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refracting telescopes use lenses instead of mirrors.

1. chromatic aberration: when light passes through a lens it is focused at different points. Blue focuses closer to lens and red farther creating a smeared image.

2. Some light is absorbed by lenses.

3. Lenses are heavy and can only be supported by the edge.

4. Lenses must have to optically acceptable surfaces whereas a mirror only needs one.

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13y ago
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15y ago

Reflecting telescope are made from mirrors, reflecting light to a single point, this in then reflected again to the eye piece lens.

Refraction telescopes work on the principal of light refraction to an eye piece lens, but to get a strong telescope you need a long focal length, this can only be achieved by large pieces of glass to make the lens.

The advantages ofreflection is that it is easier to make then a refraction telescope because all you need is materials with a shiny surface and no large, perfect pieces of glass need to be constructed.

It is also cheaper as you do not need to spend large ammounts of money on creating large glasslenses as you do with refraction telescopes.

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12y ago

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.

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11y ago

Reflecting telescopes aren't necessarily better than refracting ones, but reflector telescopes are free of a few problems that refractor scopes have, such as chromatic aberration. They are also often cheaper than the same aperture size refractor telescopes since there's really only one (mirror) surface that has to be ground and polished to a specific shape (the primary mirror - the secondary mirror is completely flat in Newtonians, but do require shaping in Schmidt-Cassegrain scopes).

However, among the drawbacks is that the secondary mirror blocks some of the light falling in, and they suffer from coma, an off-axis aberration which causes imagery to flare inward and towards the optical axis. Reflector telescopes also may require frequent collimation (alignment) of the optics.

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10y ago

They're not. When you compare a reflector and a refractor whose objective

mirror and lens have the same diameter, the reflector is cheaper and easier to

build. That's why, since 1895, when the 40-inch refractor was installed at the

University of Chicago's Yerkes Observatory in Wisconsin, all larger telescopes

have been reflectors.

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10y ago

They aren't. Or at least, they aren't necessarily.

It's possible to make larger reflecting telescopes because the mirror can be made arbitrarily large and supported with ... whatever, because the back side doesn't matter and no more light is lost reflecting off a large mirror than a small one.

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11y ago

1. Smaller

2. Collect more light

3. Can more easily reproject the image being aimed at.

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Q: What advantages do reflecting telescopes have over refracting telescopes?
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Why did Isaac Newton invent the telescope?

Newton did not invent the telescope, he invented the reflecting telescope. The reflecting telescope was a major improvement over the distorting refracting telescope.


What is five advantages of radio telescopes over optical telescopes?

Click CTRL + W for the ANSWER! or inbox my facebook ' Samuel Warrington '


What are the similarities between a refracting telescope and reflecting telescope?

The two major telescopes are refractive and reflective. Refractive uses two lenses and a 45 degree mirror. Lense, mirror lens. Reflective uses an open tube.light come in and strikes a concave mirror. Reflects back to the opening where a flat 45 degree mirror reflects light into an eyepiece lense that is near the opening. Images in a reflective telescope are backward without the use of an erecting prism. Further research for you, Dobsonian, Cassegrain.


What are some things Issac Newton invented and or reinvented?

Newton invented the reflecting telescope which is a a great advance over the refracting telescope. The refracting telescope distorted the image via refraction. Newton invented Calculus, which is the engine of mathematics. Newton invented lens and prisms for light analysis.


Is the Worlds largest telescope refracting or reflecting?

Large lenses deform under their own weight, but mirrors can be supported. Reflectors do not suffer from chromatic aberration like refractors do. Large mirrors need only one optical surface, achromats four surfaces to grind. Large, very clear lenses are harder to cast than more tolerant mirror blanks.

Related questions

What are some of the advantages of reflecting telescopes over refracting telescopes?

Size... a reflecting telescope with the same power as a refracting telescope is much shorter. This is because, in the reflecting telescope, the incoming light is bounced off mirrors (often more than once) which means the physical length is much shorter than an equivalent refracting model.


What advantages do reflecting telescopes have over refracting telescope?

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.


What advantages do reflecting telescope have over refracting telescope?

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.


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.


Why do scientist prefer refracting telescope over reflecting telescope?

Reflecting telescopes give a brighter, clearer image that refraactors in many cases. Add to that the fact that refractors become very impractical with objective lens sizes much above 40 inches, while reflectors can have mirrors of 200 inches and more.


Why did Isaac Newton invent the telescope?

Newton did not invent the telescope, he invented the reflecting telescope. The reflecting telescope was a major improvement over the distorting refracting telescope.


What type of telescope is most often used to view distant objects?

Reflecting telescopes are far-and-away the most common. This is because the telescope can be smaller and lighter, and because lenses always absorb a little light while mirrors can be almost perfect reflectors.


What is five advantages of radio telescopes over optical telescopes?

Click CTRL + W for the ANSWER! or inbox my facebook ' Samuel Warrington '


What are the similarities between a refracting telescope and reflecting telescope?

The two major telescopes are refractive and reflective. Refractive uses two lenses and a 45 degree mirror. Lense, mirror lens. Reflective uses an open tube.light come in and strikes a concave mirror. Reflects back to the opening where a flat 45 degree mirror reflects light into an eyepiece lense that is near the opening. Images in a reflective telescope are backward without the use of an erecting prism. Further research for you, Dobsonian, Cassegrain.


What are some things Issac Newton invented and or reinvented?

Newton invented the reflecting telescope which is a a great advance over the refracting telescope. The refracting telescope distorted the image via refraction. Newton invented Calculus, which is the engine of mathematics. Newton invented lens and prisms for light analysis.


Is the Worlds largest telescope refracting or reflecting?

Large lenses deform under their own weight, but mirrors can be supported. Reflectors do not suffer from chromatic aberration like refractors do. Large mirrors need only one optical surface, achromats four surfaces to grind. Large, very clear lenses are harder to cast than more tolerant mirror blanks.


What are the advantages of space travel over using telescopes to explore the universe?

It will get the planets to be much larger and it will have a percale view of some uranium planets