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TELESCOPE

The 100 inch (2.54 m) Hooker reflecting telescope at Mount


Wilson Observatory near Los Angeles, USA.
Telescopes are optical instruments that make distant objects
appear magnified by using an arrangement of lenses or
curved mirrors and lenses, or various devices used to observe
distant objects by their emission, absorption, or reflection of
electromagnetic radiation. The first known practical
telescopes were refracting telescopes invented in
the Netherlands at the beginning of the 17th century, by
using glass lenses. They found use in both terrestrial
applications and astronomy.
The reflecting telescope, which uses mirrors to collect and
focus light, was invented within a few decades of the first
refracting telescope. In the 20th century, many new types of
telescopes were invented, including radio telescopes in the
1930s and infrared telescopes in the 1960s.
HISTORY
The earliest existing record of a telescope was a
1608 patent submitted to the government in
the Netherlands by Middelburg spectacle maker Hans
Lippershey for a refracting telescope. The actual inventor is
unknown but word of it spread through
Europe. Galileo heard about it and, in 1609, built his own
version, and made his telescopic observations of celestial
objects.
The idea that the objective, or light-gathering element, could
be a mirror instead of a lens was being investigated soon
after the invention of the refracting telescope The potential
advantages of using parabolic mirrors—reduction
of spherical aberration and no chromatic aberration—led to
many proposed designs and several attempts to
build reflecting telescopes. In 1668, Isaac Newton built the
first practical reflecting telescope, of a design which now
bears his name, the Newtonian reflector.
The invention of the achromatic lens in 1733 partially
corrected color aberrations present in the simple lens and
enabled the construction of shorter, more functional
refracting telescopes. Reflecting telescopes, though not
limited by the color problems seen in refractors, were
hampered by the use of fast tarnishing speculum
metal mirrors employed during the 18th and early 19th
century—a problem alleviated by the introduction of silver
coated glass mirrors in 1857 and aluminized mirrors in 1932
The maximum physical size limit for refracting telescopes is
about 1 meter (40 inches), dictating that the vast majority of
large optical researching telescopes built since the turn of the
20th century have been reflectors.
TYPES OF REFLECTING TELESCOPE

The primary mirror assembly of James Webb Space


Telescope under construction. This is a segmented
mirror and its coated with Gold to reflect (orange-red)
visible light, through near-infrared to the mid-infrared
The name "telescope" covers a wide range of instruments.
Most detect electromagnetic radiation, but there are major
differences in how astronomers must go about collecting
light (electromagnetic radiation) in different frequency
bands.
Telescopes may be classified by the wavelengths of light they
detect:

 X-ray telescopes, using shorter wavelengths than


ultraviolet light
 Ultraviolet telescopes, using shorter wavelengths
than visible light
 Optical telescopes, using visible light
 Infrared telescopes, using longer wavelengths than
visible light
 Submillimetre telescopes, using longer
wavelengths than infrared light
 Fresnel Imager, an optical lens technology
 X-ray optics, optics for certain X-ray wavelengths
As wavelengths become longer, it becomes easier to use
antenna technology to interact with electromagnetic
radiation (although it is possible to make very tiny antenna).
The near-infrared can be collected much like visible light,
however in the far-infrared and submillimetre range,
telescopes can operate more like a radio telescope. For
example, the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope observes from
wavelengths from 3 μm (0.003 mm) to 2000 μm (2 mm), but
uses a parabolic aluminum antenna.
Reflecting telescope

24 inch convertible Newtonian/Cassegrain reflecting


telescope on display at the Franklin Institute
A reflecting telescope (also called a reflector) is
a telescope that uses a single or a combination of curved
mirrors that reflect light and form an image. The reflecting
telescope was invented in the 17th century, by Isaac Newton,
as an alternative to the refracting telescope which, at that
time, was a design that suffered from severe chromatic
aberration. Although reflecting telescopes produce other
types of optical aberrations, it is a design that allows for very
large diameter objectives. Almost all of the major telescopes
used in astronomy research are reflectors. Reflecting
telescopes come in many design variations and may employ
extra optical elements to improve image quality or place the
image in a mechanically advantageous position. Since
reflecting telescopes use mirrors, the design is sometimes
referred to as a "catoptric" telescope.
On the other hand, the Spitzer Space Telescope, observing
from about 3 μm (0.003 mm) to 180 μm (0.18 mm) uses a
mirror (reflecting optics). Also using reflecting optics,
the Hubble Space Telescope with Wide Field Camera 3 can
observe in the frequency range from about 0.2 μm
(0.0002 mm) to 1.7 μm (0.0017 mm) (from ultra-violet to
infrared light).
With photons of the shorter wavelengths, with the higher
frequencies, glancing-incident optics, rather than fully
reflecting optics are used. Telescopes such
as TRACE and SOHO use special mirrors to reflect Extreme
ultraviolet, producing higher resolution and brighter images
than are otherwise possible. A larger aperture does not just
mean that more light is collected, it also enables a finer
angular resolution.

