Telescope

Mohamed Abouelker

The City College of New York

                                     Supervised by Professor Sara Jacobson 

Abstract

A telescope is one of the greatest inventions that happened in all-time history. Without the telescope, we would have a lot less knowledge about outer space and the universe beyond the Earth in our current time. The first telescope appeared in Netherlands, 1608, by an eyeglass maker called Hans Lippershey. “ Galileo improved on this design the following year and applied it to astronomy. In 1611, Johannes Kepler described how a far more useful telescope could be made with a convex objective lens and a convex eyepiece lens and by 1655 astronomers such as Christiaan Huygens was building powerful but unwieldy Keplerian telescopes with compound eyepieces.” Throughout the years, the telescope was innovated by various scientists such as Isaac Newton and John Hadley. 

Keywords: Telescope, Lenses and mirrors, Eyepiece and structural support.

 A telescope is an optical instrument designed to make distant objects nearer, containing an arrangement of lenses or of curved mirrors and lenses, by which rays of light are collected and focused and the resulting image magnified. Telescopes went through a lot of processes to get improved in many areas. These areas include clearance, depth, magnification, lens, focus, focal length and many other aspects.  The telescope has a lot of significance to the science and discoveries. Telescopes are better than our eyes, it sees a lot of colors and it can see up to very large distances. Telescopes can collect light that our eyes cannot such as radio waves, microwave, infrared, ultraviolet, X-rays, and gamma. Telescopes can be used to view terrestrial objects, look at the space, sky, stars and it can see distant objects such as mountains, boats in a sea or even a bird on top of a building. 

Components

There are a lot of different types of telescopes that exist, each has its specific purpose. For example, we need a different telescope for astrophotography than what you need if you are a beginner trying to look at the moon. However, all types of telescopes share a similar structure, the structure contains major parts and each major part has subparts. These parts work together to give us the intended function of the telescope. These parts remain fundamentally unchanged.

Lenses and Mirrors

As the basis for the telescope main view, the lens is among the most important parts of the telescope. The lens constitutes of convex lens, concave lens, concave mirror, focusing distance, field of view, magnification, and resolution. It collects and controls the movement of light and the view in which the sky is viewed.

the telescope tube

The telescope tube has the main mirror. Normally, the telescope tube has 8 inches diameter and it has a tube cover. The telescope tube enhances the setting of the focal length through controlling the knob which is usually below the visual back. Therefore, the telescope tube makes an important part of the telescope functionality.

The eyepiece 

 is a part of the ocular lens. It provides the lock for the security of the telescope. The eyepiece prevents the ocular lens from falling down and eventually breaking down or disappearing. It also enhances a clear view from the lens to the object.

 Mounting

 The mounting is also referred to as the cradle telescope. It allows for the movement of the telescope towards different sides and directions. The mounting has the regulating knob latitude. This knob indicates the position of the observer latitude.

 in conclusion, The telescope seems an old invention but scientists prefer using it nowadays because it is more specific and easy to use for them. Telescope will remain a great invention through the whole years that helped scientists to discover more about our universe.telescopes have been used especially in the field of space exploration or astronomy. Today, telescopes are used by space and astronomical departments to get information about space. They are also used by learners and visitors to watch and enjoy viewing space and different heavenly bodies.

 References

Telescope. (n.d.). SpringerReference. doi: 10.1007/springerreference_222084

on, P., & codeadmin50. (2011, March 10). Code for People. Retrieved from https://www.codeforpeople.com/important-telescope-parts-functions