//Font select and font size $FontName = Arial $FontSize = 30 //Character attributes (global) $Bold = FALSE $UnderLined = FALSE $Italic = FALSE //Position Control $HorzAlign = Center $VertAlign = Bottom $XOffset = 0 $YOffset = 0 //Contrast Control $TextContrast = 15 $Outline1Contrast = 8 $Outline2Contrast = 15 $BackgroundContrast = 0 //Effects Control $ForceDisplay = FALSE $FadeIn = 0 $FadeOut = 0 //Other Controls $TapeOffset = FALSE //$SetFilePathToken = <<:>> //Subtitles 00:00:05:05,00:00:08:20, By taking our sense of sight far|beyond the realm of our forebears' 00:00:08:21,00:00:13:05, imagination, these wonderful instruments,|the telescopes, open the way to 00:00:13:06,00:00:17:06, a deeper and more perfect understanding |of nature. - René Descartes, 1637 00:00:17:17,00:00:22:13, For millennia mankind gazed out|into the mesmerising night sky 00:00:22:14,00:00:28:08, without recognising the stars of our|own Milky Way Galaxy as other suns 00:00:28:09,00:00:33:10, or the billions of sister galaxies|making up the rest of our Universe 00:00:35:10,00:00:38:19, or that we are merely|punctuation in the Universe’s 00:00:38:20,00:00:42:12, 13.7 billion year-long story. 00:00:42:13,00:00:46:02, With only our eyes as observing|tools we had no means of 00:00:46:03,00:00:50:03, finding solar systems around|other stars, or of determining 00:00:50:04,00:00:55:00, whether life exists elsewhere|in the Universe. 00:00:58:01,00:01:00:08, Today we are well on our way|to unravelling many of the 00:01:00:09,00:01:03:13, mysteries of the Universe, living in|what may be the most remarkable 00:01:03:14,00:01:05:23, age of astronomical discovery. 00:01:05:24,00:01:08:24, I am Dr. J and I will be|your guide to the telescope - 00:01:09:00,00:01:11:21, the amazing instrument that|proved to be mankind's 00:01:11:22,00:01:15:12, gateway to the Universe. 00:01:17:22,00:01:21:21, EYES ON THE SKIES|400 Years of Telescopic Discovery 00:01:22:03,00:01:26:23, 1. New views from the skies 00:01:28:24,00:01:32:03, Four centuries ago, in 1609,|a man walked out 00:01:32:04,00:01:34:15, into the fields near his home. 00:01:34:16,00:01:39:00, He pointed his homemade telescope at|the Moon, the planets and the stars. 00:01:39:01,00:01:42:14, His name was Galileo Galilei. 00:01:44:00,00:01:47:07, Astronomy would never|be the same again. 00:02:07:10,00:02:12:10, Today, 400 years after Galileo|first pointed a telescope to the skies 00:02:12:14,00:02:18:07, astronomers use giant mirrors on remote|mountaintops to survey the heavens. 00:02:18:08,00:02:23:12, Radio telescopes collect faint chirps|and whispers from outer space. 00:02:23:13,00:02:27:16, Scientists have even launched|telescopes into Earth orbit 00:02:27:17,00:02:31:23, high above the disturbing|effects of our atmosphere. 00:02:33:10,00:02:38:16, And the view has been|breathtaking! 00:02:42:23,00:02:46:15, However, Galileo did not, in fact,|invent the telescope. 00:02:46:16,00:02:49:18, That credit goes to Hans Lipperhey,|a slightly obscure 00:02:49:19,00:02:53:10, Dutch-German spectacle maker. 00:02:53:11,00:02:57:21, But Hans Lipperhey never used|this telescope to look at the stars. 00:02:57:22,00:03:00:20, Instead, he though his new|invention would mainly benefit 00:03:00:21,00:03:03:15, seafarers and soldiers. 00:03:03:18,00:03:07:06, Lipperhey came from Middelburg,|then a large trading city 00:03:07:07,00:03:10:11, in the fledgling Dutch Republic. 00:03:13:24,00:03:18:01, In 1608 Lipperhey found that|when viewing a distant object 00:03:18:02,00:03:24:00, through a convex and a concave lens,|the object would be magnified, if the 00:03:24:01,00:03:29:15, two lenses were placed at just the|right distance from one another. 00:03:29:16,00:03:33:19, The telescope was born! 00:03:33:20,00:03:37:12, In September 1608, Lipperhey|revealed his new invention to 00:03:37:13,00:03:39:21, Prince Maurits of the Netherlands. 00:03:39:22,00:03:42:20, He could not have chosen a more|advantageous moment because 00:03:42:21,00:03:45:21, at that time the Netherlands|were embroiled in the 00:03:45:22,00:03:49:08, 80 Years' War with Spain. 