The journey of astronomical telescopes began in the early 17th century when Galileo Galilei crafted his first refracting ...

Well, any of us who has ever looked through a telescope could say the same, for the two principal types in use today were developed by giants: the refractor by Galileo and the reflector by Newton.

3 min read The Hubble Space Telescope was designed to free astronomers of a limitation that has plagued them since the days of Galileo—Earth's atmosphere. Shifting air pockets in the atmosphere ...

"This might be the most important telescope ever," he added. "At least since Galileo's." James Webb is a joint effort between the American, European and Canadian space agencies, with Nasa in the lead.

Shortly after he began producing his binoculars, news of the telescope reached Galileo. These days, the telescope is mostly closely associated with the night sky, but it's also useful on land and ...