The study of celestial objects (such as planets, moons, asteroids, comets, stars, and galaxies) and phenomena outside the Earth’s atmosphere.
Astronomy is concerned with the formation and development of the Universe and the physics, chemistry, meteorology, evolution, and motion of celestial objects.
Astronomers reveal the universe’s fascinating sights and intriguing worlds for everyone to understand and enjoy.
There were two types of telescope. The refracting telescope uses lenses to bend light; the reflecting telescope uses mirrors to reflect the light back to the observer.
Chromatic Aberration: When light goes through an ordinary lens, each color in the spectrum is bent at a different angle causing rainbows to appear around the images viewed. The blue end of the spectrum will bend more sharply than the red end of the spectrum so that the two colors will focus at different points. This is chromatic aberration. By adding a second lens made from a different kind of glass (and with a different density), all the colors focus at the same point and the problem is corrected.
A Reflecting Telescope: Sir Isaac Newton developed a version of the reflecting telescope that consists of a large concave, or curved, mirror to catch the light. The mirror then sends the light back to an inclined flat, or plane, mirror where the image is formed. The eyepiece lens magnifies the image. Unlike the lenses in a refracting telescope, the mirrors in a reflecting telescope do not cause chromatic aberration, so the image is clearer.
The world’s most powerful telescopes are reflectors, which use mirrors to collect light. The bigger and better a reflector’s main mirror, the more light it collects and the more information we have.
There were two types of telescope. The refracting telescope uses lenses to bend light; the reflecting telescope uses mirrors to reflect the light back to the observer.
Chromatic Aberration: When light goes through an ordinary lens, each color in the spectrum is bent at a different angle causing rainbows to appear around the images viewed. The blue end of the spectrum will bend more sharply than the red end of the spectrum so that the two colors will focus at different points. This is chromatic aberration. By adding a second lens made from a different kind of glass (and with a different density), all the colors focus at the same point and the problem is corrected.
A Reflecting Telescope: Sir Isaac Newton developed a version of the reflecting telescope that consists of a large concave, or curved, mirror to catch the light. The mirror then sends the light back to an inclined flat, or plane, mirror where the image is formed. The eyepiece lens magnifies the image. Unlike the lenses in a refracting telescope, the mirrors in a reflecting telescope do not cause chromatic aberration, so the image is clearer.
The world’s most powerful telescopes are reflectors, which use mirrors to collect light. The bigger and better a reflector’s main mirror, the more light it collects and the more information we have.