Telescopes may also be classified by location: ground


telescope, space telescope, or flying telescope. They may also
be classified by whether they are operated by professional
astronomers or amateur astronomers. A vehicle or
permanent campus containing one or more telescopes or
other instruments is called an observatory.
OPTICAL TELESCOPES

An optical telescope gathers and focuses light mainly from


the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum (although
some work in the infrared and ultraviolet).[13]Optical
telescopes increase the apparent angular size of distant
objects as well as their apparent brightness.
In order for the image to be observed, photographed,
studied, and sent to a computer, telescopes work by
employing one or more curved optical elements, usually
made from glass lenses and/or mirrors, to gather light and
other electromagnetic radiation to bring that light or
radiation to a focal point. Optical telescopes are used
for astronomy and in many non-astronomical instruments,
including: theodolites (including transits), spotting
scopes, monoculars, binoculars, camera lenses,
and spyglasses. There are three main optical types:
 The refracting telescope which uses lenses to form an
image.
 The reflecting telescope which uses an arrangement of
mirrors to form an image.
 The catadioptric telescope which uses mirrors combined
with lenses to form an image.
Beyond these basic optical types there are many sub-types of
varying optical design classified by the task they perform
such as astrographs, comet seekers and solar telescopes.
TECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Gran Telescopio Canarias


A curved primary mirror is the reflector telescope's basic
optical element that creates an image at the focal plane. The
distance from the mirror to the focal plane is called the focal
length. Film or a digital sensor may be located here to record
the image, or a secondary mirror may be added to modify the
optical characteristics and/or redirect the light to film,
digital sensors, or an eyepiece for visual observation.
The primary mirror in most modern telescopes is composed
of a solid glass cylinder whose front surface has been ground
to a spherical or parabolicshape. A thin layer
of aluminum is vacuum deposited onto the mirror, forming a
highly reflective first surface mirror.
Some telescopes use primary mirrors which are made
differently. Molten glass is rotated to make its surface
paraboloidal, and is kept rotating while it cools and solidifies.
(See Rotating furnace.) The resulting mirror shape
approximates a desired paraboloid shape that requires
minimal grinding and polishing to reach the exact figure
needed.
OPTICAL ERRORS
Reflecting telescopes, just like any other optical system, do
not produce "perfect" images. The need to image objects at
distances up to infinity, view them at different wavelengths
of light, along with the requirement to have some way to
view the image the primary mirror produces, means there is
always some compromise in a reflecting telescope's optical
design.

An image of Sirius A and Sirius B by the Hubble Space


Telescope showing diffraction spikes and concentric
diffraction rings.
Because the primary mirror focuses light to a common point
in front of its own reflecting surface almost all reflecting
telescope designs have a secondary mirror, film holder, or
detector near that focal point partially obstructing the light
from reaching the primary mirror. Not only does this cause
some reduction in the amount of light the system collects, it
also causes a loss in contrast in the image due
to diffraction effects of the obstruction as well as diffraction
spikes caused by most secondary support structures.
The use of mirrors avoids chromatic aberration but they
produce other types of aberrations. A simple spherical
mirror cannot bring light from a distant object to a common
focus since the reflection of light rays striking the mirror
near its edge do not converge with those that reflect from
nearer the center of the mirror, a defect called spherical
aberration. To avoid this problem most reflecting telescopes
use parabolic shaped mirrors, a shape that can focus all the
light to a common focus. Parabolic mirrors work well with
objects near the center of the image they produce, (light
traveling parallel to the mirror's optical axis), but towards
the edge of that same field of view they suffer from off axis
aberrations:
GREGORIAN TELESCOPE

Light path in a Gregorian telescope.


