Optical Telescopes
Type of telescope | Pros and cons | |
Refracting | Uses lenses | Needs expensive lensesGlass lenses limit size |
Reflecting | Uses mirrors | Best optical quality- no size limit |
Chromatic Aberration the property of a lens where different colors are not in focus at the same time
Detecting “Invisible” Light
Type of telescope | Pros and cons | |
Radio telescope | Uses antennae to capture incoming radiowaves | Not affected by cloudsCan use 24 hours a dayCan detect cool clouds and gases |
Space telescope | Orbit above Earth’s atmosphere | Produce clearer images than Earth telescopes |
Special purpose | Examples X-ray telescope to study black holesCompton Gamma-Ray to study exploding stars | Can “see” objects outside of visible light spectrum |
Review video: NOVA Hunting the Edge of Space: Part 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqwgpsXII0s