Astronomy Labs
Comment nous observons l’Univers

Instruments & missions spatiales

Données maîtres pour télescopes, détecteurs, observatoires et missions.

Instruments & observatoires

observational tradition · prehistoric

Astronomie à l'œil nu

Human vision and geometric alignments were the first astronomical instruments.

positional instrument · ancient

Sphère armillaire

A geometric model for celestial coordinates and motions.

telescope · 1608

Lunette astronomique

Lens-based telescope that opened telescopic astronomy.

telescope · 1668

Télescope réflecteur

Mirror-based telescope scalable to large apertures.

detector · 19th century

Spectrographe astronomique

Disperses light to reveal composition, temperature and velocity.

interferometer · 20th century

Interféromètre radio

Combines antennas to synthesize a much larger aperture.

space telescope · 1990

Télescope spatial Hubble

Flagship UV/optical/near-IR observatory above Earth atmosphere.

astrometry mission · 2014

Gaia

ESA astrometry mission whose science observations ended on 15 January 2025 after mapping positions and motions of billions of stars.

space telescope · 2022

Télescope spatial James Webb

Infrared observatory for early galaxies, star formation and exoplanet atmospheres.

radio interferometer · 2011

ALMA

Millimeter/submillimeter array studying cold gas, dust and planet formation.

gravitational-wave detector · 2002/2015 advanced

LIGO

Laser interferometers that enabled direct gravitational-wave astronomy.

neutrino detector · 2010

Observatoire de neutrinos IceCube

Cubic-kilometer neutrino detector embedded in Antarctic ice.

VLBI network · 2017 campaign

Télescope de l'horizon des événements

Earth-sized VLBI array imaging black-hole photon-ring scales.

survey telescope · 2020s

Observatoire Vera C. Rubin

Wide-field time-domain survey facility for the dynamic optical sky.

Missions spatiales