Astronomy is the science of the cosmos. It covers everything from backyard observing to big observing projects involving many astronomers. It’s also one of our earliest sciences. As far back as humans have been able to gaze at the stars, they’ve created observing spaces. They’re called “observatories”. Today, these places are technical palaces. They comprise collections of technical equipment all aimed at the sky. That includes cameras, sensors, computers, and communications networks.

Read All About Observatories

Observatories are the main focus of my latest book. It’s called The Discovery of the Universe: A History of Astronomy and Observatories. It just came out this month in the United States and I’m excited to talk about it here. If you’re interested in what observatories are and who uses them, this is a good general book for you to read. Think of it as my personal guided tour to as many observatories as I could fit into 100,000 words! And, every purchase of it helps support my writing habit!

Observatories are Everywhere

When I began the research for this book, I found these places everywhere on—and above—our planet. And, their existence goes back thousands of years of human history. You could make an argument that the first observatories were simply hilltops and wide-open plains. There, people gathered to look at the sky. As Carl Sagan, we are the descendants of those early stargazers. Without their watchful eyes and recorded observations, we might not have survived as a species. Our planet has seasonal changes, andthe availability of food and shelter depended on knowing when those changes were coming. Observations of the sky helped them figure that out.

Today, we don’t rely on observatories for quite such crucial information for survival. Now they are revealing the cosmos to us in more technical and gorgeous detail. They help us understand the stars, planets, and galaxies. It all happens through the use of modern technologies.

Extreme Observatories

Observatories aren’t just homes for telescopes and cameras. For example, there’s an observatory in Antarctica that studies neutrinos. It uses ice as a “detector” to capture information about neutrinos. Those are fast-moving particles that speed across the universe from such events as supernova explosions. That’s part of astronomy, just like visible- and infrared-light observations of stars and galaxies are. And, of course, there is a multitude of orbital and planetary exploration observatories. There’s even an observatory in Chile that will be searching out dark matter. Evidence for this mysterious “stuff” is out there. We just have to gather it.

All of these places extend our senses out to the cosmos. In return, we gain an understanding of the cosmos that our ancestors that would astound our ancestors.

So, I’ve love for folks to buy the book. It’s a great read while we’re all hunkering down these days. In it, you’ll learn a little something about humanity’s ever-changing view of the cosmos. And, it’s all made possible by these cosmos mariners we’ve built (and continue to plan and create). And, if you have already got the book, thank you for your support!