What is telescope?

telescope, device used to form magnified images of distant objects. The telescope is
undoubtedly the most important investigative tool in astronomy. It provides a means of
collecting and analyzing radiation from celestial objects, even those in the far reaches of
the universe.

History:
In 17th century Galileo Galilei was the successfully to constructed the  refracting telescopes .  And in 1668 sir
Isaac Newton is credited with building the first reflector.

After 1950; many modern telescopes including the Hubble Space Telescope ,  which gives a wider field of view than
a classic Cassegrain. After this invention many improvement thaken place in this field ,now in 21th century many
create and better has been made such as  radio telescopes, xray telescope and james webb etc.

Parts ;
There are many componenets in telescope and they have their own use but
mainly there are 6 patrs in telescope which are;

1. Lenses--- convex, concave , r and plane parallel lens etc.

2. Mirrors
3. Eyepiece
4. Structural Support
5. Telescope Tube
6. Finderscope.

Types of telescope.
1. Refracting telescopes.
Commonly known as refractors, telescopes of this kind are typically used
to examine the Moon, other objects of the solar system and binary stars.

The name refractor is derived from the term refraction, which is the

bending of light when it passes from one medium to another of different
density.

The physical shape of the components may be convex, concave, or plane-

parallel. This diagram illustrates the principle of refraction and the
term focal length. 
  The magnification, sometimes referred to as magnifying power, is
determined by dividing the focal length of the objective by the focal
length of the eyepiece. For example, if the objective has a focal length of
254 cm (100 inches) and the eyepiece has a focal length of 2.54 cm (1
inch), then the magnification will be 100. Large magnifications are very
useful for observing the Moon and the planets. However,
since stars appear as point sources owing to their great distances,
magnification provides no additional advantage when viewing them.

Reflecting telescopes.

The name of this type of instrument is derived from the fact that the primary mirror reflects
the light back to a focus instead of refracting it. The primary mirror usually has a concave
spherical or parabolic shape, and, as it reflects the light, it inverts the image at the focal
plane.

Reflectors are used not only to examine the visible region of the electromagnetic
spectrum but also to explore both the shorter- and longer-wavelength regions adjacent to it
(i.e., the ultraviolet and the infrared). 

Reflectors are used not only to examine the visible region of the electromagnetic
spectrum but also to explore both the shorter- and longer-wavelength regions adjacent to it
(i.e., the ultraviolet and the infrared). 

The Schmidt telescope.

 A Schmidt telescope  design incorporates the best features of both the refractor and the
reflector —i.e., it has both reflective and refractive optics.

It was designed to photographing larger celestial areas.

he Schmidt telescope has a spherically shaped primary mirror, it allow more light to pass

through it.

Multimirror telescopes.
It is a gaint telescope which is buit in very large scale the main reason astronomers build larger
telescopes is to increase light-gathering power so that they can see deeper into the universe.

Special types of optical telescopes

Solar telescopes.
Special solar telescopes have been constructed for investigations of
the Sun that require the use of such ancillary instruments as
spectroheliographs and coronagraphs.

These telescopes are mounted in towers and have very long focus objectives. 

The long focus objective produces a very good scale factor, which in turn makes
it possible to look at individual wavelengths of the solar electromagnetic
spectrum in great detail.

Earth-orbiting space telescopes.

While astronomers continue to seek new technological breakthroughs with
which to build larger ground-based telescopes, it is readily apparent that the
only solution to some scientific problems is to make observations from
above Earth’s atmosphere.

A series of Orbiting Astronomical Observatories (OAOs) was launched by

the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

  The OAO launched in 1972—later named Copernicus—had an 81-cm (32-inch)

telescope on board. The most sophisticated observational system placed in
Earth orbit so far is the Hubble Space Telescope.

 The HST is essentially a telescope with a 2.4-metre (94-inch) primary mirror.

It has been designed to enable astronomers to see into a volume of space 300
to 400 times larger than that permitted by other systems.

It is equipped with five principal scientific instruments: (1) a wide-field and

planetary camera, (2) a faint-object spectrograph, (3) a high-resolution
spectrograph, (4) a high-speed photometer, and (5) a faint-object camera.

Orbiting the Earth since 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope has helped to answer some of
the most compelling astronomical questions of our time, and uncovered mysteries we never
knew existed. With vision that spans the ultraviolet through visible and into the near
infrared, Hubble investigates everything from black holes to planets around other stars. Its
unique capabilities are revolutionizing astronomy as Hubble continues humanity’s quest to
explore the universe.

Links;

About telescope; https://www.britannica.com/science/optical-telescope/The-development-

of-the-telescope-and-auxiliary-instrumentation.

James wedd; https://webb.nasa.gov/content/webbLaunch/news.html.

Hubble telescope ; https://hubblesite.org/science.