Habash al-Hasib al-Marwazi in Baghdad, Iraq{{citation|title=The Book of Bodies and Distances of Habash al-Hasib|last=Langermann|first=Y. Tzvi|journal=Centaurus|year=1985|volume=28|issue=2|pages=108–128 [112]|doi=10.1111/j.1600-0498.1985.tb00831.x|bibcode = 1985Cent...28..108T }}

=900s=

  • 10th century – Large astrolabe of diameter 1.4 meters constructed by Ibn Yunus{{cite book|title=The Cambridge illustrated history of the world's science|last=Ronan|first=Colin|date=1983|page=214}}
  • 994 – First sextant constructed in Ray, Iran, by Abu-Mahmud al-Khujandi. It was a very large mural sextant that achieved a high level of accuracy for astronomical measurements.{{MacTutor|id=Al-Khujandi|title=Al-Khujandi}}

=1000s=

=1100s=

  • 1100–50 – Jabir ibn Aflah develops instruments resembling and perhaps inspiring the torquetum, an observational instrument and mechanical analog computer device{{citation|first=R. P.|last=Lorch|title=The Astronomical Instruments of Jabir ibn Aflah and the Torquetum|journal=Centaurus|volume=20|issue=1|year=1976|pages=11–34|doi=10.1111/j.1600-0498.1976.tb00214.x|bibcode = 1976Cent...20...11L }}
  • 1119–25 – Cairo al-Bataihi observatory for Al-Afdal Shahanshah

=1200s=

=1300s=

  • 1371 – The idea of using hours of equal time length throughout the year in a sundial was the innovation of Ibn al-Shatir{{cite web|title=History of the sundial|url=http://www.nmm.ac.uk/server/show/conWebDoc.353|publisher=National Maritime Museum|access-date=2008-07-02|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071010044606/http://www.nmm.ac.uk/server/show/conWebDoc.353|archive-date=2007-10-10}}{{citation|title=The Sundial And Geometry|first=Lawrence|last=Jones|journal=North American Sundial Society|volume=12|issue=4|date=December 2005}}

=1400s=

=1500s=

  • 1560 – Kassel observatory under Landgrave Wilhelm IV of Hesse
  • 1575–80 – Constantinople Observatory of Taqi ad-Din under Sultan Murad III
  • 1576 – Royal Danish Astronomical Observatory Uraniborg at Hven by Tycho Brahe
  • 1577–80 – Taqi al-Din invents a mechanical astronomical clock that measures time in seconds, one of the most important innovations in 16th-century practical astronomy, as previous clocks were not accurate enough to be used for astronomical purposes.{{cite encyclopedia | first = Sevim | last = Tekeli | title = Taqi al-Din | year = 1997 | encyclopedia = Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures | publisher = Kluwer Academic Publishers | isbn = 0-7923-4066-3 | url = https://www.springer.com/philosophy/philosophy+of+sciences/book/978-1-4020-4425-0 }}
  • 1577–80 – Taqi al-Din invents framed sextant
  • 1581 – Royal Danish Astronomical Observatory Stjerneborg at Hven by Tycho Brahe

=1600s=

=1700s=

=1800s=

=1900s=

==1910s==

==1930s==

==1940s==

==1950s==

==1960s==

==1970s==

==1980s==

==1990s==

=2000s=

  • 2001 – First light at the Keck Interferometer. Single-baseline operations begin in the near-infrared.
  • 2001 – First light at VLTI interferometry array. Operations on the interferometer start with single-baseline near-infrared observations with the 103 m baseline.
  • 2005 – First imaging with the VLTI using the AMBER optical aperture synthesis instrument and three VLT telescopes.
  • 2005 – First light at SALT, the largest optical telescope in the Southern Hemisphere, with a hexagonal primary mirror of 11.1 by 9.8 meters.
  • 2007 – First light at Gran Telescopio de Canarias (GTC), in Spain, the largest optical telescope in the world with an effective diameter of 10.4 meters.
  • 2021 — James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), was launched 25 December 2021 on an ESA Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou, French Guiana and will succeed the Hubble Space Telescope as NASA's flagship mission in astrophysics.
  • 2023 — Euclid, was launched on 1 July 2023 on a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, to study dark matter and energy.
  • 2023 — XRISM was launched on 6 September 2023 on a H-IIA rocket to study the formation of the universe and the dark matter.

