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reflectors
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∙ 10y agoReflectors
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What do most telescopes collect and focus?
All telescopes collect and focus light. Some concentrate on visible light while others look for infra-red, radio and microwave radiation.
What instrument to astronomers use?
They use telescopes, but different types of telescopes. There are telescopes for radio waves, microwaves, infrared light, visible light, ultraviolet light, x-rays, and gamma rays, all depending on what it is you're trying to see.
Why do astronomers have to stay awake all night to use visible light telescopes?
Because the visible light coming from the stars is so faint that during the day the light form our local star (the Sun) is so bright that it swamps the starlight. Thus to make observations using visible light, astronomers have to do so at night.
Why are telescopes that detect non-optical radiation useful for studying objects in space?
Visible light is a very narrow range of the electromagnetic spectrum. Even audible sound, at the very bottom, is part of this EM spectrum. Radio and other types of 'scopes are designed to 'see' these other ranges, often with surprising results. The space telescope employs more than visible light capabilities, as do many Earth and space-bound telescopes. Looking at Saturn in visible light is quite breath-taking, but in ultra-violet (UV) a remarkable geometric pattern is visible on one of its poles.
Do refracting and reflecting telescopes use visible light to view the images?
Those terms are most commonly used for optical telescopes. However, the same design can be used for non-visible frequencies; for example, radio telescopes of the "satellite dish" variety are essentially reflecting telescopes.
What do most telescopes collect and focus?
All telescopes collect and focus light. Some concentrate on visible light while others look for infra-red, radio and microwave radiation.
What is the difference between modern telescopes and galileo's telescope?
Galileo's telescope is what is called a refractory visible light telescope. It takes visible light and uses lenses to condense a lot of light down to what will fit into your eye. It was very rudimentary and could not see very much detail. Today, there are still refractory visible light telescopes. In fact, these are used by amateur astronomers to capture excellent pictures of the universe around us. They are limited in their aperture however (the size of the opening pointed toward the stars). There are many other kinds of telescopes now also. Reflecting telescopes can be much bigger. Currently, the largest are the Keck telescopes in Hawaii where there are two that have an aperture of 10 meters, where as Galileo's was only 10-25 mm. Besides visible light, we now use telescopes to see all the wavelengths of light, from radio waves through microwaves, infrared, ultraviolet, X-ray and gamma rays.
What instrument to astronomers use?
They use telescopes, but different types of telescopes. There are telescopes for radio waves, microwaves, infrared light, visible light, ultraviolet light, x-rays, and gamma rays, all depending on what it is you're trying to see.
Why do astronomers have to stay awake all night to use visible light telescopes?
Because the visible light coming from the stars is so faint that during the day the light form our local star (the Sun) is so bright that it swamps the starlight. Thus to make observations using visible light, astronomers have to do so at night.
Why are there no astronomical telescopes in orbit?
There are several astronomical telescopes in orbit. The most famous is of course the Hubble, but COROT, MOST, and the Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Observer are all visible light telescopes in orbit around Earth, and there's another - Kepler - that doesn't orbit Earth, but does orbit the Sun. There are also a multitude of orbital telescopes that use segments of the electromagnetic spectrum other than visible. Spitzer, for example, uses infrared light (it's another solar orbiter).
What is the observable parts in the milky way in terms of light years?
Most to all of the milky way is visible through sattelite telescopes as well as other galaxies, but only our local spiral arm is visible from here.
What advantage do reflecting telescopes hAve over refracting telescopes?
One advantage of reflecting telescopes is that the mirrors can be very big. Large mirrors allow reflecting telescopes to gather more light than refracting telescopes do. Another advantage is that curved mirrors are polished on their curved side, which prevents light from entering the glass. Thus any flaws in the glass do not affect the light. A third advantage is that mirrors can focus all colors of light to the same focal point. Therefore, reflecting telescopes allow all colors of light from an object to be seen in focus at the same time.
Do astronomers spend all their time looking through a telescope and recording their results?
Nowadays, the bulk of the work astronomers do is on computers. They spend a small portion of their time at telescopes actually taking data. Astronomically-useful telescopes rarely have eyepieces you can look through. Radio, ultraviolet, or infrared telescopes collect light that you can't even see with your eye! Telescopes that collect visible light often have electronic cameras called CCD cameras that create an image in a computer. Many telescopes are used to create a spectrum (the light is split into a rainbow, and the brightness of each color is measured). Radio telescopes record signals that astronomers can reconstruct using a computer to make an image or a spectrum.
State the difference between optical and non-optical telescopes?
Optical measures visible light, Radio measures electromagnetic radiation in that part of the spectrum corresponding to radio waves. Same with X-ray telescopes and x-rays. Optical is the kind you look through.
What is the advantage of having telescope that collect and focus radiation?
All telescopes collect or focus radiation in some way, because visible light is a form of electromagnetic radiation. The advantages of telescopes include being able to see things that are far away, as well as the ability to observe heavenly bodies.
Why are telescopes that detect non-optical radiation useful for studying objects in space?
Visible light is a very narrow range of the electromagnetic spectrum. Even audible sound, at the very bottom, is part of this EM spectrum. Radio and other types of 'scopes are designed to 'see' these other ranges, often with surprising results. The space telescope employs more than visible light capabilities, as do many Earth and space-bound telescopes. Looking at Saturn in visible light is quite breath-taking, but in ultra-violet (UV) a remarkable geometric pattern is visible on one of its poles.
How much of the visible spectrum is contained in white light?
All of it. White light is the blend of all visible colors.
