Galileo Galilei of Italy invented it in 1610. Shortly thereafter he discovered the craters and mountains of the moon, the 4 largest moons of Jupiter (still called the "Galilean moons"), and the rings of Saturn.
Zacharias Janssen was the first person to invent the optical telescope. He is also known as the inventor of the compound microscope.
The Hubble Space Telescope has a number of instruments, but the primary one is an optical telescope.
"Optical", in this case, simply means that they work with light.
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optical
Reflector.
See things that don't shine in the visible spectrum.
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David Gregg was the inventor of the optical disk.
Radio telescopes collect radio waves. Optical telescopes capture visible light waves.
you can get the optical components to repair an old telescope at http://www.astromart.com/classifieds/details.asp?classified_id=644695. Another site is www.Fixya.com/Telescope+Repair
The surface of a radio telescope doesn't have to be as flawless as the surface of an optical telescope because the radio telescope is collecting radio waves, something that will not be affected by faults in the glass. Optical telescopes, on the other hand, are collecting light, where faults in the surface can interfere with the image.