A telescope is an optical instrument that aids in the observation of remote objects by collecting

electromagnetic radiation (such as visible light). The first known practical telescopes were
invented in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 1600s, by using glass lenses. They found use
in both terrestrial applications and astronomy.

Within a few decades, the reflecting telescope was invented, which used mirrors to collect and
focus the light. In the 20th century many new types of telescopes were invented, including radio
telescopes in the 1930s and infrared telescopes in the 1960s. The word telescope now refers to a
wide range of instruments capable of detecting different regions of the electromagnetic spectrum,
and in some cases other types of detectors.

The word telescope (from the Ancient Greek τῆλε, tele "far" and σκοπεῖν, skopein "to look or
see"; τηλεσκόπος, teleskopos "far-seeing") was coined in 1611 by the Greek mathematician
Giovanni Demisiani for one of Galileo Galilei's instruments presented at a banquet at the
Accademia dei Lincei.[1][2][3] In the Starry Messenger, Galileo had used the term perspicillum.

What are telescopes used for?

The main function of telescopes is collecting light. They can view fine details and record sights
using cameras. Bigger telescopes can gather more light and can therefore see objects that are
farther away. They can identify things at a greater distance and widen the expanse of the
observable universe.

Optical telescopes are composed of lenses and mirrors that enlarge faraway things or improve the
brightness of indistinct objects. Radio telescopes identify noise based on radio wavelengths in
space. They can form an image of the object they listen to based on the sound they gather from
that object.

Researchers use X-ray telescopes to acquire information on the sun, stars and supernovas.
Gamma ray telescopes are used to verify various phenomena, such as black holes and pulsars.
Reflecting telescopes provide incredibly detailed images of distant objects in the universe,
including faraway galaxies, nebulae and dying stars.

Telescopes have a limited resolution due to disturbances and irregularities in the air. Their
resolution cannot increase beyond the limit even if the size of the light-collecting aperture is
made bigger. Many astronomers use telescopes atop mountains, because the telescopes can
generate a better resolution due to the thinner atmosphere

A reflecting telescope (also called a reflector) is an optical telescope which uses a single or
combination of curved mirrors that reflect light and form an image. The reflecting telescope was
invented in the 17th century as an alternative to the refracting telescope which, at that time, was
a design that suffered from severe chromatic aberration. Although reflecting telescopes produce
other types of optical aberrations, it is a design that allows for very large diameter objectives.
Almost all of the major telescopes used in astronomy research are reflectors. Reflecting
telescopes come in many design variations and may employ extra optical elements to improve
image quality or place the image in a mechanically advantageous position. Since reflecting
telescopes use mirrors, the design is sometimes referred to as a "catoptric" telescope.

Reflecting Telescope used:

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 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. The figure below illustrates the principle of a concave reflecting mirror.

A refracting telescope (also called a refractor) is a type of optical telescope that uses a lens as
its objective to form an image (also referred to a dioptric telescope). The refracting telescope
design was originally used in spy glasses and astronomical telescopes but is also used for long
focus camera lenses. Although large refracting telescopes were very popular in the second half of
the 19th century, for most research purposes the refracting telescope has been superseded by the
reflecting telescope which allows larger apertures. A refractor's magnification is calculated by
dividing the focal length of the objective lens by that of the eyepiece.[1]

Refracting Telescope used:

Commonly known as refractors, telescopes of this kind are used to examine the visible-light
region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Typical uses include viewing the Moon, other objects of
the solar system such as Jupiter and Mars, and double 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--e.g., from air to glass. The glass is referred to as a lens and may have one or
more components. The physical shape of the components may be convex, concave, or plane-
parallel. Figure 2 illustrates the principle of refraction and the term focal length. The focus is the
point, or plane, at which light rays from infinity converge after passing through a lens and
traveling a distance of one focal length. In a refractor, the first lens through which light from a
celestial object passes is called the objective lens. It should be noted that the light will be
inverted at the focal plane. A second lens, referred to as the eyepiece lens, is placed behind the
focal plane and enables the observer to view the enlarged, or magnified, image. Thus, the
simplest form of refractor consists of an objective and an eyepiece.
A radio telescope is a specialized antenna and radio receiver used to receive radio waves from
astronomical radio sources in the sky in radio astronomy.[1][2][3] Radio telescopes are the main
observing instrument used in radio astronomy, which studies the radio frequency portion of the
electromagnetic spectrum emitted by astronomical objects, just as optical telescopes are the main
observing instrument used in traditional optical astronomy which studies the light wave portion
of the spectrum coming from astronomical objects. Radio telescopes are typically large parabolic
("dish") antennas similar to those employed in tracking and communicating with satellites and
space probes. They may be used singly, or linked together electronically in an array. Unlike
optical telescopes, radio telescopes can be used in the daytime as well as at night. Since
astronomical radio sources such as stars, nebulas and galaxies are very far away, the radio waves
coming from them are extremely weak, so radio telescopes require very large antennas to collect
enough radio energy to study them, and extremely sensitive receiving equipment. Radio
observatories are preferentially located far from major centers of population to avoid
electromagnetic interference (EMI) from radio, television, radar, motor vehicles, and other EMI
emitting devices.

Radio Telescope used:

Radio telescope is an astronomical instrument consisting of a radio receiver and an antenna

system that is used to detect radio-frequency radiation emitted by extraterrestrial sources.
Because radio wavelengths are much longer than those of visible light, radio telescopes must be
very large in order to attain the resolution of optical telescopes.

Space Telescope?
The Hubble Space Telescope is a large telescope in space. NASA launched Hubble in 1990.
Hubble is as long as a large school bus. It weighs as much as two adult elephants. Hubble travels
around Earth at about 5 miles per second. That is as fast as driving a car from the East Coast of
the United States to the West Coast in 10 minutes.

Hubble faces toward space. It takes pictures of planets, stars and galaxies. Hubble has seen stars
being born. Hubble has seen stars die. It has seen galaxies that are trillions of miles away.
Hubble also has seen comet pieces crash into the gases above Jupiter.

Scientists have learned a lot about space from Hubble pictures. The pictures are beautiful to look
at too.

What Makes Hubble Different From Telescopes on Earth?

The mixture of gases that surround a planet is called its atmosphere. Earth's atmosphere changes
and blocks some of the light that comes from space. Hubble flies around, or orbits, high above
Earth and its atmosphere. So, Hubble can see space better than telescopes on Earth can. Hubble
is not the kind of telescope that you look through with your eye.  Hubble uses a digital camera. It
takes pictures like a cell phone. Then Hubble uses radio waves to send the pictures through the
air back to Earth.

An optical spectrometer (spectrophotometer, spectrograph or spectroscope) is an instrument

used to measure properties of light over a specific portion of the electromagnetic spectrum,
typically used in spectroscopic analysis to identify materials.[1] The variable measured is most
often the light's intensity but could also, for instance, be the polarization state. The independent
variable is usually the wavelength of the light or a unit directly proportional to the photon
energy, such as reciprocal centimeters or electron volts, which has a reciprocal relationship to
wavelength.

A spectrometer is used in spectroscopy for producing spectral lines and measuring their
wavelengths and intensities. Spectrometers may also work operate over a wide range of non-
optical wavelengths, from gamma rays and X-rays into the far infrared. If the instrument is
designed to measure the spectrum in absolute units rather than relative units, then it is typically
called a spectrophotometer. The majority of spectrophotometers are used in spectral regions near
the visible spectrum.

In general, any particular instrument will operate over a small portion of this total range because
of the different techniques used to measure different portions of the spectrum. Below optical
frequencies (that is, at microwave and radio frequencies), the spectrum analyzer is a closely
related electronic device.