The Gregorian telescope, described by Scottishastronomer
and mathematician James Gregory in his 1663 book Optica
Promota, employs a concave secondary mirror that reflects
the image back through a hole in the primary mirror. This
produces an upright image, useful for terrestrial
observations. Some small spotting scopes are still built this
way. There are several large modern telescopes that use a
Gregorian configuration such as the Vatican Advanced
Technology Telescope, the Magellan telescopes, the Large
Binocular Telescope, and the Giant Magellan Telescope.
NEWTONIAN TELESCOPE

Light path in a Newtonian telescope.


The Newtonian telescope was the first successful reflecting
telescope, completed by Isaac Newtonin 1668. It usually has
a paraboloid primary mirror but at focal ratios of f/8 or
longer a spherical primary mirror can be sufficient for high
visual resolution. A flat secondary mirror reflects the light to
a focal plane at the side of the top of the telescope tube. It is
one of the simplest and least expensive designs for a given
size of primary, and is popular with amateur telescope
makers as a home-build project.
It consists of a large concave mirror of large focal
length,made of an alloy copper and tin.
Working- A beam of light from the distant star is incident
on the objective.before the rays are focused at F,a plane
mirror inclined at 45⁰ intercepts them and turns them towards
an eyepiece adjusted perpendicular to the axis of the
instrument.The eyepiece forms a highly magnified,virtual and
erect image of the distant object.
The Cassegrain design and its variations

Light path in a Cassegrain telescope.

The Cassegrain telescope(sometimes called the "Classic


Cassegrain") was first published in a 1672 design attributed
to Laurent Cassegrain. It has a parabolic primary mirror, and
a hyperbolic secondary mirror that reflects the light back
down through a hole in the primary. Folding and diverging
effect of the secondary creates a telescope with a long focal
length while having a short tube length.

Ritchey–Chrétien telescope
The Ritchey–Chrétien telescope, invented by George Willis
Ritchey and Henri Chrétien in the early 1910s, is a
specialized Cassegrain reflector which has two hyperbolic
mirrors (instead of a parabolic primary). It is free of coma and
spherical aberration at a nearly flat focal plane if the primary
and secondary curvature are properly figured, making it well
suited for wide field and photographic observations. Almost
every professional reflector telescope in the world is of the
Ritchey–Chrétien design.
Dall–Kirkham cassegrain telescope
The Dall–Kirkham Cassegrain telescope's design was created
by Horace Dall in 1928 and took on the name in an article
published in Scientific American in 1930 following discussion
between amateur astronomer Allan Kirkham and Albert G.
Ingalls, the magazine editor at the time. It uses a
concave elliptical primary mirror and a
convex spherical secondary. While this system is easier to
grind than a classic Cassegrain or Ritchey–Chrétien system,
it does not correct for off-axis coma. Field curvature is
actually less than a classical Cassegrain. Because this is less
noticeable at longer focal ratios, Dall–Kirkhams are seldom
faster than f/15. Takahashi Mewlon telescopes are Dall-
Kirkham instruments with f/12 and are highly regarded.
They require a corrector for wide field applications.
There are several designs that try to avoid obstructing the
incoming light by eliminating the secondary or moving any
secondary element off the primary mirror's optical axis,
commonly called off-axis optical systems.
Herschelien telescope

The Herschelian reflector is named after William Herschel,


who used this design to build very large telescopes including
a 49.5 inch (126 cm) diameter telescope in 1789. In the
Herschelian reflector the primary mirror is tilted so the
observer's head does not block the incoming light. Although
this introduces geometrical aberrations, Herschel employed
this design to avoid the use of a Newtonian secondary mirror
since the speculum metal mirrors of that
time tarnished quickly and could only achieve 60%
reflectivity.

Schiefspiegler telescope
A variant of the Cassegrain, the Schiefspiegler telescope
("skewed" or "oblique reflector") uses tilted mirrors to avoid
the secondary mirror casting a shadow on the primary.
However, while eliminating diffraction patterns this leads to
an increase in coma and astigmatism. These defects become
manageable at large focal ratios — most Schiefspieglers use
f/15 or longer, which tends to restrict useful observation to
the moon and planets. A number of variations are common,
with varying numbers of mirrors of different types. The
Kutter (named after its inventor Anton Kutter) style uses a
single concave primary, a convex secondary and a plano-
convex lens between the secondary mirror and the focal
plane, when needed (this is the case of the catadioptric
Schiefspiegler). One variation of a multi-schiefspiegler uses a
concave primary, convex secondary and a parabolic tertiary.
One of the interesting aspects of some Schiefspieglers is that
one of the mirrors can be involved in the light path twice —
each light path reflects along a different meridional path.

