How does a refracting telescope

So the mirror just has to have the right curved shape. It is much easier to make a large, near-perfect mirror than to make a large, near-perfect lens. Also, since mirrors are one-sided, they are easier than lenses to clean and polish. But mirrors have their own problems. Have you ever looked into a spoon and noticed your reflection is upside down?

The curved mirror in a telescope is like a spoon: It flips the image. Luckily, the solution is simple. We just use other mirrors to flip it back. A simple reflecting telescope uses mirrors to help us see faraway objects. Since they are much lighter than lenses, mirrors are a lot easier to launch into space.

Space telescopes such as the Hubble Space Telescope and the Spitzer Space Telescope have allowed us to capture views of galaxies and nebulas far away from our own solar system.

Set to launch in December , the James Webb Space Telescope is the largest, most powerful space telescope ever built. It will allow scientists to look at what our universe was like about million years after the Big Bang. How do telescopes work? Can u give diagrams Please. Mike - There are two basic types of telescopes, refracting and reflecting. Refracting telescopes use lenses to focus the light, and reflecting telescopes use mirrors. When you want to observe a star you will often switch eyepieces.

Less powerful to locate the star and more powerful to observe it closely. This is a problem when using lenses. Different wavelengths of light refract by different amounts. Smaller wavelengths refract more than longer wavelengths. This is how a prism splits white light into the visible spectrum. Mobile Newsletter chat dots. Mobile Newsletter chat avatar. Mobile Newsletter chat subscribe. Prev NEXT.

Physical Science. This is the simplest telescope design you could have. A big lens gathers the light and directs it to a focal point and a small lens brings the image to your eye. The refractor telescope, which uses glass lenses.