Computers

Besides the telescope itself, the electronic computer has become the astronomer’s most important tool. Indeed, the computer has revolutionized the use of the telescope to the point where the collection of observational data is now completely automated. The astronomer need only identify the object to be observed, and the rest is carried out by the computer and auxiliary electronic equipment.

A telescope can be set to observe automatically by means of electronic sensors appropriately placed on the telescope axis. Precise quartz or atomic clocks send signals to the computer, which in turn activates the telescope sensors to collect data at the proper time. The computer not only makes possible more efficient use of telescope time but also permits a more detailed analysis of the data collected than could have been done manually. Data analysis that would have taken a lifetime or longer to complete with a mechanical calculator can now be done within hours or even minutes with a high-speed computer.

Improved means of recording and storing computer data also have contributed to astronomical research. Optical disc data-storage technology, such as the CD-ROM (compact disc read-only memory) or the DVD-ROM (digital video disc read-only memory), has provided astronomers with the ability to store and retrieve vast amounts of telescopic and other astronomical data.

Rockets and spacecraft

The quest for new knowledge about the universe has led astronomers to study electromagnetic radiation other than just visible light. Such forms of radiation, however, are blocked for the most part by Earth’s atmosphere, and so their detection and analysis can only be achieved from above this gaseous envelope.

During the late 1940s, single-stage sounding rockets were sent up to 160 km (100 miles) or more to explore the upper layers of the atmosphere. From 1957, more sophisticated multistage rockets were launched as part of the International Geophysical Year. These rockets carried artificial satellites equipped with a variety of scientific instruments. Beginning in 1959, the Soviet Union and the United States, engaged in a “space race,” intensified their efforts and launched a series of robotic probes to explore the Moon. Lunar exploration culminated with the first crewed landing on the Moon, by the U.S. Apollo 11 astronauts on July 20, 1969. Numerous other U.S. and Soviet spacecraft were sent to further study the lunar environment until the mid-1970s. Lunar exploration revived in the early years of the 21st century with the United States, China, Japan, and India all sending robotic probes to the Moon.

Starting in the early 1960s, both the United States and the Soviet Union launched a multitude of robotic deep-space probes to learn more about the other planets and satellites of the solar system. Carrying television cameras, detectors, and an assortment of other instruments, these probes sent back impressive amounts of scientific data and close-up pictures. Among the most successful missions were those involving the U.S. Messenger flybys of Mercury (2008–15), the Soviet Venera probes to Venus (1967–83), the U.S. Mars Exploration Rover landings on Mars (2004–18), and the U.S. Voyager 2 flybys of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune (1979–89). When the Voyager 2 probe flew past Neptune and its moons in August 1989, every known major planet had been explored by spacecraft. Many long-held views, particularly those about the outer planets, were altered by the findings of the Voyager probe. These findings included the discovery of several rings and six additional satellites around Neptune, all of which are undetectable to ground-based telescopes.

Specially instrumented spacecraft have enabled astronomers to investigate other celestial phenomena as well. The Orbiting Solar Observatories and Solar Maximum Mission (Earth-orbiting U.S. satellites equipped with ultraviolet detector systems) have provided a means for studying solar activity. Another example is the Giotto probe of the European Space Agency, which enabled astronomers to obtain detailed photographs of the nucleus of Halley’s Comet during its 1986 passage.