WHAT IS THE TELESCOPE FOR? THE 3 MAIN USES - SCIENCE - 2025

The telescope is used to observe objects from a distance thanks to electromagnetic waves such as light. The term telescope comes from the Greek words tele and skopein, which mean "far" and "to see", respectively.

The first modern telescope prototype was invented in the Netherlands in 1608 and is attributed to Hans Lippershey.

A year later, the Italian Galileo Galilei developed the first refractor astronomical telescope that allowed him to observe the celestial bodies.

Thanks to this instrument, the Italian scientist discovered the Milky Way, four of Jupiter's satellites and studied the phases of Venus and Mars.

Many think that the main function of the telescope is to make objects appear larger thanks to a series of magnifying lenses. However, this conception is wrong.

In fact, the primary function of this instrument is to collect the light reflected by objects and reconstruct them into an image.

The main uses of the telescope

Telescopes can be used by both amateurs and professionals to observe celestial bodies from the earth's surface.

Obviously, the range of the professional instrument and the image produced by it will be greater than that of the beginner instruments.

Today many countries have research centers with observatories. They are spaces for the collection of data and the registration of certain events.

The most common observatories are astronomical ones. These have large telescopes with objectives that measure meters in diameter, making it possible to see objects at a great distance.

Some recognized observatories are the National and San Fernando Astronomical Observatory (located in Spain), the Mauna Kea (in Hawaii), the Roque de los Muchachos and Teide Observatory (in the Canary Islands), the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory and the from Cerro Pachón (in Chile).

2- Accurate data collection

In astronomy, telescopes are used as a means of data collection. This discipline uses both optical telescopes and radio telescopes.

The best-known optical telescope is the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). This instrument is in Earth orbit, outside the atmosphere at 593 kilometers above sea level.

This telescope represents a breakthrough as it can provide images free from atmospheric distortion and atmospheric turbulence.

Being in outer space, this instrument receives more light than it could collect on the Earth's surface since the atmosphere absorbs much of it.

Since its launch in 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope has been continuously improved through service missions.

There have been five of these missions, the objectives of which have been to repair damaged parts of the telescope and replace others with state-of-the-art technology. The last mission took place in 2009.

3- In the analysis of the image and the light

The collection of light by telescopes allows two types of analysis to be carried out: that of images and that of the spectrum of light.

Image development is one of the best-known functions of telescopes. The goal of this is the production of graphical representations of the objects that are being examined.

Traditional telescopes used cameras to collect these images. Modern telescopes no longer use photographic film but instead have built-in devices that are more efficient at collecting data.

These advances are beneficial for a number of reasons. For starters, the fact that the images are digital saves the process of developing the photos.

Added to this, the supplied images can be uploaded directly to a computer and analyzed more easily.

With regard to the study of the spectrum of light, there is a technique called astronomical spectroscopy. This technique is used to analyze the spectrum of electromagnetic radiation.

This type of analysis allows us to determine where the light waves come from. It also offers the tools to establish the chemical composition of the body that emits light.

Stellar telescopes are equipped with a prism placed on the objective that allows the light rays to be separated, facilitating their spectroscopic analysis.

Properties that allow the telescope to function

Telescopes have three fundamental properties: collecting light, producing an image, and magnifying the vision of objects.

Thanks to these three properties, telescopes can be used to observe bodies whose study would be more complicated (and even impossible) without the existence of this instrument.

1- Collect light

The telescope intervenes in the collection of light emitted or reflected by distant objects. For the collection of light, this instrument is based on the use of objectives that can be lenses (if it is a refractor telescope) or mirrors (if it is a reflector telescope).

The larger the lenses or mirrors used, the higher the quality of the image produced.

That is, both the details and the sharpness of the image observed through the telescope are directly dependent on the light-gathering ability of the lenses.

2- Produce an image

From the light collected by the telescope, an image can be formed that is the one observed through the lenses.

According to the quality of the telescope, the image formed will have a higher or lower resolution. That is, it will be more or less sharp.

3- Magnify the image that is observed of the objects

Many people consider that the main use of telescopes is to magnify objects. However, the primary use is the gathering of light.

For its part, magnification is a property that is useful when observing distant objects such as celestial bodies.

References

1. Definition, Function, and Telescope Parts. Retrieved on October 18, 2017, from scienceloverss.blogspot.com
2. Functions of a Telescope. Retrieved on October 18, 2017, from physics.byu.edu
3. Physic for Kids: Telescopes. Retrieved on October 18, 2017, from duckster.com
4. Purpose of a Telescope. Retrieved on October 18, 2017, from oneminuteastromer.com
5. Telescope. Retrieved on October 18, 2017, from wikipedia.org
6. Telescope facts, information and pictures. Retrieved on October 18, 2017, from encyclopedia.com
7. Telescopes. What is a Telescope? Retrieved on October 18, 2017, from neffj.peole.cofc.edu
8. What Are Optical Telescopes Used For? Retrieved on October 18, 2017, from sciencing.com
9. What are telescopes used for? Retrieved on October 18, 2017, from reference.com
10. What Do Telescopes Do? Retrieved on October 18, 2017, from umich.edu