Astronomers nearly always get their start looking at the sky with their own eyes. They may graduate to more technical and expensive equipment, or they may remain amateur observers. Either way, they are observing light from somewhere on the electromagnetic spectrum, whether visible, infrared, ultraviolet, or another form of radiation. Griffith Observatory Curator Laura Danly explains how astronomers manage to translate that light into all of the information that we have learned about our universe in 400 years of stargazing.

Image courtesy of Wolley;Recorded June 2010; Posted August 2010