Stevick-Paul telescope
Stevick-Paul telescopesare off-axis versions of Paul 3-mirror
systems with an added flat diagonal mirror. A convex
secondary mirror is placed just to the side of the light
entering the telescope, and positioned afocally so as to send
parallel light on to the tertiary. The concave tertiary mirror
is positioned exactly twice as far to the side of the entering
beam as was the convex secondary, and its own radius of
curvature distant from the secondary. Because the tertiary
mirror receives parallel light from the secondary, it forms an
image at its focus. The focal plane lies within the system of
mirrors, but is accessible to the eye with the inclusion of a
flat diagonal.

YOLO TELESCOPE
The Yolo was developed by Arthur S. Leonard in the mid-
1960s. Like the Schiefspiegler, it is an unobstructed, tilted
reflector telescope. The original Yolo consists of a primary
and secondary concave mirror, with the same curvature, and
the same tilt to the main axis. Most Yolos use toroidal
reflectors. The Yolo design eliminates coma, but leaves
significant astigmatism, which is reduced by deformation of
the secondary mirror by some form of warping harness, or
alternatively, polishing a toroidal figure into the secondary.
Like Schiefspieglers, many Yolo variations have been
pursued. The needed amount of toroidal shape can be
transferred entirely or partially to the primary mirror. In
large focal ratios optical assemblies, both primary and
secondary mirror can be left spherical and a spectacle
correcting lens is added between the secondary mirror and
the focal plane (catadioptric Yolo). The addition of a convex,
long focus tertiary mirror leads to
Leonard's Solano configuration. The Solano telescope doesn't
contain any toric surfaces.

Liquid mirror telescopes


One design of telescope uses a rotating mirror consisting of a
liquid metal in a tray which is spun at constant speed. As the
tray spins the liquid forms a paraboloidal surface of
essentially unlimited size. This allows for very big telescope
mirrors (over 6 metres), but unfortunately they cannot be
steered, as they always point vertically.

In a prime focus design no secondary optics are used, the


image is accessed at the focal point of the primary mirror. At
the focal point is some type of structure for holding a film
plate or electronic detector. In the past, in very large
telescopes, an observer would sit inside the telescope in an
"observing cage" to directly view the image or operate a
camera. Nowadays CCD cameras allow for remote operation
of the telescope from almost anywhere in the world. The
space available at prime focus is severely limited by the need
to avoid obstructing the incoming light.
Cassegrain focus

Cassegrain design
For telescopes built to the Cassegrain design or other related
designs, the image is formed behind the primary mirror, at
the focal point of the secondary mirror. An observer views
through the rear of the telescope, or a camera or other
instrument is mounted on the rear. Cassegrain focus is
commonly used for amateur telescopes or smaller research
telescopes. However, for large telescopes with
correspondingly large instruments, an instrument at
Cassegrain focus must move with the telescope as it slews;
this places additional requirements on the strength of the
instrument support structure, and potentially limits the
movement of the telescope in order to avoid collision with
obstacles such as walls or equipment inside the observatory.

Applications of Cassegrain Telescopes


Given below are some of the main applications of Cassegrain
telescopes:

 In astronomical observatories
 Photographic observations
Nasmyth and coudé focus

Nasmyth/coudé light path.

