Surveying the Solar System

Abstract

During the three centuries following Galileo, most astronomy was carried out with keen eyes glued to the telescope eyepiece, and records of the Sun, Moon, planets, and objects further out in the Universe were made in the form of written notes or observational sketches. Our knowledge of the Universe was improved through the observations of both amateur and professional astronomers, the distinction between which was often more than a little blurred in centuries past. Advances in telescope optics, including the invention of objective lenses that eliminated much of the false color produced by refracting telescopes, inventions of new forms of optical systems, along with engineering improvements, allowed for bigger and better instruments with which to probe the Universe.