The

Telescope
(Reflecting &
by:
Caryl Lou Cotejo
Refracting)

The Telescope (definition)

It is an instrument which helps
the human eye see objects not
ordinarily
visible
It also increases the size
of an objects image on
the retina.

Types of
Telescopes

Optical telescopes may be divided

into two general categories:
(
) refracting telescopes
that use lenses to gather and
focus light, and
(
) reflecting telescopes
that use mirrors to accomplish
the same purpose.

Refracting Telescope

As we learned earlier , the direction of light propagation is

changed at the boundary of glass and air by refraction. By
designing lenses having the right curvature, this principle
can be used to gather and focus light. The following figure
illustrates the use of a lens to gather and focus light, and
the use of two lenses to make a simple refracting
telescope.

Refracting Telescope

Two types of lenses are used:

Objective Lens a very large
lens that collects a large amount of
light from a faraway object. It also
has a long focal length

This forms the objects first

real, inverted and diminished image.

Refracting Telescope

Eyepiece lens it has a

short focal
length. It acts like a
magnifying lens for the image cast
by the objective lens.
is closer to the eye. It
forms the final virtual,
enlarged image of the object.

Refracting Telescope

Reflecting Telescope

The following figure illustrates the

principle of reflection. The right side of the
figure illustrates the use of a mirror to
make a reflecting telescope.

Refracting Telescope

Many large astronomical

telescopes use concave
mirrors

instead of objective
lenses.

WHY?
This because large perfect lenses are more
difficult to make than large mirrors.

Telescopes of this type are called

REFLECTING TELESCOPES

Ray
Diagrammi
ng

Reflecting Telescope

Refracting Telescope