Nasmyth telescope
The Nasmyth design is similar to the Cassegrain except the
light is not directed through a hole in the primary mirror;
instead, a third mirror reflects the light to the side of the
telescope to allow for the mounting of heavy instruments.
This is a very common design in large research telescopes.
coude
Adding further optics to a Nasmyth-style telescope to deliver
the light (usually through the declination axis) to a fixed
focus point that does not move as the telescope is reoriented
gives a coudé focus (from the French word for elbow). The
coudé focus gives a narrower field of view than a Nasmyth
focus and is used with very heavy instruments that do not
need a wide field of view. One such application is high-
resolution spectrographs that have large collimating mirrors
(ideally with the same diameter as the telescope's primary
mirror) and very long focal lengths. Such instruments could
not withstand being moved, and adding mirrors to the light
path to form a coudé train, diverting the light to a fixed
position to such an instrument housed on or below the
observing floor (and usually built as an unmoving integral
part of the observatory building) was the only option.
The 60-inch Hale telescope (1.5 m), Hooker Telescope, 200-
inch Hale Telescope, Shane Telescope, and Harlan J. Smith
Telescopeall were built with coudé foci instrumentation. The
development of echelle spectrometers allowed high-
resolution spectroscopy with a much more compact
instrument, one which can sometimes be successfully
mounted on the Cassegrain focus. Since inexpensive and
adequately stable computer-controlled alt-az telescope
mounts were developed in the 1980s, the Nasmyth design
has generally supplanted the coudé focus for large telescopes.
Hubble space telescope
The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is a space
telescopethat was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and
remains in operation. Although not the first space telescope,
Hubble is one of the largest and most versatile and is well
known as both a vital research tool and a public relations
boon for astronomy. The HST is named after
the astronomer Edwin Hubble and is one of NASA's Great
Observatories, along with the Compton Gamma Ray
Observatory, the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Spitzer
Space Telescope.
With a 2.4-meter (7.9 ft) mirror, Hubble's four main
instruments observe in the near ultraviolet, visible, and near
infrared spectra. Hubble's orbit outside the distortion
of Earth's atmosphere allows it to take extremely high-
resolution images, with substantially lower background light
than ground-based telescopes. Hubble has recorded some of
the most detailed visible light images ever, allowing a deep
view into space and time. Many Hubble observations have
led to breakthroughs in astrophysics, such as
accurately determining the rate of expansion of the universe.
The HST was built by the United States space
agency NASA, with contributions from the European Space
Agency. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)
selects Hubble's targets and processes the resulting data,
while the Goddard Space Flight Center controls the
spacecraft.[7]
Space telescopes were proposed as early as 1923. Hubble was
funded in the 1970s, with a proposed launch in 1983, but the
project was beset by technical delays, budget problems, and
the Challenger disaster (1986). When finally launched in
1990, Hubble's main mirror was found to have spherical
aberration, compromising the telescope's capabilities. The
optics were corrected to their intended quality by a servicing
mission in 1993.
Hubble is the only telescope designed to be serviced in space
by astronauts. After launch by Space ShuttleDiscovery in
1990, five subsequent Space Shuttle missions repaired,
upgraded, and replaced systems on the telescope, including
all five of the main instruments. The fifth mission was
initially canceled on safety grounds following
the Columbia disaster (2003). However, after spirited public
discussion, NASA administrator Mike Griffin approved
the fifth servicing mission, completed in 2009. The telescope
is operating as of 2018, and could last until 2030–2040. After
numerous delays, its successor, the James Webb Space
Telescope (JWST), is currently scheduled to be launched in
March 2021.
Construction and engineering
Once the Space Telescope project had been given the go-
ahead, work on the program was divided among many
institutions. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) was
given responsibility for the design, development, and
construction of the telescope, while Goddard Space Flight
Center was given overall control of the scientific instruments
and ground-control center for the mission. MSFC
commissioned the optics company Perkin-Elmer to design
and build the Optical Telescope Assembly (OTA) and Fine
Guidance Sensors for the space telescope. Lockheed was
commissioned to construct and integrate the spacecraft in
which the telescope would be housed.

Spacecraft systems
The spacecraft in which the telescope and instruments were
to be housed was another major engineering challenge. It
would have to withstand frequent passages from direct
sunlight into the darkness of Earth's shadow, which would
cause major changes in temperature, while being stable
enough to allow extremely accurate pointing of the telescope.
A shroud of multi-layer insulation keeps the temperature
within the telescope stable and surrounds a light aluminum
shell in which the telescope and instruments sit. Within the
shell, a graphite-epoxy frame keeps the working parts of the
telescope firmly aligned. Because graphite composites
are hygroscopic, there was a risk that water vapor absorbed
by the truss while in Lockheed's clean room would later be
expressed in the vacuum of space; resulting in the telescope's
instruments being covered by ice. To reduce that risk, a
nitrogen gas purge was performed before launching the
telescope into space.
While construction of the spacecraft in which the telescope
and instruments would be housed proceeded somewhat more
smoothly than the construction of the OTA, Lockheed still
experienced some budget and schedule slippage, and by the
summer of 1985, construction of the spacecraft was 30% over
budget and three months behind schedule. An MSFC report
said that Lockheed tended to rely on NASA directions rather
than take their own initiative in the construction.

