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The reason we locate optical telescopes in high places is because the earth's atmosphere distorts the light that passes through it. If we can get higher up, there will be less atmospheric distortion of the light from the objects we're observing. Additionally, there is usually less light pollution to affect the images, but relief from atmospheric distortion is the primary reason we go up.
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What and where are the largest optical telescopes in use today?
The largest optical telescope in use today is the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) located at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory in La Palma, Canary Islands. It has a primary mirror diameter of 10.4 meters (34 feet). Another large optical telescope is the Keck Observatory in Hawaii with two telescopes, each with a primary mirror diameter of 10 meters (33 feet).
Why do single dish radio telescopes have poor resolving power compared to optical telescopes of the same diameter?
Radio telescopes are generally much larger than optical telescopes for two reasons: First, the amount of radio radiation reaching Earth from space is tiny compared with optical wavelengths, so a large collecting area is essential. Second, the long wavelengths of radio waves mean that diffraction severely limits the resolution unless large instruments are used.
How light and radio telescopes are different?
Light telescopes, such as optical telescopes, focus on visible light to observe celestial objects, while radio telescopes detect radio waves emitted by these objects. The design of optical telescopes involves lenses or mirrors to collect and concentrate light, whereas radio telescopes use large parabolic dishes to capture and amplify radio signals. Additionally, optical telescopes are limited by atmospheric conditions and light pollution, while radio telescopes can operate effectively through clouds and at night. This leads to different applications and discoveries in astronomy for each type of telescope.
What are examples of optical telescopes?
The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is an example of an optical telescope, as are the Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. the Hale Telescope at the Palomar Observatory in California and the Hooker 100 inch Telescope at the Mt Wilson Observatory, also California.
Why are most large telescopes reflecting telescopes?
They are refracting telescopes(:Large refracting telescopes are no longer built because there were too many problems with them. There was color distortion, light pollution, and when the object hits the focal point it turns upside down. Then you don't see the object for what it really is, you see it upside down and weird-ed out. They are to complicated and scientists believed they should just stick with the simple, small, original refracting telescopes!!!!-Meghan Betts (8th grader)
What and where are the largest optical telescopes in use today?
The largest optical telescope in use today is the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) located at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory in La Palma, Canary Islands. It has a primary mirror diameter of 10.4 meters (34 feet). Another large optical telescope is the Keck Observatory in Hawaii with two telescopes, each with a primary mirror diameter of 10 meters (33 feet).
What are the bulidings called where optical telescopes are found?
The word "Observatory" is used to refer to a dedicated building where large optical telescopes are housed. This usually includes a protective dome that can be opened or retracted to observe the stars.
Why do single dish radio telescopes have poor resolving power compared to optical telescopes of the same diameter?
Radio telescopes are generally much larger than optical telescopes for two reasons: First, the amount of radio radiation reaching Earth from space is tiny compared with optical wavelengths, so a large collecting area is essential. Second, the long wavelengths of radio waves mean that diffraction severely limits the resolution unless large instruments are used.
What instrument to look at the sun?
Solar telescopes are used by professional astronomers both on earth and on satellites. These instruments differ from other optical telescopes because they do not need to collect light and also must deal with the heat from the object they focus on. The telescopes are very large.
What are examples of optical telescopes?
The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is an example of an optical telescope, as are the Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. the Hale Telescope at the Palomar Observatory in California and the Hooker 100 inch Telescope at the Mt Wilson Observatory, also California.
How is the VLA similar to an optical telescope?
well,both telescopes let you look into the ground into the inner core and you see deep in he atmosphere which is space. Errr... The Very Large Array is an array of radio-telescopes, i.e. it detects radio emissions from stars and similar. An optical telescope as its name suggests, collects visible light. The similarity is that increasing the aperture increases the radiation-gathering power by a square-law. In an optical telescope this is achieved by a larger mirror (or lens but most large telescopes are reflecting.) The VLA uses a "synthetic aperture" to gain the advantages of increasing its gathering area without the cost and complexity of building a single, very large dish.
Why are radio telescopes typically built so large compared with optical telescopes?
Radio telescopes are much larger than optical telescopes because of wavelength. Earth's atmosphere has two major "windows" where it is transparent to photons: 300 nm - 800 nm: optical wavelength window (approximate) 30 mm - 30 m: radio wavelength window (approximate) Even the shortest-wavelengths used by radio telescopes at around 30 mm are still thousands of times longer than the longest wavelengths used by optical telescopes. The wavelength has 2 effects on the size of a telescope: * The angular resolution (in order to distinguish 2 nearby stars, FWHM) depends on the wavelength/aperture ratio. Radio-frequency photons require a wider aperture to focus than visible-light-frequency photons, so radio telescopes *must* be larger to get a reasonable resolution. * A telescope typically requires the collecting area to be aligned within 1/10 of the wavelength it is designed for. Because it is almost impossible to get all the parts of a sufficiently large telescope aligned to within 80 nm, radio telescopes *can* be built much larger.
Why are most large telescopes reflecting telescopes?
They are refracting telescopes(:Large refracting telescopes are no longer built because there were too many problems with them. There was color distortion, light pollution, and when the object hits the focal point it turns upside down. Then you don't see the object for what it really is, you see it upside down and weird-ed out. They are to complicated and scientists believed they should just stick with the simple, small, original refracting telescopes!!!!-Meghan Betts (8th grader)
Large telescopes are often housed where?
Large telescopes are often housed in observatories located in remote and high-altitude areas to minimize light pollution and atmospheric interference. These locations provide clearer skies and better visibility for astronomical observations.
Reflecting telescopes differ from refracting telescopes in having what?
Two large objective lenses.
Why big telescopes?
Large telescopes have improved resolution over small telescopes and as such can gather clearer images of objects further away.
Why have no large refracting telescopes been built since 1900?
Refracting telescopes suffer from chromatic aberration, refracting telescopes have several surfaces to shape and polish, making large glass lenses without interior defects is very difficult, and large glass lenses are more difficult to support than large mirrors.
