Breakthroughs

Telescopes

Telescopes: is an instrument designed for the observation of remote objects by the collection of electromagnetic radiation. Telescope comes from the Greek tele= ‘far’ and skopein= ‘to look or see’.

Optical Telescopes

An optical telescope gathers and focuses light mainly from the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum (although some work in the infrared and ultraviolet). Optical telescopes increase the apparent angular size of distant objects as well as their apparent brightness. In order for the image to be observed, photographed, studied, and sent to a computer, telescopes work by employing one or more curved optical elements—usually made from glass—lenses, or mirrors to gather light and other electromagnetic radiation to bring that light or radiation to a focal point.

Radio Telescopes

Radio telescopes are instruments for receiving radio waves from space. A radio telescope consists of an antenna, an amplifying system, and a recorder to preserve the observations.

X-ray and Gamma-ray telescopes

X-ray and gamma-ray radiation go through most metals and glasses, but some X-ray telescopes use Wolter telescopes composed of ring-shaped 'glancing' mirrors made of heavy metals that are able to reflect the rays just a few degrees. The mirrors are usually a section of a rotated parabola and a hyperbola, or ellipse.

***Telescopes help us communicate from space to Earth. ***