Uploaded July 2020 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The night sky was incredibly important to Ancient Arabia, especially when it came to navigating the vast lands people ventured across. Through creating constellations and folklore from countless celestial objects, ancient Arabs used the stars to find their way on earth. Join Active Galactic as we talk to Dr. Danielle Adams about Ancient Arabia and star-guided navigation.
This is a re-uploaded version of this video. The original had a translation error and a misplacement of the North Celestial Pole in one image.
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For more information on Dr. Adams and her research, check out these links:
https://lowell.edu/staff-member/danielle-adams/
http://onesky.arizona.edu/
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The night sky was incredibly important to Ancient Arabia, especially when it came to navigating the vast lands people ventured across. Through creating constellations and folklore from countless celestial objects, ancient Arabs used the stars to find their way on earth. Join Active Galactic as we talk to Dr. Danielle Adams about Ancient Arabia and star-guided navigation.
This is a re-uploaded version of this video. The original had a translation error and a misplacement of the North Celestial Pole in one image.
Please like, comment, and subscribe for more Active Galactic content!
For more information on Dr. Adams and her research, check out these links:
https://lowell.edu/staff-member/danielle-adams/
http://onesky.arizona.edu/
FOLLOW US on social media and at our website!
Facebook: facebook.com/ActiveGalacticVideos
Twitter: @activegalactic
Instagram: @activegalacticvideos
Snapchat: @active_galactic
Website: activegalacticvideos.com


![This Telescope Was Shot 7 Times (And Hit With a Hammer)
Telescopes are some of the most precisely constructed scientific instruments on the planet. Their mirrors have to be polished to near-perfection to give astronomers a sharp view of the cosmos. So when an employee unloaded the entire clip of a handgun into the Harlan J. Smith telescopes primary mirror, it seems like it should have been the end for the observatory. Shockingly, operations resumed the following night, with the events having an almost negligible effect on the images. Lets explore the paradoxical relationship between the delicate precision and resilience of modern telescopes and learn how it applies to JWST and micrometeoroids.
Written, hosted, and edited by Ansh Gupta
Shot by Ansh Gupta and Caleb Keling
All images attributed to NASA are in the public domain. Additional images licensed under creative commons, as listed below:
[1] Harlan J. Smith at McDonald Observatory by University of Texas at Austin McDonald Observatory - The uploader on Wikimedia Commons received this from the author/copyright holder via photosubmissions., CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=86238137
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
[2] McDonald Observatory of the University of Texas at Fort Davis by lns1122 - https://www.flickr.com/photos/minijoegreen/30679309180/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=103718393
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
[3] The Harlan J. Smith Telescope, McDonald Obervatory. Texas. by Zereshk - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8000857
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
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0:00 I Shot a Telescope
0:48 The Telescope that Got Shot
3:04 JWST Micrometeoroid Impact
“Correction:” 1:05 The incident occurred in February of 1970, not 1990 as stated. This Telescope Was Shot 7 Times (And Hit With a Hammer)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/mbeXOZdSd3s/mqdefault.jpg)







