Cosmic Perspectives from Amid the Stars:
Astronomy Blog

Gravity is the universal attraction of any two objects with mass. It is the reason we experience weight and stay firmly on the ground. But it’s also so much more than that. Nearly any interaction or process in outer space—from the tides on Earth to the formation of stars to the spirals of galaxies to the inescapable event horizon of black holes—can be traced back to gravity as a cause, whether direct or indirect. If our universe is a sculpted work of art, then gravity is the

Ask any number of people what the single most important tool in astronomy is, and almost universally, they will claim the telescope as their answer. With telescopes, we’ve been able to peer beyond our world and out into the distant reaches of the universe. The name literally means far-seeing. How is it that these rather simple contraptions are able to show us so much? How do telescopes work?