00:03:55:07,00:03:59:02, The new spyglass could magnify|objects and so it could reveal 00:03:59:03,00:04:02:07, enemy ships and troops that|were too distant to be seen 00:04:02:08,00:04:04:09, by the unaided eye. 00:04:04:10,00:04:07:11, A very useful invention indeed! 00:04:07:12,00:04:12:00, But the Dutch government never granted|Lipperhey a patent for his telescope. 00:04:12:01,00:04:15:10, The reason was that other merchants|also claimed the invention 00:04:15:11,00:04:19:05, especially Lipperhey's competitor|Sacharias Janssen. 00:04:19:06,00:04:21:12, The dispute was never resolved. 00:04:21:13,00:04:27:22, And to this day, the true origins of the|telescope remain shrouded in mystery. 00:04:28:21,00:04:32:17, Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei,|the father of modern physics 00:04:32:18,00:04:37:15, heard about the telescope|and decided to build his own. 00:04:38:07,00:04:42:09, About ten months ago, a report|reached my ears that a certain 00:04:42:10,00:04:48:05, Fleming had constructed a spyglass|by means of which visible objects 00:04:48:06,00:04:52:24, though very distant from the eye|of the observer, were distinctly 00:04:53:00,00:04:56:03, seen as if nearby. 00:04:56:11,00:04:59:11, Galileo was the greatest|scientist of his time. 00:04:59:12,00:05:02:14, He was also a strong supporter|of the new worldview advocated 00:05:02:15,00:05:06:04, by the Polish astronomer Nicolaus|Copernicus, who proposed that 00:05:06:05,00:05:10:11, the Earth orbited the Sun,|instead of the other way around. 00:05:11:12,00:05:14:06, Based on what he had heard of|the Dutch telescope, Galileo 00:05:14:07,00:05:16:14, constructed his own|instruments. 00:05:16:15,00:05:19:04, They were of a much better quality. 00:05:20:12,00:05:25:08, Finally, sparing neither labour|nor expenses, I succeeded 00:05:25:09,00:05:29:16, in constructing for myself so|excellent an instrument that 00:05:29:17,00:05:33:22, objects seen by means of it|appeared nearly one thousand 00:05:33:23,00:05:38:20, times larger than when|regarded with our natural vision. 00:05:39:16,00:05:43:15, It was time to train the|telescope on the heavens. 00:05:45:21,00:05:49:16, I have been led to the opinion|and conviction that the surface 00:05:49:18,00:05:53:12, of the moon is not smooth,|uniform and precisely spherical 00:05:53:17,00:05:57:11, as a great number of|philosophers believe it to be 00:05:57:12,00:06:01:17, but is uneven, rough, and full|of cavities and prominences 00:06:01:18,00:06:06:06, being not unlike the|face of the Earth. 00:06:11:14,00:06:15:08, A landscape of craters,|mountains, and valleys. 00:06:15:09,00:06:18:08, A world like our own! 00:06:19:13,00:06:24:01, A few weeks later, in January|1610, Galileo looked at Jupiter. 00:06:24:02,00:06:28:14, Close to the planet he saw four|pricks of light that changed 00:06:28:16,00:06:32:24, their position on the sky night|after night along with Jupiter. 00:06:33:00,00:06:37:22, It was like a slow, cosmic ballet of|satellites orbiting the planet. 00:06:37:23,00:06:40:18, These four pricks of light would|come to be known as 00:06:40:19,00:06:43:14, the Galilean moons of Jupiter. 00:06:43:16,00:06:46:06, What else did Galileo discover? 00:06:46:07,00:06:48:10, The phases of Venus! 00:06:48:12,00:06:51:22, Just like the Moon, Venus waxes|and wanes from crescent to 00:06:51:24,00:06:54:05, full and back again. 00:06:54:06,00:06:58:14, Strange appendages on|either side of Saturn. 00:06:58:15,00:07:01:04, Dark spots on the face of the Sun. 00:07:01:06,00:07:03:11, And, of course, stars. 00:07:03:12,00:07:06:10, Thousands of them,|maybe even millions. 00:07:06:11,00:07:09:08, Each too faint to be|seen by the naked eye. 00:07:09:10,00:07:13:22, It was as if mankind had suddenly|thrown off its blindfold. 00:07:13:24,00:07:18:00, There was a whole Universe|to discover out there. 00:07:23:10,00:07:27:18, News about the telescope spread|across Europe like wildfire. 00:07:27:20,00:07:32:02, In Prague, at the court of Emperor|Rudolph II, Johannes Kepler 00:07:32:04,00:07:34:19, improved the design|of the instrument. 00:07:34:20,00:07:38:20, In Antwerp, Dutch cartographer|Michael van Langren produced 00:07:38:22,00:07:41:22, the first reliable maps of the Moon|showing what he believed to be 00:07:41:24,00:07:44:10, continents and oceans. 