Astronomical instruments

OPTICAL TELESCOPES -- THE PURPOSE OF A TELESCOPE IS TO COLLECT LIGHT AND THEN TO HAVE THE IMAGE MAGNIFIED. THE LARGER THE TELESCOPE'S MAIN LIGHT-COLLECTING ELEMENT, WHETHER LENS OR MIRROR, THE MORE LIGHT IS COLLECTED. IT IS THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF LIGHT COLLECTED THAT ULTIMATELY DETERMINES THE LEVEL OF DETAIL. ALL OPTICAL TELESCOPES FALL INTO ONE OF THREE CLASSES (SEE FIGURE 01). IN THE REFRACTING TELESCOPE, LIGHT IS COLLECTED BY A 2-ELEMENT OBJECTIVE LENS AND BROUGHT TO A FOCAL PLANE. BY CONTRAST THE REFLECTING TELESCOPE USES A CONCAVE MIRROR FOR THIS PURPOSE. THE MIRROR-LENS, OR CATADIOPTRIC, TELESCOPE EMPLOYES A COMBINATION OF BOTH MIRRORS AND LENSES, RESULTING IN A SHORTER, MORE PORTABLE OPTICAL TUBE ASSEMBLY. ALL TELESCOPES USE AN EYEPIECE (LOCATED BEHIND THE FOCAL PLANE) TO MAGNIFY THE IMAGE FORMED BY THE PRIMARY OPTICAL SYSTEM. OTHER INSTRUMENTS CAN BE PLACED IN THE FOCAL PLANE FOR VARIOUS PURPOSES, E.G., A PHOTO-ELECTRIC CELL TO MEASURE THE LUMINOSITY, THE SLIT OF A SPECTROGRAPH TO ANALYSE THE LIGHT, OR A THERMO-COUPLE TO MEASURE TEMPERATURE. THE ADVANTAGE OF REFLECTING TELESCOPE IS THAT IT HAS NO CHROMATIC ABERRATION. MOREOVER, MIRRORS CAN BE MANUFACTURED TO MUCH LARGER DIMENSIONS

Radio Telescopes -- IT IS AN INSTRUMENT FOR COLLECTING RADIO

WAVES FROM CELESTIAL OBJECTS. THE RADIATION IS REFLECTED FROM A PARABOLIC DISH TO AN AERIAL (DIPOLE), SITUATED AT THE FOCUS, FROM WHICH THE SIGNALS ARE LED TO A RADIO RECEIVER. BECAUSE THE WAVELENGTH OF RADIO WAVES IS VERY LARGE (FROM 0.3 MM TO 30 CM), A RADIO TELESCOPE WITH AN APERTURE COMPARABLE TO THE OPTICAL TELESCOPE WOULD HAVE A VERY POOR RESOLUTION ACCORDING TO EQ. (2). A CONSIDERABLE INCREASE IN RESOLUTION CAN BE OBTAINED BY USING AN INTERFEROMETER - AN ARRAY OF IDENTICAL ANTENNAE SPACED AT REGULAR INTERVALS AS SHOWN IN FIGURE 03, WHICH SHOWS THAT THE ELEVATION ANGLE OF A CELESTIAL OBJECT (FROM THE HORIZON) CAN BE CALCULATED FROM THE TIME DIFFERENCE AND THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE RECEIVERS (THE BASELINE). THE ANGULAR SEPARATION (RESOLUTION) IS OBTAINED FROM THE DIFFERENCE OF THE ELEVATION ANGLES CORRESPONDING TO THE RESOLUTION OF THE TIME DIFFERENCE OF T AND T .
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Satellites
THE WORLD'S FIRST ARTIFICIAL SATELLITE, THE SPUTNIK 1, WAS LAUNCHED BY THE SOVIET UNION IN 1957. SINCE THEN, THOUSANDS OF SATELLITES HAVE BEEN LAUNCHED INTO ORBIT AROUND THE EARTH; ALSO SOME SATELLITES, NOTABLY SPACE STATIONS, HAVE BEEN LAUNCHED IN PARTS AND ASSEMBLED IN ORBIT. ARTIFICIAL SATELLITES ORIGINATE FROM MORE THAN 50 COUNTRIES AND HAVE USED THE SATELLITE LAUNCHING CAPABILITIES OF TEN NATIONS. A FEW HUNDRED SATELLITES ARE CURRENTLY OPERATIONAL, WHEREAS THOUSANDS OF UNUSED SATELLITES AND SATELLITE

FRAGMENTS ORBIT THE EARTH AS SPACE DEBRIS. A FEW SPACE PROBES HAVE BEEN PLACED INTO ORBIT AROUND OTHER BODIES AND BECOME ARTIFICIAL SATELLITES TO THE MOON, MERCURY, VENUS, MARS, JUPITER, SATURN, AND THE SUN.