Telescope

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For other uses, see Telescope (disambiguation).

A telescope is an instrument designed for the observation of remote objects and the collection of electromagnetic radiation. The earliest known telescopes are credited to three individuals, Hans Lippershey and Zacharias Janssen, spectacle-makers in Middelburg, and Jacob Metius of Alkmaar also known as Jacob Adriaanszoon (see History of telescopes). "Telescope" (from the Greek tele = 'far' and skopein = 'to look or see'; teleskopos = 'far-seeing') was a name invented in 1611 by Galileo Galilei for his version of the device he based on Hans Lippershey's instrument[1]. "Telescope" usually refers to optical telescopes, but there are telescopes that operate in other regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.

A diagram of a Newtonian telescope.

Contents

  • 1 Types of telescope
    • 1.1 Optical telescopes
    • 1.2 Radio telescopes
    • 1.3 X-ray and gamma-ray telescopes
  • 2 Other types
  • 3 Notable telescopes
  • 4 See also
  • 5 Notes
  • 6 References
  • 7 External links


[edit] Types of telescope

The name "telescope" covers a wide range of instruments and is difficult to define. They all have the attribute of collecting electromagnetic radiation so it can be studied or analyzed in some manner. The most common type is the optical telescope. Other types also exist and are listed below.

[edit] Optical telescopes

50 cm refracting telescope at Nice Observatory.
Main article: Optical telescope

An optical telescope gathers and focuses light mainly from the visible part of the Electromagnetic spectrum (although some work in the infrared and ultraviolet). Optical telescopes increase the apparent angular size of distant objects, as well as their apparent brightness. Telescopes work by employing one or more curved optical elements - lenses or mirrors - to gather light or other electromagnetic radiation and bring that light or radiation to a focus, where the image can be observed, photographed or studied. Optical telescopes are used for astronomy and in many non-astronomical instruments including theodolites, transits, spotting scopes, monoculars, binoculars, camera lenses, and spyglasses. There are three main types:

[edit] Radio telescopes

The 76.0 m Lovell radio telescope at Jodrell Bank Observatory.
Main article: Radio telescope

Radio telescopes are directional radio antennae that often have a parabolic shape. The dishes are sometimes constructed of a conductive wire mesh whose openings are smaller than the wavelength being observed. Multi-element Radio telescopes are constructed from pairs or larger groups of these dishes to synthesize large "virtual" apertures that are similar in size to the separation between the telescopes: see aperture synthesis. As of 2005, the current record array size is many times the width of the Earth, utilizing space-based Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) telescopes such as the Japanese HALCA (Highly Advanced Laboratory for Communications and Astronomy) VSOP (VLBI Space Observatory Program) satellite. Aperture synthesis is now also being applied to optical telescopes using optical interferometers (arrays of optical telescopes) and Aperture Masking Interferometry at single reflecting telescopes.

[edit] X-ray and gamma-ray telescopes

X-ray and gamma-ray telescopes have a problem because these rays go through most metals and glasses. Some x-ray telescopes use ring-shaped "glancing" mirrors, made of heavy metals, that reflect the rays just a few degrees. The mirrors are usually a section of a rotated parabola. Gamma-ray telescopes give up on focusing entirely, and use coded aperture masks; the pattern of shadows the mask creates can be reconstructed to form an image.

These types of telescopes are usually on Earth-orbiting satellites or high-flying balloons, since the Earth's atmosphere is opaque to this part of the electromagnetic spectrum.

(see: X-ray astronomy and Gamma-ray astronomy)


A diagram of the electromagnetic spectrum with the Earth's atmospheric transmittance (or opacity) and the types of telescopes used to image parts of the spectrum.

[edit] Other types

[edit] Notable telescopes

The Very Large Array at Socorro, New Mexico, United States.
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