The mirror in a telescope is a concave mirror. That shape redirects all the light coming from a distant object that hits the mirror into a focusing lens. The mirror may be as small as several inches or many feet in diameter and it concentrates the light so it can be focused by a small eyepiece that may be only a fraction of an inch in diameter. The mirror serves the same purpose as a large lens in a refractive telescope. It takes a large cross section of light and focuses it into the eyepiece of the telescope but it does it by reflection rather than refraction. The reflective mirror is preferred over a lens for several reasons. The light reflected by a good quality silvered mirror loses very little of its intensity. Light passing through a lens loses intensity each time it passes through a glass surface and it must pass through 2 surfaces of a lens. The mirror bends the light one time and a lens bends it twice. The more times you bend light, the more chance you have to introduce distortion because of imperfections of the surface. If the glass of a lens is not ultra pure and without imperfection, the light is further distorted. The quality of glass in a mirror does not affect the light because the light does not pass through the mirror because the light is reflected off the first surface. When very large telescopes are involved, a refraction lens would weigh many times what the reflective mirror weighs.
The reflective telescope was invented by Isaac Newton in 1668. He designed a reflecting telescope with a curved mirror that resolved some of the issues associated with the refracting telescopes of the time.
A curved mirror is used to focus light in a reflecting telescope by reflecting and converging the light rays to a focal point. This mirror can have a concave shape to collect and concentrate light towards the eyepiece for observation.
Isaac Newton is credited with building the first practical reflecting telescope in 1668. This telescope used a curved mirror to gather and focus light, unlike traditional refracting telescopes which used lenses.
A reflecting telescope has both an eyepiece lens and a mirror. Light enters the telescope and is reflected off the primary mirror to a secondary mirror, which then directs the light to the eyepiece where it is magnified for viewing.
Isaac Newton improved the first refracting telescope by designing a reflecting telescope, known as the Newtonian telescope. He replaced the eyepiece of the refracting telescope with a curved mirror to eliminate chromatic aberration, resulting in a sharper image with less distortion. This design laid the foundation for future advancements in telescope technology.
I believe it is so it can collect more focus light to produce a clearer image.
A mirror that is curved outward is convex. A mirror that is curved inward is concave.
The reflective telescope was invented by Isaac Newton in 1668. He designed a reflecting telescope with a curved mirror that resolved some of the issues associated with the refracting telescopes of the time.
It is a mirror whose reflecting surface is curved, not flat (as in a plane mirror).
A curved mirror is used to focus light in a reflecting telescope by reflecting and converging the light rays to a focal point. This mirror can have a concave shape to collect and concentrate light towards the eyepiece for observation.
Isaac Newton is credited with building the first practical reflecting telescope in 1668. This telescope used a curved mirror to gather and focus light, unlike traditional refracting telescopes which used lenses.
Newtonian telescope
A reflecting telescope has both an eyepiece lens and a mirror. Light enters the telescope and is reflected off the primary mirror to a secondary mirror, which then directs the light to the eyepiece where it is magnified for viewing.
The reflecting surface of a mirror is flat.
what are the parts of the curved mirror
Isaac Newton improved the first refracting telescope by designing a reflecting telescope, known as the Newtonian telescope. He replaced the eyepiece of the refracting telescope with a curved mirror to eliminate chromatic aberration, resulting in a sharper image with less distortion. This design laid the foundation for future advancements in telescope technology.
A reflecting telescope.