Mathematics of Telescopes

1229 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: the invention of the telescope essay

Missing Figures

A Brief History of Telescopes

Although telescopes has been around for several hundreds of years, there has been great discrepancy as to who invented it first. Here is one authors opinion. Lippershey was a Dutch spectacle marker during the early 17th century (approximately 1600). He was one of the first who created the "looker" (now called telescope) by placing two pieces of lenses together. The discovery that placing lenses together can magnify images were made by children who took Lippershey's spectacles and looked at a distant church tower.

One of the most influential scientist associated with the telescope has to be Galileo. He took the design and reinvented the telescope into one of the first refractive telescopes we use to this day.

Galileo used this great invention to report astronomical facts such as the moon is cover with craters instead of being smooth, the Milky Way is composed of millions of stars, and Jupiter have four moons. Perhaps the most famous discovery is the Earth revolves around the Sun and the Earth is not the center of the universe (even though he was discredited at the time).

Newton was also involved with telescopes. After his growing interest with light bending, he applied his knowledge of the reflecting and refracting properties of light and invented the first reflective telescopes. Newton's reflective telescopes vastly improve the clarity of images as well as escaping from chromatic abberration. In order to fully understand the concepts and ideas of how a telescopes work, some knowledge of simple optics are required.

Some Simple Optics

Refraction

Refraction occurs when light travels from one medium crosses a boundary and enters another medium of different properties. For example, light traveling from air to water. The amount of refraction (or bending) can be calculated using Snell's Law.

Refractor

How Refractor Telescopes Work

The principle behind the refractive telescopes is the use of two glass lenses (objective lens and eyepiece lens) to gather and bend parallel light rays in a certain way so that the image fits the size of the eye's pupil. Light rays is gather through the opening of the telescope called the aperture and passes through the objective lens and refracts onto a single point called the focal point. From there the light rays continue the same direction until it hits the eyepiece lens which also refract the light back into parallel rays. During the process, the image that enters our eyes is actually reverse of the original image and magnified because the size in which we preceive the image.

Show More
Related

  • Research Paper On Leonardo Da Vinci's Notebooks

    1769 Words  | 4 Pages

    He constructed the reflecting telescope along with many architectural inventions and new concepts for traveling over water. He was among the first to dream up ways to see the stars and planets with the reflecting telescope. “In order to observe the nature of the planets, open the roof and bring the image of a single planet on the base of a concave mirror. The image of the planet reflected by the base will show the surface of the planet much magnified,” he stated (Shlain, 124). Using mirrors, he was able to make the reflecting telescope. The fact that Leonardo could make this discovery at such an early time was remarkable. The credit usually goes to Hans Lippershey for the creation of reflecting telescopes. He lived in 1608 about 100 years after Leonardo (Shlain, 124). In terms of architectural inventions, he was able to make many improvements. For instance, “Leonardo designed and greatly improved pontoon bridges, collapsible bridges, and swing bridges,” (Shlain, 127). “His most ambitious project was the bridge across the Bosphorous, designed for the Ottoman Empire,” (Shlain, 127). Although it is not commonly known, “He invented life preservers, webbed gloves, and the snorkel to improve the performance and safety of swimmers,” (Shlain, 127-128). Not only that but he also designed the diving suit, mask, and even ideas for a submarine (Shlain, 127-128). He had a remarkable talent for seeing the

    Read More

  • Hale Teescope Research Paper

    2180 Words  | 5 Pages

    Who has not ever, even if just for a brief moment, looked up at a dark but vividly lit starry night sky and wondered how far those seemingly little lights reach, and if that beauty goes on forever, or if it ends at some point. I believe this question has been pondered by mankind since our creation, and early astronomers are proof of this pondering. Telescopes began as a way for these early astronomers to chart the stars and planets and their movements as they searched for more than what just the naked eye could offer them. In the early 17th century, craftsman began making telescopes, though the tools to invent them had been available for centuries before. Early telescope were called spyglasses and needed improvement. Galileo's Optic Tube, also known as the Galilean telescope is an example of the early creation of refracting telescopes. There were a few different makers and models of refractor telescopes but it was soon discovered they could make a better telescope. With the beginning of the 18th century came the reflecting telescope, which is also called a reflector; an optical telescope that uses either a single curved mirror, or a combination of curved mirrors. There are many types reflecting telescopes: there is the Gregorian telescope, the Cassegrain telescope, and the Ritchey–Chrétien telescope. But today, we are going to be talking about one telescope in particular; "the 200 inch Hale Telescope, which for decades stood as the largest telescope on the planet"(1), from 1948 to 1976. The Hale telescope opened up the skies in ways we never imagined.

    Read More

  • What Drives History?

    695 Words  | 2 Pages

    Another important individual who drove history was the Italian astronomer and scientist Galileo Galilei. Galileo discovered something so important that it changed the selfish perspective that humans were the center of the universe and led to the growth of human knowledge. Utilizing mathematics and a telescope he had developed, Galileo observed that the planets revolved around the sun and not the Earth. This was a significant discovery because not only did it contradict what the church had taught, it also showed that the universe was not what it seemed. With this truth uncovered, many people began to fascinate over the universe. This triggered people to begin studying space extensively and eventually lead to present day space exploration. Galileo also left a lasting impression upon many great minds, such as Sir Isaac Newton, who used Galileo's research and theories to further his own studies such as the physical laws, and their properties.

