Lyman Spitzer was a physicist and astronomer. He proposed that objects in the universe would look different if viewed from outside of Earth’s atmosphere. His work led to the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope. Hubble takes pictures of distant stars and galaxies and transmits them back to Earth. These images provide scientists with a remarkable view of the various objects in space. You may have even heard of NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, a telescope named after Lyman and launched into space in 2003 to orbit around the sun, capturing images of space. Something you may not know is that Lyman Spitzer grew up in Ohio!
While elementary students in Ohio are expected to learn about the sun, moon, and other objects in space, know that the work of one of Ohio’s own is responsible for bringing those images into the classroom. Without the work of Spitzer and others, images of the planets in our solar system, the sun, moon, and distant galaxies would not be possible. Encourage your students to keep an eye on the sky; they never know what they’ll see or what new ideas they’ll have to better observe and record the space around them.