Talk:Optical astronomy

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um, wtf? I am an astronomer, and as far as I can tell optical astronomy refers to visible light astronomy, plus a bit either side. To be technical, it refers to wavelengths from the atmospheric cutoff at 3200 angstroms to about 1 micron, or to the longest wavelength detectable using silicon CCDs. It certainly does NOT include 'proper' UV or IR observations, by which I mean wavelengths outside that region.

Part of the reason for this is that whilst the optical components required for observing at 3500 or 8000 angstroms are essentially the same as those at 5000, observing at 1.5 microns or 2000 angstroms DOES require a completely different setup. Modest Genius ^talk 01:42, 19 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]