Computer systems and data processing


The two initial, primary computers on the HST were the
1.25 MHz DF-224system, built by Rockwell Autonetics,
which contained three redundant CPUs, and two
redundant NSSC-1 (NASA Standard Spacecraft Computer,
Model 1) systems, developed by Westinghouse and GSFC
using diode–transistor logic (DTL). A co-processor for the
DF-224 was added during Servicing Mission 1 in 1993,
which consisted of two redundant strings of an Intel-based
80386 processor with an 80387 math co-processor. The DF-
224 and its 386 co-processor were replaced by a 25 MHz
Intel-based 80486 processor system during Servicing
Mission 3A in 1999.
Additionally, some of the science instruments and
components had their own embedded microprocessor-based
control systems. The MATs (Multiple Access Transponder)
components, MAT-1 and MAT-2, utilize Hughes Aircraft
CDP1802CD microprocessors.The Wide Field and Planetary
Camera (WFPC) also utilized an RCA 1802 microprocessor
(or possibly the older 1801 version). The WFPC-1 was
replaced by the WFPC-2 during Servicing Mission 1 in 1993,
which was then replaced by the Wide Field Camera 3
(WFC3) during Servicing Mission 4 in 2009.

Initial instruments
When launched, the HST carried five scientific instruments:
the Wide Field and Planetary Camera (WF/PC), Goddard
High Resolution Spectrograph (GHRS), High Speed
Photometer (HSP), Faint Object Camera (FOC) and the
Faint Object Spectrograph (FOS). WF/PC was a high-
resolution imaging device primarily intended for optical
observations. It was built by NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, and incorporated a set of
48 filters isolating spectral lines of particular astrophysical
interest. The instrument contained eight charge-coupled
device (CCD) chips divided between two cameras, each using
four CCDs. Each CCD has a resolution of 0.64 megapixels.
The "wide field camera" (WFC) covered a large angular field
at the expense of resolution, while the "planetary camera"
(PC) took images at a longer effective focal lengththan the
WF chips, giving it a greater magnification. The GHRS was
a spectrograph designed to operate in the ultraviolet. It was
built by the Goddard Space Flight Center and could achieve
a spectral resolution of 90,000.
Also optimized for ultraviolet observations were the FOC
and FOS, which were capable of the highest spatial
resolution of any instruments on Hubble. Rather than CCDs
these three instruments used photon-counting digicons as
their detectors. The FOC was constructed by ESA, while
the University of California, San Diego, and Martin Marietta
Corporation built the FOS.
The final instrument was the HSP, designed and built at
the University of Wisconsin–Madison. It was optimized for
visible and ultraviolet light observations of variable stars and
other astronomical objects varying in brightness. It could
take up to 100,000 measurements per second with
a photometric accuracy of about 2% or better.
HST's guidance system can also be used as a scientific
instrument. Its three Fine Guidance Sensors (FGS) are
primarily used to keep the telescope accurately pointed
during an observation, but can also be used to carry out
extremely accurate astrometry; measurements accurate to
within 0.0003 arcseconds have been achieved.
Important discoveries

Hubble's STIS UV and ACS visible light are combined to reveal Saturn's southern aurora.

Hubble has helped resolve some long-standing problems in


astronomy, while also raising new questions. Some results
have required new theories to explain them. Among its
primary mission targets was to measure distances to Cepheid
variable stars more accurately than ever before, and
thus constrain the value of the Hubble constant, the measure
of the rate at which the universe is expanding, which is also
related to its age. Before the launch of HST, estimates of the
Hubble constant typically had errors of up to 50%, but
Hubble measurements of Cepheid variables in the Virgo
Cluster and other distant galaxy clusters provided a
measured value with an accuracy of ±10%, which is
consistent with other more accurate measurements made
since Hubble's launch using other techniques. The estimated
age is now about 13.7 billion years, but before the Hubble
Telescope scientists predicted an age ranging from 10 to
20 billion years.
While Hubble helped to refine estimates of the age of the
universe, it also cast doubt on theories about its future.
Astronomers from the High-z Supernova Search Team and
the Supernova Cosmology Project used ground-based
telescopes and HST to observe distant supernovae and
uncovered evidence that, far from decelerating under the
influence of gravity, the expansion of the universe may in fact
be accelerating. Three members of these two groups have
subsequently been awarded Nobel Prizes for their
discovery. The cause of this acceleration remains poorly
understood; the most common cause attributed is dark
energy.

