What are some similarities and differences between refracting and reflecting telescopes?

Answer 1

A refracting telescope is a type of telescope that has a large thin lense at the front and a smaller thicker lense at the end where the eyepiece is. Refracting telescopes use lenses unlike reflecting telescopes that use mirrors to reflect the light. This is a good image of a refracting and reflecting telescope: [See related link]

Answer 2

Similarities: Both refracting and reflecting telescopes are used to collect and focus light to produce magnified views of distant objects. They both rely on mirrors or lenses to gather and direct incoming light.

Differences: Refracting telescopes use lenses to focus light, while reflecting telescopes use mirrors. Reflecting telescopes are generally more compact and offer better image quality due to the absence of chromatic aberration, while refracting telescopes are more prone to this optical defect.

Answer 3

A refracting telescope is one type of optical telescope. It is used in the "optical" range of light, which is the range we see in. The other type of optical telescope is the reflector (mirror).

A refracting or refractor telescope uses a lens as its objective to form an image (also referred to as a dioptric telescope). The refracting telescope design was originally used in spyglasses and astronomical telescopes, but is also used for long telephoto camera lenses.

Answer 4

The basic task of a reflecting telescope is the same as that of a refracting telescope:

To use the 'gain' of a large collector to amplify the light received from a point source, in order to make dim objects brighter for observation, Photography or spectroscopy, or to compensate for the loss of brightness due to magnification of an image.

Answer 5

A refractor telescope is the commonly perceived telescope that people first imagine, the type that has glass lenses in it.

A reflector has no lenses (except in the actual eyepiece) and instead uses an array of mirrors, usually a parabolic "primary" mirror and a flat "secondary mirror".

Answer 6

Not necessarily. Most radio telescopes, for example, are reflecting telescopes.

Reflecting or refracting has to do with how it works. Optical has to do with the range of wavelengths it is sensitive to. There's no more reason a reflecting telescope has to be optical than there is that a blue object has to be heavy.

Answer 7

A reflecting telescope has mirrors, and a refracting telescope has a lens.

Answer 8

A telescope in which the principle optical component is a lens, as opposed to a mirror

Answer 9

Its a type of Optical Telescope that uses a lens as its objective to form an image. Its original use is for Spy glass. But it can also be uses for long focus camera lenses.

Answer 10

"Optical" means that it works with visible light. This is to distinguish from telescopes that use other types of radiation, such as infrared, X-rays, or radio waves.