00:07:44:12,00:07:49:16, And Johannes Hevelius, a wealthy|brewer in Poland, built huge 00:07:49:17,00:07:53:05, telescopes at his|observatory in Danzig. 00:07:53:06,00:07:57:21, This observatory was so large|that it covered three rooftops! 00:07:59:04,00:08:02:06, But the best instruments of the|time were probably constructed 00:08:02:07,00:08:05:09, by Christiaan Huygens|in the Netherlands. 00:08:05:10,00:08:11:02, In 1655, Huygens discovered Titan,|the largest moon of Saturn. 00:08:11:03,00:08:15:04, A few years later, his observations|revealed Saturn's ring system 00:08:15:05,00:08:20:08, something Galileo had|never understood. 00:08:20:09,00:08:24:15, And last but not least, Huygens|saw dark markings and bright 00:08:24:16,00:08:27:09, polar caps on Mars. 00:08:27:10,00:08:31:02, Could there be life on|this remote, alien world? 00:08:31:03,00:08:35:06, The question occupies|astronomers to this day. 00:08:35:20,00:08:39:12, The earliest telescopes were all|refracting telescopes that used 00:08:39:13,00:08:42:16, lenses to collect and bring|together the starlight. 00:08:42:17,00:08:45:11, Later the lenses were|replaced with mirrors. 00:08:45:12,00:08:49:02, This reflecting telescope was|first built by Niccolò Zucchi 00:08:49:03,00:08:52:00, and later refined by|Isaac Newton. 00:08:52:01,00:08:55:18, Now in the late 18th century,|the largest mirrors in the world 00:08:55:19,00:08:59:14, were cast by William Herschel,|an organist turned astronomer 00:08:59:15,00:09:02:12, who worked with his|sister Caroline. 00:09:02:13,00:09:06:05, In their house in Bath, in England,|the Herschels poured red-hot 00:09:06:06,00:09:09:21, molten metal into a mould and|when the whole thing had cooled 00:09:09:22,00:09:15:11, off, they would polish the surface|so that it would reflect starlight. 00:09:15:12,00:09:20:08, During the course of his life,|Herschel built more than 400 telescopes. 00:09:24:11,00:09:28:09, The largest of these was so huge|that he needed four servants to 00:09:28:10,00:09:31:14, operate all the various ropes,|wheels and pulleys that were 00:09:31:15,00:09:36:00, required to track the motions|of the stars across the night sky 00:09:36:01,00:09:39:11, which is of course caused|by the Earth's rotation. 00:09:39:12,00:09:43:02, Now Herschel was like a surveyor,|he scanned the heavens and 00:09:43:03,00:09:46:17, catalogued hundreds of new|nebulae and binary stars. 00:09:46:18,00:09:50:07, He also discovered that the|Milky Way must be a flat disc. 00:09:50:08,00:09:54:03, And he even measured the motion of|the Solar System through that disk 00:09:54:04,00:09:58:20, by observing the relative motions|of the stars and the planets. 00:09:58:21,00:10:06:09, And then on the 13th of March in 1781,|he discovered a new planet - Uranus. 00:10:06:10,00:10:10:16, It was over 200 years until|NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft 00:10:10:17,00:10:15:21, gave astronomers their first|close-up look of this distant world. 00:10:16:18,00:10:21:06, In the lush and fertile countryside|of central Ireland, William Parsons 00:10:21:07,00:10:26:13, the third Earl of Rosse, built the|largest telescope of the 19th century. 00:10:26:14,00:10:30:13, With a metal mirror a whopping|1.8 metres across, the giant 00:10:30:14,00:10:35:06, telescope became known|as "The Leviathan of Parsonstown". 00:10:35:07,00:10:39:08, On the occasional clear, moonless|nights, the Earl sat at the eyepiece 00:10:39:10,00:10:44:10, and sailed on a journey|through the Universe. 00:10:45:06,00:10:50:04, To the Orion Nebula - now known|to be a stellar nursery. 00:10:50:06,00:10:55:22, On to the mysterious Crab Nebula,|the remnant of a supernova explosion. 00:10:55:23,00:10:57:22, And the Whirlpool Nebula? 00:10:57:23,00:11:02:13, Lord Rosse was the first to note|its majestic spiral shape. 00:11:02:14,00:11:08:10, A galaxy like our own, with intricate|clouds of dark dust and glowing gas 00:11:08:11,00:11:12:10, billions of individual stars,|and who knows - 00:11:12:11,00:11:16:13, maybe even planets like Earth. 00:11:18:21,00:11:24:22, The telescope had become our|vessel to explore the Universe.