4.6 Astronomical Data & Collection Methods
Introduction
When you look at the night sky, you might see what appears to be a black curtain with millions of tiny holes in it. Many early people thought all of the stars were the same distance from Earth, fixed on a single layer in space. When instruments were developed to see farther into space, people began to realize that their perceptions were not correct.
As technology advances, we can see further and further into space. Determining the positions of bodies in space and their distances from each other allows us to develop a fuller understanding of the universe.
Today, a mix of ancient principles and new technologies are employed to see space in the most accurate way possible.
This section explores the many technologies developed for space exploration.