INTRODUCTION

WHAT IS AN ASTRONOMIAL TELESCOPE?

ASTRONOMIAL TELESCOPE

An astronomical telescope is an instrument that works on the principle of optics

used to view the enlarged image of heavenly bodies like stars and galaxies. The end
image formed by an astronomical telescope is always virtual, inverted, and
magnified. It is an excellent means for analyzing and collecting radiation from
heavenly bodies situated far from the universe we live in. It helps scientists to

observe subjects with a detailed view even if they are at an infinitely large distance.

PRINCIPLE OF AN ASTRONOMIAL TELESCOPE

The working of telescopes is based on the principle that when an object that is to be
magnified is placed at a large distance from the objective lens of an astronomical
telescope, magnified, virtual, and inverted images are formed at the least distance

when held close to the eye piece.

CONSTRUCTION OF AN ASTRONOMIAL TELESCOPE

An astronomical telescope’s construction consists of two convex lenses: An objective

lens placed at the position O and an eyepiece placed at the position of E. The focal
length of the astronomical telescope is fO, and the eyepiece’s focal length is fE. The
aperture of the objective lens is taken large as compared to the eyepiece so that
more light can be received by it from distant objects and a brighter image can be
formed. The placement of both the objective lens and the eyepiece is done at the
free ends of the two sliding tubes placed with some considerable distance in

between.

PARTS OF AN ASTRONOMIAL TELESCOPE

Optical Tube: The main body of the telescope that houses the optical elements. It

keeps everything aligned and stable.

Objective Lens or Mirror:

REFRACTORS: The primary lens at the front of the telescope that collects light and

focuses it.

REFELCTORS: The primary mirror at the back of the telescope that reflects and

focuses light.

EYEPIECE: A smaller lens used to magnify the image created by the objective lens or

mirror. It is where the observer looks through the telescope.

FOCUSER: A mechanism that allows for the adjustment of the eyepiece’s position to

achieve a sharp focus of the image.

MOUNT: The structure that supports the telescope and allows it to move. It can be:

Altitude-Azimuth: Moves up/down and left/right.

EQUITORIAL: Aligned with the Earth's axis, making it easier to track celestial objects

as they move across the sky.

FINDERSCOPE: A small, low-power telescope mounted on top of the main telescope

to help locate celestial objects.

BASE: The part that provides stability and may contain electronic controls in more

advanced models.

DIAGONAL MIRROR( IN SOME TELESCOPES):Used to redirect light into the eyepiece

at a comfortable viewing angle, particularly in refractors and some reflectors.

COLLIMATION SCREWS: Used to align the optical components for optimal

performance, particularly in reflectors.

 Characteristics
Design specifications relate to the characteristics of the telescope
and how it performs optically. Several properties of the
specifications may change with the equipment or accessories used
with the telescope; such as, Barlow lenses and star diagonals and
eyepieces. These interchangeable accessories don’t alter the
specifications of the telescope, however they alter the way the
telescopes properties function, typically magnification, angular
resolution

Surface resolvability

The smallest surface area of an object, as seen through an optical

telescope is the limited physical area that can be resolved. It is
analogous to angular resolution , but differs in definition; instead
of separation ability between point light sources it refers to the
physical area that can be resolved. A familiar way to express the
characteristic is the resolvable ability of features such as moon
craters or sun spots. Expression using the formula is given by the
sum of twice the resolving power r over aperture diameter d
multiplied by the objects diameter dob multiplied by the constant
phi all divided by the objects apparent diameter da.
Resolving power r is derived from the wavelength using the same
unit as aperture, where 550 nm to mm is given by: R=550/10 power
-6=0.00055 . The constant phi is derived from radians to the same
unit as the objects apparent diameter.

The unit used n the object diameter results in the smallest

resolvable features at that unit . in the above example they are
approximated in kilometers resulting in the smallest resolvable
moon craters being 3.22 km in diameter. The space telescope has a
primary mirror aperture of 2400 mm that provides a surface
resolvability of moon craters being 174.9 meters in diameter, or
sunspots of 7365.2 km in diameter.

Angular resolution
Ignoring blurring of the image by turbulence in the atmosphere
(atmospheric seeing) and optical imperfections of the telescope ,
the angular resolution of an optical telescope is determined by the
diameter of the primary mirror or lens gathering the light also
termed its aperture.

The Rayleigh criterion for the resolution limit (in radians), is given
by sin=1.22/d where is the wavelength and

is the aperture. For visible light = 550 nm) in the approximation,

this equation can be rewritten. In the ideal case, the two
components of a double star system can be discerned even if
separated by slightly less than . This is taken into account by the
Dawes limit. The equation shows that, all else being equal, the
larger the aperture, the better the angular resolution. The
resolution is not given by the maximum magnification (or “power”)
of a telescope. Telescopes marketed by giving high values of the
maximum power often deliver poor images. For large ground-based
telescopes, the resolution is limited by atmospheric seeing. This
limit can be overcome by placing the telescopes above the
atmosphere, e.g., on the summits of high mountains, on balloon
and high-flying airplanes, or in space. Resolution limits can also be
overcome by adaptive optics, speckle imaging or lucky imaging for
ground-based telescopes. Recently, it has become practical to
perform aperture synthesis with arrays of optical telescopes. Very
high resolution images can be obtained with groups of widely
spaced smaller telescopes, linked together by carefully control
paths, but these interferometers can only be used for imaging
bright objects such as stars or measuring the bright cores of active
galaxies.