Brown spots mark Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 impact sites


on Jupiter's southern hemisphere. Imaged by Hubble.

Hubble Extreme Deep Field image of space in the


constellation Fornax
A unique window on the Universe enabled by Hubble are
the Hubble Deep Field, Hubble Ultra-Deep Field,
and Hubble Extreme Deep Fieldimages, which used Hubble's
unmatched sensitivity at visible wavelengths to create
images of small patches of sky that are the deepest ever
obtained at optical wavelengths. The images reveal galaxies
billions of light years away, and have generated a wealth of
scientific papers, providing a new window on the early
Universe. The Wide Field Camera 3 improved the view of
these fields in the infrared and ultraviolet, supporting the
discovery of some of the most distant objects yet discovered,
such as MACS0647-JD.
The non-standard object SCP 06F6 was discovered by the
Hubble Space Telescope in February 2006. During June and
July 2012, US astronomers using Hubble discovered a tiny
fifth moon moving around icy Pluto. In March 2015,
researchers announced that measurements of aurorae
around Ganymede revealed that the moon has a subsurface
ocean. Using Hubble to study the motion of its aurorae, the
researchers determined that a large saltwater ocean was
helping to suppress the interaction between Jupiter's
magnetic field and that of Ganymede. The ocean is estimated
to be 100 km (60 mi) deep, trapped beneath a 150 km (90 mi)
ice crust.

Hubble and ALMA image of MACS J1149.5+2223.


On December 11, 2015, Hubble captured an image of the
first-ever predicted reappearance of a supernova, dubbed
"Refsdal", which was calculated using different mass models
of a galaxy cluster whose gravity is warping the supernova's
light. The supernova was previously seen in November 2014
behind galaxy cluster MACS J1149.5+2223 as part of
Hubble's Frontier Fields program. Astronomers spotted four
separate images of the supernova in an arrangement known
as an Einstein Cross. The light from the cluster has taken
about five billion years to reach Earth, though the supernova
exploded some 10 billion years ago. The detection of
Refsdal's reappearance served as a unique opportunity for
astronomers to test their models of how mass, especially dark
matter, is distributed within this galaxy cluster.
On March 3, 2016, researchers using Hubble data announced
the discovery of the farthest known galaxy to date: GN-z11.
The Hubble observations occurred on February 11, 2015,
and April 3, 2015, as part of the CANDELS/GOODS-North
surveys.
Hubble data

Hubble precision stellar distance measurement has been


extended 10 times further into the Milky Way.

Transmission to Earth
Hubble data was initially stored on the spacecraft. When
launched, the storage facilities were old-fashioned reel-to-
reel tape recorders, but these were replaced by solid
state data storage facilities during servicing missions 2 and
3A. About twice daily, the Hubble Space Telescope radios
data to a satellite in the geosynchronous Tracking and Data
Relay Satellite System (TDRSS), which then downlinks the
science data to one of two 60-foot (18-meter) diameter high-
gain microwave antennas located at the White Sands Test
Facility in White Sands, New Mexico. From there they are
sent to the Space Telescope Operations Control Center at
Goddard Space Flight Center, and finally to the Space
Telescope Science Institute for archiving. Each week, HST
downlinks approximately 140 gigabits of data.
Color images

Data analysis of a spectrum reveals the chemistry of hidden


clouds
All images from Hubble are monochromatic grayscale, taken
through a variety of filters, each passing specific wavelength
of light, and incorporated in each camera. Color images are
created by combining separate monochrome images taken
through different filters. This process can also create false-
color versions of images including infrared and ultraviolet
channels, where infrared is typically rendered as a deep red
and ultraviolet is rendered as a deep blue.
to the public a small selection of the most striking images
in JPEG and TIFF formats.
Magnification equation

As the image gets magnified for the observer, the position of


each feature in the image moves to a larger and larger angle
off the centerline (i.e. the line looking straight ahead). Hence
the magnification can be figured as the ratio of the angle seen
at the eyepiece to the angle seen by the objective lens. For
our analysis let's define some terms:

Angle seen at objective = θO


Angle seen at eyepiece = θe
We will also define the focal length of each lens, that is, the
distance from the lens where it focuses light to a point.
Focal length of objective = fO
Focal length of eyepiece = fe
We can use the diagram above to find the magnification for
this telescope. Light rays from a distant point arrive at the
objective in parallel. The ray that passes through the center
of the lens is important for the analysis, because that ray
(unlike the others) is not bent and forms a straight line
through the lens.