    Read More

  • How Did Galileo Contribute To The Scientific Revolution

    1856 Words  | 4 Pages

    The discoveries he proved adjusting the European’s views about the planets and the universe. He completely changed everyone’s beliefs and proved many theories wrong, including the geocentric theory and the Ptolemaic theory. These discoveries paved the way for European scientists that studied him to understand the universe and go explore new ideas. Galileo also brought up the topic of an invisible universe and raised questions about why are there things in space that cannot be seen with the naked eye. He challenged the churches beliefs in heaven and how we get there. This challenged people to find the truth on their own, rather than believing what has already been discovered. Galileo started getting people to question what you couldn’t see, and that was his major achievement. He invented scientific tools that helped speed up the process for discoveries among the skies. There may have been another scientist who would have eventually made the same telescope that Galileo did and discovered what he did, but Galileo did it sooner. Galileo made many inventions, but his most influential invention was imagination. He began challenging people to try to imagine the impossible. Galileo was not someone who wanted to be the best philosopher influence, but rather did something he enjoyed. Galileo is an important role in the Scientific Revolution and without him, Europe may not have gotten as advanced scientifically as it

    Read More

  • Galileo Galilei

    1246 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... current views. His research and interest to solve theoretical and scientific problems launched his success, making him one of the most renowned scientists of all time. His discoveries and theories, although at the time were thought of as unorthodox, proved to be most meaningful to modern science today. Galileo is not only dubbed as the "father of modern science", but truly was the founder of most theological and scientific methods used today.

    Read More

  • What Is Galileo In Jail

    506 Words  | 2 Pages

    Galileo finally made the discovery that changed the world. He was able to prove the copernican theory by taking a chance and pointing the

    Read More

  • Convex Lenses Research Paper

    265 Words  | 1 Pages

    I will be talking about how images in a convex lens in a magnifying glass are affected by focal length. Concave lenses always produce virtual images because refracted rays do not intersecct. Images being reflected might change size depending on the material it is being reflected on. In some reflections it is common for an object to be reflected upside down because f the effect the material gives.

    Read More

  • The Influence of Galileo’s Scientific and Mathematical Discoveries

    1437 Words  | 3 Pages

    What would the world be like without the knowledge of the solar system? No one would land on the moon and no research would go into the effects of the sun’s gravity on the earth. Also, what would happen if Galileo never studied the laws of moving objects or their mathematical effects? Many of the advanced technologies of today are contingent on this fact. Galileo Galilei was an astronomer, physicist and mathematician who was influential because of the complex discoveries that he made and the knowledge he bequeathed to the modern world. He was one of the key figures in providing information to the scientific revolution and was important during the Renaissance. Also, he contributed to physics, mathematics and astronomy because of the discoveries he proved through extensive experimenting. Many would consider this great man to be very important in the studies he pursued. This is why he is listed as number twelve in Michael Hart’s book The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History.

    Read More

  • Galileo's Beliefs

    742 Words  | 2 Pages

    Galileo made many discoveries, some of which were a major breakthrough in science and history. He discovered there are mountains and craters on the moon, four moons revolving around Jupiter, the phases

    Read More

  • Galileo Galilei Research Paper

    580 Words  | 2 Pages

    Galileo's most important scientific contributions were in the field of physics. Using the telescope, Galileo discovered the mountains on the moon, the spots on the sun, and four moons of Jupiter. His discoveries provided the evidence to support the theory that the earth and other planets revolved around the sun.

    Read More

  • The Historic Hubble

    1058 Words  | 3 Pages

    As the Hubble telescope’s life comes to a historic end, we look back at all it has done for the scientific community. The Hubble has helped scientists make many new discoveries about our universe. Galileo Galilei and Edwin Hubble were huge contributes to the astronomical community, therefore a major help in transforming the first telescope into something as amazing as the Hubble. The first telescope was perfected by Galileo in 1609, and around four hundred years later the Hubble was launched into space. Since then the Hubble has shown scientists many new discoveries about space that they would have never been able to figure out without the Hubble’s help. Since April 1990 the Hubble telescope has been greatly appreciated by the scientific community because of everything it has done. However, the Hubble has faced many problems along its way as well.

    Read More

  • The Hubble Telescope

    972 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Hubble Telescope is the world’s first space-based optical telescope. The Hubble telescope received its name from American astronomer Dr. Edwin P. Hubble. Dr. Hubble confirmed an ever expanding universe which provided the basic foundation of the Big Bang theory. The first concept of the Hubble telescope came from Lyman Spitzer in 1946 who at that time was a professor and researcher at Yale University, Professor Spitzer believed that Earth’s atmosphere blurs and distorts light and a space orbited telescope would be able to surpass this problem. He spent nearly all of his life dedicated to making this concept into a reality. (http://hubblesite.org/the_telescope/hubble_essentials/)

    Read More

  • Galileo Galilei

    750 Words  | 2 Pages

    In 1609 the telescope was invented and Galileo began making his own lenses for better telescopes and then started looking at the sky. In December and January (1609-1610) it is said that he made more discoveries that changed the world that anyone has made before or since. He wrote a book called the “Starry Messenger”, and said that there were mountains on the moon, the Milky Way was made up of many stars, and there were small bodies in orbit around Jupiter. He used his mathematical skills to calculate the motions of these bodies around Jupiter. In 1610 he started looking at Saturn and discovered the rings, and the phases of Saturn (just like our moon’s phases).

    Read More

  • Physics Of Telescopes: An Introduction To Refracting Telescopes

    1806 Words  | 4 Pages

    The refracting telescope is one of many different types of telescope. Refracting telescopes work by refracting the light through an initial convex lens, (known as the objective lens), then through another convex lens (known as the eyepiece lens). These two lenses focus the light into the eyepiece so we can see the image clearly.

    Read More

  • An Essay On The Telescope

    702 Words  | 2 Pages

    The earliest known telescope was created by Hans Lippershey in 1608. Others have claimed to have made the discovery of telescope but according to documents, he is the earliest who has applied for the patent. The telescope had an convex objective lens and a concave eyepiece.

    Read More

More about Mathematics of Telescopes

Open Document