Edwin Hubble's Telescope

One of the earliest and most utilized astronomical telescopes is the refracting telescope. Thanks to Galileo Galilei, the refracting telescope has been a very useful and prolific telescope in history of astronomy.

Now, let us put aside the discussion on the refracting telescope and instead talk about one of the most significant telescopes discovered in modern times - the Hubble telescope.

The Hubble telescope is appropriately named after the scientist Edwin Hubble, an astronomer who was able to determine that the universe is in a continuous process of expansion. This discovery about the expansion of the universe is a very important foundation of modern cosmology and astronomy, which ultimately gave reason for Hubble to be chosen for the honor of having the Hubble telescope named after him.

The Hubble permits star gazers and observers to look farther into the deep space than the previous astronomical telescopes. By moving over the Earth’s atmosphere, the Hubble telescope is able to observe space data much more vividly than if the observation is than from an Earth telescope. The Hubble Telescope is also able to look farther into the infrared and ultraviolet spectrums. With the observing platform moved farther to the open space, the Hubble telescope was afforded a clearer and better observation of the universe.

Newtonian and Cassegrain Types of Telescopes

If you are to think of a telescope, the one like the refracting telescope usually pops up first in your mind. Why so? Almost always anyone would think of the telescope is one with a long tube and lenses on both sides. That is how a refractor looks like. The refracting telescope is one of the simplest when it comes to design and form.

Still, it is not only the refracting telescope that is the most common of the scopes. There is also the reflecting telescope. There are two general types of reflecting telescopes: these are the Newtonian and the Cassegrain types.

The first type which is the Newtonian, has a simple design and it is popular to the stargazing amateurs who want to build their own telescopes. This telescope was created by scientist Isaac Newton and it was the first successful reflecting telescope.

The second type of reflecting telescope which is the Cassegrain telescope utilizes two mirrors to form the image. One mirror is found at the bottom of a tube, and the smaller mirror is on top of the tube facing it. The light passes through the top of the tube and focused by the bigger mirror, and then reflected by the smaller mirror. The Cassegrain telescope looks like a refracting telescope, although the two function differently.

Refracting Telescope: Simple Yet Powerful Stargazing Instrument

The refracting telescope has a very simple mechanism for an astronomical telescope and likewise has a simple external appearance that anyone would not seriously think of it as a very powerful telescope.

Yet anyone, from the astronomical enthusiasts and the stargazing hobbyists will use the refracting telescope in examining, probing and observing the night skies and marvel on the sharp and vivid space objects.

When using the refracting telescope, you will enjoy immensely far-away objects to which you train your refractor telescope at. Vividly you can enjoy the features of the moon such as its numerous craters, mountains and sea formations. Likewise, with your refractor, it can give you clear images of the planets in the solar system such as the Mars, Venus and Jupiter.

Besides being the simple astronomical telescope that it is, the refractor telescope also is very easy to set up, requires only a minimal maintenance, but should be kept in a safe place and be covered to keep it from getting the lens and eyepiece dirty with dust and oil.

Indeed, the refracting telescope is one of the simplest and yet very powerful instrument to probe the night skies.