The main optical element of a refracting telescope is the objective lens. This lens collects and focuses light from distant objects, forming an image that can be magnified and observed through an eyepiece.
A reflector telescope collects light with a mirror. The mirror is located at the back of the telescope and reflects the incoming light to a focal point where it is then collected by an eyepiece for viewing.
Reflectors - the main two types being Newtonian and Cassegrainian.
A telescope design that has a hole in the center of the main mirror is called a "Cassegrain telescope." This design uses a secondary mirror to reflect the light back through the hole in the primary mirror to the eyepiece or sensor, allowing for a more compact design and longer focal length.
The sharpness of images in an optical telescope is often associated with its resolving power, which is determined by the size of the telescope's objective lens or mirror. A larger objective size allows the telescope to collect more light and resolve finer details in the observed objects.
The main optical element of a refracting telescope is the objective lens. This lens collects and focuses light from distant objects, forming an image that can be magnified and observed through an eyepiece.
A reflector telescope collects light with a mirror. The mirror is located at the back of the telescope and reflects the incoming light to a focal point where it is then collected by an eyepiece for viewing.
Basically, the catadioptric telescope is just one of the 3 main types of the optical telescopes.The other 2 main types of optical telescopes are the refracting telescopes and the reflecting telescopes.
The small mirror is a plane one reflecting a bundle of rays to the side of the main tube. That is a Newtonian reflector.
Generally instead of looking along the axis of the telescope as is done with a refractor sighting the object to view is more difficult since you view the eyepiece at right angles to the main axis of the reflector. The main way to overcome this is to make a hole in the centre of the mirror as is done in the Hubble telescope and view the image from behind the mirror. This is called a Cassegrain configuration.
The two types are refractor and reflector. In a refracting telescope, the light comes in THROUGH a magnifying LENS where it is REFRACTED (bent) to focus the light into an objective lens. In a reflecting telescope, the light BOUNCES OFF a curved magnifying MIRROR , and then reflected again on a secondary mirror to direct the light into an objective lens. Among the advantages of a reflecting telescope are that in a refracting lens, the thickness of the lens can absorb some of the light, while a mirror reflects all of the light. Additionally, a reflecting telescope can "fold" the telescope into a much more compact instrument, which is essential with especially large devices. A large refracting telescope would be enormously heavy and cumbersome.
Reflectors - the main two types being Newtonian and Cassegrainian.
The reflector of any 'dish' antenna ... whether a radio-telescope, a satellite TV antenna on the garage, a 'Big Ear' sound recording dish, or the main mirror of a reflecting optical telescope ... is a parabolic shape. The principle of the parabola is that anything entering it parallel to its axis gets focused to the same single point, called the "focus" of the parabola, and that's where the receiver, the microphone, or the eyepiece belongs. The exact location of the focus depends on the curvature of the individual reflector, so there's no one optimum location that applies to all of them.
It is the main light-gathering component, the main mirror of a reflector or the object-lens for a refractor. That determines the power of the telescope to gather light from dim objects and provide a clear image.
Optical telescopes are found through out the world. They have even been taken to space as in the Hubble Telescope. The Optical telescope is the main telescope used by amateur astronomers. They are used in Gardens through out the world. Professional optical telescopes are generally placed on the very top of mountings. This is to reduce the amount of distortion caused by the atmosphere. The Keck observatory for example is at an altitude of 4.2 km atop the summit of Mauna Kea on Hawaii.
A telescope design that has a hole in the center of the main mirror is called a "Cassegrain telescope." This design uses a secondary mirror to reflect the light back through the hole in the primary mirror to the eyepiece or sensor, allowing for a more compact design and longer focal length.
The sharpness of images in an optical telescope is often associated with its resolving power, which is determined by the size of the telescope's objective lens or mirror. A larger objective size allows the telescope to collect more light and resolve finer details in the observed objects.