Infrared telescope

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Wyoming Infrared Observatory

SOFIA is an infrared telescope in an aircraft, allowing high altitude observations

An infrared telescope is a telescope that uses infrared light to detect celestial bodies.

Infrared light is one of several types of radiation present in the electromagnetic
spectrum.
All celestial objects with a temperature above absolute zero emit some form
of electromagnetic radiation.[1] In order to study the universe, scientists use several
different types of telescopes to detect these different types of emitted radiation in the
electromagnetic spectrum. Some of these are gamma ray, x-ray, ultra-violet,
regular visible light (optical), as well as infrared telescopes.

Contents

 1Leading discoveries

 2Selective comparison

 3Infrared telescopes
  4See also

 5Notes

Leading discoveries[edit]
There were several key developments that led to the invention of the infrared telescope:

 In 1800, William Herschel discovered infrared radiation.

 In 1878, Samuel Pierpoint Langley created the first bolometer. This was a very
sensitive instrument that could electrically detect incredibly small changes in
temperature in the infrared spectrum.
 Thomas Edison used an alternative technology, his tasimeter, to measure heat in the
sun's corona during the solar eclipse of July 29, 1878.
 In the 1950s, scientists used lead-sulfide detectors to detect the infrared radiation
from space. These detectors were cooled with liquid nitrogen.
 Between 1959 and 1961, Harold Johnson created near-infrared photometers which
allowed scientists to measure thousands of stars.
 In 1961, Frank Low invented the first germanium bolometer. This invention, cooled
by liquid helium, led the way for current infrared telescope development.[2]
Infrared telescopes may be ground-based, air-borne, or space telescopes. They contain
an infrared camera with a special solid-state infrared detector which must be cooled
to cryogenic temperatures.[3]
Ground-based telescopes were the first to be used to observe outer space in infrared.
Their popularity increased in the mid-1960s. Ground-based telescopes have limitations
because water vapor in the Earth's atmosphere absorbs infrared radiation. Ground-
based infrared telescopes tend to be placed on high mountains and in very dry climates
to improve visibility.
In the 1960s, scientists used balloons to lift infrared telescopes to higher altitudes. With
balloons, they were able to reach about 25 miles (40 kilometres) up. In 1967, infrared
telescopes were placed on rockets.[2] These were the first air-borne infrared telescopes.
Since then, aircraft like the Kuiper Airborne Observatory (KAO) have been adapted to
carry infrared telescopes. A more recent air-borne infrared telescope to reach the
stratosphere was NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) in
May 2010. Together, United States scientists and the German Aerospace Center
scientists placed a 17-ton infrared telescope on a Boeing 747 jet airplane.[4]
Placing infrared telescopes in space completely eliminates the interference from the
Earth's atmosphere. One of the most significant infrared telescope projects was
the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) that launched in 1983. It revealed information
about other galaxies, as well as information about the center of our galaxy the Milky
Way.[2] NASA presently has solar-powered spacecraft in space with an infrared
telescope called the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). It was launched on
December 14, 2009.[5]