A reflector telescope utilizes two mirrors instead of lenses. The reflecting telescope was invented in the 17th century by isaac newton as an alternative to the refracting telescope which at that time was a design that suffered from severe chromatic aberration.

Q A How Do Telescopes Work Department Of Physics University Of Illinois At Urbana Champaign

A telescope is a tool that astronomers use to see faraway objects.

How do reflecting telescopes work. A view inside the barrel note the primary mirror and the image of the secondary mirror reflected back onto the primary. The first telescopes focused light by using pieces of curved clear glass called lenses. A reflecting telescope is a telescope that uses a single or a combination of curved mirrors that reflect light and form an image.

They are inexpensive to build or buy because they are made of plastic fiberglass or plywood. Reflecting telescopes are generally built with two mirrors a large one called the primary mirror and a small one called the secondary mirror the primary mirror is usually placed at one end of the telescope s tube and the secondary mirror is placed in the eyepiece s line of sight. The eyepiece contains a magnifying lens.

Dobsonian telescopes are a type of newtonian reflector with a simple tube and alt azimuth mounting see telescope mounts. Called the cassegrain telescope this instrument employs a small convex mirror to reflect the light back through a small hole in the primary mirror to a focus located behind the primary. Most telescopes and all large telescopes work by using curved mirrors to gather and focus light from the night sky.

Almost all of the major telesc. The concave primary mirror is located at the bottom of the telescope. The mirrors are curved and reflect light and form to create the image.

It reflects the inbound light to a focal point while a second flat mirror set at 45 degrees situated just below the aperture redirects the light before the focal point toward an eyepiece. The diagram illustrates a typical cassegrain reflector. So why do we use mirrors today.

Inside the tube are mirrors that work at gathering and reflecting the image that you see in the sky. Although reflecting telescopes produce other types of optical aberrations it is a design that allows for very large diameter objectives. How does your reflecting telescope work.

A reflecting telescope uses mirrors usually 2 to take the light coming into a telescope and focus it on the eyepiece or sensor of the telescope. Laurent cassegrain of france a contemporary of newton invented another type of reflector.