Inter-Space Telescopy

Inter-space telescopy, also known as inter-cube or inter-tesseract telescopy, is the discipline of using telescopes and other remote sensing equipment to peer through commissures and inflection layers to observe the spaces beyond them for scientific or intelligence-gathering purposes.

Science

Inter-space telescopy takes advantage of the the unique geometries of the Manifold Sky setting to allow the practitioner to see events far away, albeit only those events which are not occluded by the edges of commissures. The further away the target of observation, the more likely that it will be obscured by terrain or occluded by atmospheric conditions (i.e. smog) in the visible spectrum of light. Because the "square-cube" law applies in the Manifold Sky Setting, in general, the larger the inter-space telescope installation, the better it can capture diffuse signals and, therefore, the further away it can detect things.

Practice

Optical telescopes are the current sine non qua of inter-space telescopy for many reasons, but primitive radio telescopes are being developed - most prominently in Register - to allow for much more distant observations. Such radio telescopes, being far less effected by air pollution than their optical counterparts, may one day also permit a glimpse of past times - In the Manifold Sky setting, not only are certain sightlines infinitely long, but a scant few radio waves have been travelling through them since all the way back towards the end of The Curved Time. The Navigator's Guild's Castle of Aurorae is currently the brightest object in the radio-spectrum night sky, though certain other objects are also very prominent when they cross the sightlines of radio telescopes.
Special microphones can be used in inter-space sonar (the sonic equivalent of inter-space telescopy), but this trades the infinite range of radio telescopy for the potential to listen in on distant experiments involving loud dieseltech machinery or new forms of ordinance. Notably, while the otherworldly echoes picked up by inter-space sonar installations are often regarded as frightening by those who hear them, inter-space sonar does not appear to raise the risk of edgesight in its practitioners; optical telescopes, however, are known to present a risk of affliction(albeit small).

Utility

All forms of inter-space telescopy are useful for military early warning, gunlaying, and intelligence-gathering applications - all prominent factors in the development of inter-space telescopy as a technique, as the War of Reunification is approaching nearly a century in length without signs of abatement. Notably, ASat ordinance, as it is meant to be deployed against skystations and slow-moving airships, specifically benefits from the use of inter-space telescopy techniques. Using inter-space telescopy, ASat-equipped fighter-bombers can be scrambled to deal with aerostat threats long before they enter the battlespace to deploy their own parasite fighters or airborne assets. Though ASats are not common as of the year 10,000 AR, most modern militaries employ evasive maneuvers, decoys, and other techniques to confound ASat firing solutions when approaching an active front of the War.

Inventor(s)

Eyes of the Void Logo by BCGR_Wurth

Many Eyes of the Void regard inter-space telescopy as a sacred practice, as it comes the closest to granting practitioners the sight into the infinte provided by stargazing during The Curved Time. These Stargazers believe that a 'perfect' sightline would be capable of penetrating through the barrier between the enclosed space of the Manifold and the Celestial Realms beyond, allowing them to reconnect with their Stellar Spirits. To this end, many Stargazers have taken it upon themselves to move closer to the commissures or find employment aboard skystations, bringing their telescopes with them to best ponder the infinite when night falls. Because of this cultural significance, while the original inventor of telescopes meant for use in inter-space telescopy remains unknown, it is believed that the inventor was most likely part of the Stargazer religious tradition.

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