TWO SMALL PIECES OF GLASS

400 years ago, a simple ajustment to a child’s spyglass revealed for the first time an infinite and perplexing universe to uor eyes and imaginations. Join us today, as the world’s great telescopes, born of that serendipitions moment, gaze ever further into the distant past — and into our future. While attending a local star party, two teenage students learn how the telescope has helped us understand our place in space and how telescopes continue to expand our understanding of the Universe. Their conversation with a local female astronomer enlightens them on the history of the telescope and the discoveries these wonderful tools have made. The students see how telescopes work and how the largest observatories in the world use these instruments to explore the mysteries of the universe. While looking through the astronomer’s telescope, the students, along with the planetarium audience, explore the Galilean Moons, Saturn’s rings, and spiral structure of galaxies. During their conversation with the astronomer, they also learn about the discoveries of Galileo, Huygens, Newton, Hubble and many others.