Hunting the Edge of Space

Links & Books

Links

Kepler
kepler.nasa.gov
The Kepler space telescope has already discovered five previously unknown planets. Learn more about the telescope and its mission at this website.

Cassini Equinox Mission
saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/index.cfm
Spacecraft Cassini completed its four-year mission to explore and photograph Saturn in 2008. Since then, scientists have been using the spacecraft to observe seasonal changes on Saturn and visit nearby moons. Learn more about the mission at this website from NASA.

The Mind of Isaac Newton
cll.mcmaster.ca/multimedia_projects/sample/newton/
Take a look into the mind of Isaac Newton—the influential physicist who created the first reflecting telescope—at this interactive exhibit.

The Newton Project
www.newtonproject.sussex.ac.uk/prism.php?id=1
At this site, you can see digital copies of many of Isaac Newton's writings.

Exploring the Planets
www.nasm.si.edu/etp/etp.htm
At this website from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, you can take a tour of the planets.

Journey To Palomar
www.journeytopalomar.org
Learn more about George Ellery Hale, an astronomer who built some of the biggest telescopes of the 20th century, at this companion website to the PBS documentary "The Journey to Palomar."

Books

Far Out: A Space-Time Chronicle
by Michael Benson. Abrams, 2009.

The Planets: A Journey Through the Solar System
by Giles Sparrow. Quercus, 2009.

The Backyard Astronomer's Guide
by Terence Dickinson and Alan Dyers. Firefly Books, 2008.

The Essential Galileo
by Galileo Galilei and Maurice A. Finocchiaro (ed.). Hackett Pub Co, 2008.

Hubble: The Mirror on the Universe
by Robin Kerrod and Carole Stott. Firefly Books, 2007.

Isaac Newton
by James Gleick. Vintage, 2004.

Hubble Space Telescope: New Views of the Universe
by Mark Voit. Harry N. Abrams, 2000.

Articles

"Cassini Saturn Probe Gets 7-Year Life Extension"
by Clara Moskowitz. Space.com, February 03, 2010.
www.space.com/missionlaunches/cassini-saturn-mission-extension-100203.html

"Nasa's Kepler Planet-Hunter Detects Five Worlds"
by Jonathan Amos. BBC News, January 4, 2010.
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8440392.stm

"A Telescope to the Past as Galileo Visits U.S."
by Dennis Overbye. The New York Times, March 27, 2009.
www.nytimes.com/2009/03/28/science/space/28galileo.html

"The Expanding Universe: From Slowdown to Speed Up"
by Adam G. Riess and Michael S. Turner. Scientific American, September 23, 2008.
www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=expanding-universe-slows-then-speeds

"Telescope Could Focus Light Without a Mirror or Lens"
by David Shiga. New Scientist, May 1, 2008.
www.newscientist.com/article/dn13820-telescope-could-focus-light-without-a-mirror-or-lens.html?full=true

Related NOVA Content

Hubble's Amazing Rescue
The unlikely story of how the world's most beloved telescope was saved

Origins
Journey back to the beginning of everything: the universe, Earth, and life itself.

Monster of the Milky Way
Does a supermassive black hole lurk at the center of our galaxy?

Runaway Universe
Astronomers grapple with some very big questions: what is the size and shape of the universe, and how will it end?

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