Under Construction

  • Iranian National Observatory 3.4 m (first light planned in 2020) {{cite journal |last1= Khosroshai|first1= Habib|date=1 May 2018 |title= Linking a noble past to future challenges|journal= Nature Astronomy|volume= 2|issue= 5|pages= 429|doi= 10.1038/s41550-018-0465-5|bibcode= 2018NatAs...2..429K|doi-access= free}}
  • Extremely Large Telescope (first light planned in 2027)

Planned

{{Further|Category:Telescopes under construction}}

  • Public Telescope (PST), German project of astrofactum. Launch was planned for 2019,{{cite web |url=http://www.publictelescope.org |title=Public Telescope: Erstes öffentliches Weltraumteleskop |work=astrofactum |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171109044959/http://www.publictelescope.org/ |archive-date=9 November 2017 |access-date=8 October 2019 |url-status=dead}}{{cite web |last=Lossau |first=Norbert |url=https://www.welt.de/print/wams/wissen/article130596441/Weltraumteleskop-fuer-jedermann.html |title=Weltraumteleskop für jedermann |work=Welt |date=27 July 2014 |access-date=8 October 2019 |language=de}}{{cite web |last=Wiederer |first=Christian |url=http://www.publictelescope.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/2015-02-Popular-Astronomy-UK.pdf |title=The first public space telescope |work=Popular Astronomy UK |date=February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303171015/http://www.publictelescope.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/2015-02-Popular-Astronomy-UK.pdf |archive-date=3 March 2016 |access-date=8 October 2019 |url-status=dead}} but the project's website is now defunct and no updates have been provided on the fate of the effort.
  • Mid/late-2021 – Science first light of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory is anticipated for 2021 with full science operations to begin a year later.{{cite web |title=Vera C. Rubin Observatory |url=https://www.aura-astronomy.org/centers/nsfs-oir-lab/rubinobservatory/ |website=AURA Astronomy |access-date=16 September 2020}}{{cite news |last1=Wu |first1=Katherine J. |title=For the First Time, a National U.S. Observatory Has Been Named for a Female Astronomer: Vera Rubin |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/new-telescope-facility-renamed-commemorate-dark-matter-scientist-vera-rubin-180973923/ |access-date=16 September 2020 |work=Smithsonian Magazine |language=en}}{{cite news |title=What Does the Future of Astronomy Hold? We'll Find Out Soon |url=https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/what-does-the-future-of-astronomy-hold-well-find-out-soon |access-date=16 September 2020 |work=Discover Magazine |language=en}}
  • Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, part of NASA's Exoplanet Exploration Program. Launch is tentatively scheduled for 2027.

See also

References

{{Reflist}}

  • {{cite book| author = Michael A. Hoskin| title = The Cambridge Illustrated History of Astronomy| year = 1997| publisher = Cambridge University Press| isbn = 978-0-521-41158-5 }}
  • {{cite book| author = Edgardo Marcorini| title = Scienza e tecnica| year = 1988| isbn = 978-0-87196-475-5 }}
  • {{cite book| author = George Ochoa| author2 = Melinda Corey| title = The Wilson Chronology of Science and Technology: A Record of Scientific Discovery and Technological Invention, from the Stone Age to the Information Age| year = 1997| publisher = New York : H.W. Wilson| isbn = 978-0-8242-0933-9| url-access = registration| url = https://archive.org/details/wilsonchronology00ocho_0}}
  • {{cite book| author = Rushdī Rāshid|author2=Régis Morelon | title = Encyclopedia of History of Arabic Science: Astronomy- theoretical and applied| year = 1996| publisher = Psychology Press| isbn = 978-0-415-12410-2 }}

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Telescopes, observatories, and observing technology

Telescopes, observatories, and observing technology

Category:Astronomical observatories

Category:Astronomical imaging

Category:Observational astronomy

Category:Telescopes