Astronomy Dispatches

Dispatches · Latest in Astronomy · 14 Aug 2026

How Adaptive Optics Let Ground Telescopes Compete With Space

A giant mirror alone is not enough. Adaptive optics is the technology quietly closing the gap between ground based telescopes and orbit.

Astronomy31 Jul 20261 min read

No telescope has ever photographed a rocky exoplanet's surface. Here is how astronomers still determine what its atmosphere is made of.

Astronomy10 Jul 20261 min read

No single instrument could ever image a black hole's shadow. The trick was turning the entire planet into one telescope.