Spectrometers are used in many fields. For example, they are used in astronomy to analyze the
radiation from astronomical objects and deduce chemical composition. The spectrometer uses a
prism or a grating to spread the light from a distant object into a spectrum. This allows
astronomers to detect many of the chemical elements by their characteristic spectral fingerprints.
If the object is glowing by itself, it will show spectral lines caused by the glowing gas itself.
These lines are named for the elements which cause them, such as the hydrogen alpha, beta, and
gamma lines. Chemical compounds may also be identified by absorption. Typically these are
dark bands in specific locations in the spectrum caused by energy being absorbed as light from
other objects passes through a gas cloud. Much of our knowledge of the chemical makeup of the
universe comes from spectra.

Spectroscopes are often used in astronomy and some branches of chemistry. Early spectroscopes
were simply prisms with graduations marking wavelengths of light. Modern spectroscopes
generally use a diffraction grating, a movable slit, and some kind of photodetector, all automated
and controlled by a computer.
Joseph von Fraunhofer developed the first modern spectroscope by combining a prism,
diffraction slit and telescope in a manner that increased the spectral resolution and was
reproducible in other laboratories. Fraunhofer also went on to invent the first diffraction
spectroscope.[2] Gustav Robert Kirchhoff and Robert Bunsen discovered the application of
spectroscopes to chemical analysis and used this approach to discover caesium and rubidium.[3][4]
Kirchhoff and Bunsen's analysis also enabled a chemical explanation of stellar spectra, including
Fraunhofer lines.[5]

When a material is heated to incandescence it emits light that is characteristic of the atomic
makeup of the material. Particular light frequencies give rise to sharply defined bands on the
scale which can be thought of as fingerprints. For example, the element sodium has a very
characteristic double yellow band known as the Sodium D-lines at 588.9950 and 589.5924
nanometers, the color of which will be familiar to anyone who has seen a low pressure sodium
vapor lamp.

A spectrograph is an instrument that separates light into a frequency spectrum and records the
signal using a camera.[2] There are several kinds of machines referred to as spectrographs,
depending on the precise nature of the waves. The term was first used in July, 1876 by Dr. Henry
Draper when he invented the earliest version of this device, and which he used to take several
photographs of the spectrum of Vega. This earliest version of the spectrograph was cumbersome
to use and difficult to manage.[3]

A spectrograph is an instrument used to separate and measure the wavelengths present in

Electromagnetic radiation and to measure the relative amounts of radiation at each wavelength.
In other words obtain and record the spectral content of light or its ‘spectrum’. The spectrograph
splits or disperses the light from an object into its component wavelengths so that it can be
recorded then analyzed.

Light entering a spectrograph can be split or dispersed into a spectrum by one of two means,
using a prism or a diffraction grating. When Newton split light into a spectrum in the 1660s he
used a glass prism in a similar manner show in the diagram below.

This effect arises due to the fact that the different wavelengths of light also have different
wavelengths or energies. As they pass through a prism, they undergo refraction, a change in
velocity due to the change in medium. If the light falls incident to the prism at an angle other
than 90° it will also change direction. Blue light has a shorter wavelength than red light so its
angle of refraction is higher, both at entry to and exit from the prism. This means it gets bent
more. The effect is the same effect which generates a rainbow in a rain shower, with the droplets
of rain acting as prism to disperse or split the light into its component colors.

Spacelab was a reusable laboratory used on certain spaceflights flown by the Space Shuttle. The
laboratory comprised multiple components, including a pressurized module, an unpressurized
carrier and other related hardware housed in the Shuttle's cargo bay. The components were
arranged in various configurations to meet the needs of each spaceflight.

Spacelab components flew on a total of 32 Shuttle missions. Spacelab allowed scientists to

perform experiments in microgravity in earth orbit. There was a lot of different hardware so a
distinction can be made between the major Spacelab program missions with European scientists
running missions in the Spacelab habitable module, missions running other Spacelab hardware
experiments, and other STS missions that used some component of Spacelab hardware. There is
somewhat of variation in counts of Spacelab missions, in part because there was different types
of Spacelab missions that have a large range in the amount hardware flown and nature of each
mission. There was at least 22 major Spacelab missions between 1983 and 1998. In addition,
some hardware like the used on a number other missions, and some of the Spacelab pallets were
flown as late as 2008.[1]