Then the angle of this incoming ray from the centerline, θO,
is the same at the front and the back of the lens. Follow this
line (the blue line) from the center of the objective to the
focal point. The focal point, by definition, sits at distance
fO from the objective, and we will postulate that this
particular point sits at distance h above the centerline at the
focal plane.

We can then find θO, in radians, as approximately equal to


h/fO.
Now follow the red line from the focal plane to the center of
the eyepiece and you can see that, likewise, the angle at the
eyepiece, θe can be found as h/fe.

Then the telescope's magnification will be


and after we cancel the h's in top & bottom and rearrange we
get:
The advantages and disadvantages of
reflecting telescope:
Whether looking at distant objects on Earth or at the stars in
space, all telescopes operate under the same principles. They
gather light from a distant source and reflect or bend it,
focusing it into an eyepiece. Telescopes that use lenses are
called refracting telescopes, and those that use concave
parabolic mirrors are called reflecting telescopes. Each type
of telescope has its advantages and disadvantages.

Mirror Advantage
Reflecting telescopes use mirrors instead of lenses to collect
light. Because mirrors have only one reflective surface, they
are easier to construct than lenses, which are made from
optical glass, and cannot have any occlusions because light
must pass completely through them. In addition, mirrors
have less spherical aberration, which is a scattering of light
that occurs when lenses don't perfectly focus on a single
point. Mirrors also reflect all wavelengths of light equally,
whereas lenses bend light differently depending on its
wavelength.

Size Advantage
Because mirrors are easier to construct than lenses, they can
be made larger and more durable. Additionally, because only
one side of the mirror is used to focus the light, the other side
can be placed against a surface for support. This allows for
the mirror to be extremely large as compared to a lens, and
makes them ideal for observing space. The larger the
collection device, the more light can be directed to the
eyepiece. The largest optical telescopes in the world,
including the largest one at the Keck Observatory in Hawaii,
are reflecting telescopes.

Cost Advantage
Because reflecting telescopes use mirrors instead of lenses
made from optical glass, they are less expensive to produce.
Lenses are used for smaller telescopes and particularly for
observing a point on the Earth's surface. Reflecting
telescopes of comparable size cost significantly less to
produce. Consumer-grade reflecting telescopes made for
backyard stargazing deliver more magnification power for
the user's dollar than their refracting counterparts.

Maintenance Disadvantage
Reflecting telescopes are not without their problems. Because
of their size and the design of an open tube assembly, the
mirror must be cleaned periodically. Whenever it is cleaned,
it must also be realigned, which can be expensive. An
improperly aligned telescope results in a blurry or marred
image.

Surface Disadvantage
The single reflective surface in a telescope's mirror allows it
to be large, but it is also exposed to the air. Originally,
reflecting telescopes used mirrors coated with a silver
surface, which tarnished in the open air. These telescopes
required regular polishing to keep them clear. Now,
reflecting telescopes' mirrors are coated with aluminum,
which also oxidizes, but the product is clear and does not
require as much polishing. Even with modern telescopes, the
metal coating of the reflective surface needs to be replaced
after years of service.
REFLECTING TELESCOPE

project prepared by:


Abhishek jaiswal
Class: 12 a
Session: 2018-19
St. paul’s senior secondary school
Table of contents

 Certificate
 Acknowledgement
 Telescopes
 Types of telescopes
 Types of reflecting telescopes
 Advantages and disadvantages
Acknowledgement

I thank my physics teacher Mr.


NAUSHAD KHAN for guidance and
support. I also thank my Principal Fr.
G.Alexander. I would also like to thank
my parents and my friends for
encouraging me during the course of this
project. Finally I would like to thank
CBSE for giving me this opportunity to
undertake this project.
Certificate

This is to certify that Abhishek jaiswal


of class Xii a, st.paul’s senior secondary
School, Katni has successfully completed
his project work in physics as prescribed
by CBSE in the year 2018-2019.

Date :

Roll No. :

Signature of Internal Signature of External


Examiner Examiner
__________________ __________________

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