Science & Measurement Codexery

Telescope

Observing the universe across the electromagnetic spectrum

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Telescope

Pelligton · CC BY-SA 4.0

Giovanni Demisiani, a Greek mathematician, first used the term "telescope" in 1611 to describe one of Galileo Galilei's instruments.[1]

Key facts and history

The earliest existing record of a telescope was a 1608 patent submitted in the Netherlands by spectacle maker Hans Lipperhey for a refracting telescope.[2][3] Reflecting telescopes were hampered by fast tarnishing speculum metal mirrors until silver coated glass mirrors were introduced in 1857.[4] After learning of the telescope's existence, Galileo constructed his own version in 1609 and began using it for celestial observations.[5][6] The Dobsonian telescope was created by John Dobson in 1956.[7]

Color aberrations in simple lenses were partly corrected by the achromatic lens, which was invented in 1733.[4] Refracting telescopes have a maximum physical size of about 1 meter, which is why nearly all large optical research telescopes built after the early 20th century are reflectors.[4] Currently, the largest reflecting telescopes have objectives exceeding 10 meters, and designs for 30–40 meter telescopes are being developed.[8] Only a few bands of the electromagnetic spectrum can be observed from Earth's surface because the atmosphere is opaque to most wavelengths.[9][10]

What the cited sources add

The Galileo Project notes the telescope was not the invention of scientists but rather the product of craftsmen.[3] The Galileo Project states the telescope consisted of a convex and concave lens in a tube, magnifying three or four times.[3] The NASA source "Observatories Across the Electromagnetic Spectrum" explains that radio telescopes can observe even on cloudy days.[11] The same NASA source describes that radio astronomers can combine data from two telescopes far apart to create images with resolution as big as the distance between them.[11]

The ASTROLab account of the James-Clerk-Maxwell Observatory states its radio telescope consists of an aluminum parabolic antenna measuring 15 metres in diameter.[12] The ASTROLab account adds that water vapour in the Earth's atmosphere easily absorbs submillimetre waves.[12] The Scientific American article notes that the main reason we put telescopes into space is to get a clearer view of planets, stars, and galaxies.[10]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Telescope" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Sobel (2000, p.43), Drake (1978, p.196); Rosen, Edward, The Naming of the Telescope (1947) (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Telescope" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: galileo.rice.edu The Galileo Project > Science > The Telescope by Al Van Helden: The Hague discussed the patent applications first of Hans Lipperhey of Middelbu (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  3. galileo.rice.edu The Galileo Project > Science > The Telescope by Al Van Helden: The Hague discussed the patent applications first of Hans Lipperhey of Middelbu. facts only, no text reused. galileo.rice.edu
  4. Wikipedia, "Telescope" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Chester Moor Hall", Encyclopædia Britannica; Pearson, "The History of Astronomy", Astro Publication, 2020, p. 281; Bakich, "The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Amateur Astronomy", Cambridge University Press, 10 July 2003, p. 33 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Telescope" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "NASA – Telescope History", www.nasa.gov; Loker, "Profiles in Colonial History", Aleck Loker, 20 November 2017 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Open Library record, ISBN 9781928874164 ("Profiles in colonial history"). CC0 (metadata); book content not read. openlibrary.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Telescope" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Watson, "Stargazer: The Life and Times of the Telescope", Allen & Unwin, 20 November 2017; Attempts by Niccolò Zucchi and James Gregory and theoretical designs by Bonaventura Cavalieri, Marin Mersenne, and Gregory among others; Hall, "Isaac Newton: Adventurer in Thought", Cambridge University Press, 1992, p. 67 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Telescope" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Tate, "World's Largest Reflecting Telescopes Explained (Infographic)", Space.com, 30 August 2013 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Telescope" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Stierwalt, "Why Do We Put Telescopes in Space?", Scientific American (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Stierwalt, "Why Do We Put Telescopes in Space?", Scientific American. facts only, no text reused. scientificamerican.com
  11. "Observatories Across the Electromagnetic Spectrum", imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov. facts only, no text reused. imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov
  12. ASTROLab du parc national du Mont-Mégantic, "The James-Clerk-Maxwell Observatory", Canada under the stars, January 2016. facts only, no text reused. astro-canada.ca

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Telescope (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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