Types of Telescopes

"Space the final frontier, where no one has gone before". This is one line that is itched into my memory. Whenever I look up to the dark black sky, sprinkled with many sparkling planets, I repeat this line. It is quite overwhelming to think about all the possibilities that go beyond the limit of our sky. There are many amateurs, who love spending their nights, exploring the sky and its sparkling members. As it is not possible to have a clear look with our naked eyes, we need to take the help of telescopes. A telescope helps magnify the images of distant objects and get us a detailed view. There are different types of telescopes that will help you carry out discoveries of far off stars. Let us take a quick look at them and how they work, in the following paragraphs.

Different Telescopes and their Working

There are three basic types of telescopes and how they work depends on their functioning principles. Each of them has a specific purpose. They help you view far-away celestial objects and also some electromagnetic radiation. Some telescopes used in astronomy include space telescopes that help scientists and astronomers study the sky. There are solar telescopes that help one look at the sun. One of the low-cost telescopes used by amateurs is the Dobsonian telescope. Let us have a look at some of the telescopes that capture light and also magnify images.

Optical Telescopes
The first and most commonly used telescopes are the optical telescopes. They tend to focus on the visible electromagnetic light spectrum. They capture light and other electromagnetic radiation with the help of one or more curved optical lenses or mirrors. There are three types of optical telescopes like:

• Refracting Telescopes: They use lens to gather light and bend them into a tube of the telescopes. The light bounces off the mirror at the opposite end of the tube and falls at the eyepiece for viewing. They are used to observe celestial as well as terrestrial objects.
• Reflector Telescopes: They are really large in size and use curved mirrors. There are two mirrors that reflect light and make the image appear inverted. They are used to view deep space objects.
• Cassegrain Telescopes: They are based on the combination principle of reflector and refractor telescopes. They use two mirrors and a folded optical path. These are portable and one can also use a computer to control them. They are used for viewing celestial and terrestrial objects as well as for astrophotography.

Radio Telescopes
Radio telescopes are those that are used for radio astronomy. These telescopes are made from dishes in groups or pairs. They are a type of directional radio antenna that tracks and collects information from the satellites and space probes. They work on the radio frequency portion of the electromagnetic spectrum.

X-Ray Telescopes
X-ray telescopes are those that are used to observe objects in the X-ray spectrum. They use mirrors and coded apertures to visualize images. The mirrors are made of heavy metals and are rotated on ellipse, parabola or hyperbola.

Gamma Ray Telescopes
These are also high energy telescopes like the X-ray telescopes. They are placed on satellites that orbit the earth or on high-flying balloons. The image formed by gamma ray telescopes is not like the image formed by telescopes using the visible wavelength.

High Energy Particle Telescopes
These are special types of telescopes used in astronomy. These telescopes do not use an optical system to form an image. They are made from special materials, as the high energy particles tend to go through most of the metals and glasses. These are high-end space telescopes used by few space observatories.

This was some information on the types of telescopes and how they work. Most of us tend to use the optical telescopes for observing celestial or terrestrial bodies. Moreover, money is one factor that you need to consider, when investing in a telescope. When you are planning to buy one, remember that more the capacity of the telescope to gather light, the better will be the image. Just find a beginner telescope that is right for you and enjoy the beauty of the world, beyond the boundaries of our blue sky.