Ways to explore the Solar System
Over the course of history, man has developed amazing technology to help us see beyond our own planet into the vastness of our galaxy and even way beyond. This technology takes the form of some impressive machines and tools that scientists can use to study the heavens. The more we learn about outer space, the more we realize how much more there is to explore. This has led scientists to develop even more powerful tools to help them explore way beyond the places we can go as humans.
Earth-based Technology
|
In almost every case, whether it is an instrument actually on the planet, or a telescope looking up from the earth, scientists use some variation of an instrument called a spectrometer. Spectrometers take a signal from whatever they are looking at and spread the signal out into its components. Most spectrometers work with light and are a lot like extremely good prisms; they take the light coming from some object and separate it out into its colors. This is useful because it turns out that every element on the periodic table only gives off light of a few certain colors.