Focal length and focal ratio

Numerically large focal ratios are said to belong or slow Small
numbers are short or fast There are no sharp lines for determining
when to use these terms, an individual may consider their own
standards of determination. Among contemporary astronomical
telescopes, any telescope with a focal ratio slower (bigger number)
than f/12 is generally considered slow, and any telescope with a
focal ratio faster (smaller number) than f/6, is considered fast.
Faster systems often have more optical aberration away from the
center of the field of view and are generally more demanding of
eyepiece designs than slower ones. A fast system is often desired
for practical purposes in astrophotography with the purpose of
gathering more photons in a given time period than a slower
system, allowing time lapsed photography to process the result
faster. Wide-field telescopes (such as astrographs), are used to
track satellites and asteroids, for cosmic ray research, and for
astronomical surveys of the sky. It is more difficult to reduce
aberrations in telescopes with low f-ratio than in telescopes with
larger f-ratio

Light gathering power

The light-gathering power of an optical telescope, also referred to

as light grasp or aperture gain, is the ability of a telescope to
collect a lot more light than the human eye. Its light-gathering
power is probably its most important feature. The telescope acts
as a

light bucket, collecting all of the photons that come down on it

from a far away object, where a larger bucket catches more
photons resulting in more received light in a given time period,
effectively brightening the image. This is why the pupils of your
eyes enlarge at night so that more light reaches the retinas. The
gathering power P compared against a human eye is the squared
result of the division of the aperture D over the observer’s pupil
diameter with an average adult having a pupil diameter of 7mm.
Younger persons host larger diameters, typically said to be 9mm,
as the diameter of the pupil decreases with age. An example
gathering power of an aperture with 254mm compared to an adult
pupil diameter being 7mm is given by:Light-gathering power can be
compared between telescopes by comparing the areas of the two
different apertures. As an example, the light-gathering power of a
10meter telescope is 25x that of a 2meter telescope. For a survey
of a given area, the field of view is just as important as raw light
gathering power. Survey telescopes such as the large synoptic
survey telescope try to maximize the product of mirror area and
field of view (or etendue) rather than raw light gathering ability
alone.
 Field of view
Field of view is the extent of the observable world seen at any
given moment, through an instrument (e.g., telescope or
binoculars), or by naked eye. There are various expressions of field
of view, being a specification of an eyepiece or a characteristic
determined from and eyepiece and telescope combination. A
physical limit derives from the combination where the FOV cannot
be viewed larger than a defined maximum, due to diffraction of the
optics.

Apparent
Apparent FOV is the observable world observed through an ocular
eyepiece without insertion into a telescope. It is limited by the
barrel size used in a telescope, generally with modern telescopes
that being either1.25 or 2 inches in diameter. A wider FOV may be
used to achieve a more vast observable world given the same
magnification compared with a smaller FOV without compromise
to magnification. Note that increasing the FOV lowers surface
brightness of an observed object, as the gathered light is spread
over more area, in relative terms increasing the observing area
proportionally lowers surface brightness dimming the observed
object. Wide FOV eyepieces work best at low magnifications with
large apertures, where the relative size of an object is viewed at
higher comparative standards with minimal magnification giving an
overall brighter image to begin with.

True
True FOV is the observable world observed though an ocular
eyepiece inserted into a telescope. Knowing the true FOV of
eyepiece is very useful since it can be used to compare what is
seen through the eyepiece to printed or computerized star chart
that help identify what is observed. True FOV is the division of
apparent FOV over magnification. An example of true FOV using an
eyepiece with 52° apparent FOV used at 81.25x magnification is
given by

Vt=va /m=52/1.25=0.64

Maximum
Max FOV is a term used to describe the maximum useful true FOV
limited by the optics of the telescope, it is a physical limitation
where increases beyond the maximum remain at maximum. Max
FOV is the barrel size over the telescopes focal length converted
from radian to degrees. An example of max FOV using a telescope
with a barrel size of 31.75mm (1.25inches) and focal length of
1200mm is given by

Vm=b*180/f=31.75*57.2985/1200=1.52
 USES OF ASTRONOMICAL

TELESOPE
· Magnification: Telescopes magnify distant
objects, revealing detailed features like lunar
craters or planetary rings.

· Light Collection: They collect and focus light

from faint and distant sources, making them
appear brighter and clearer.

· Types of Telescopes: There are refracting

telescopes (using lenses) and reflecting
telescopes (using mirrors) for different
observational purposes.

· Astrophotography: Telescopes enable detailed

photography of space objects, which is essential
for long-term studies and space exploration.
· Spectroscopy: They help analyse the light from
stars and galaxies to determine their chemical
composition and other properties.

· Planetary Tracking: Telescopes are used to

observe and track planetary movements and
study surface details of planets.

· Cosmological Research: They aid in

understanding the universe's origin, structure,
and evolution through deep-space observations.

· Space Exploration: Telescopes on Earth and in

space (like the Hubble Telescope) contribute to
discovering black holes, supernovae, and distant
galaxies.
 FUTURE ASPECTS
Adaptive Optics: Future telescopes will continue
improving adaptive optics technology to correct
atmospheric distortions, offering clearer and
sharper images from Earth-based observatories.
Space-Based Telescopes: There will be an
increasing number of telescopes launched into
space (like the James Webb Telescope), avoiding
atmospheric interference and enabling clearer
views of distant galaxies and cosmic phenomena.

Multi-Wavelength Observation: Telescopes will

expand their ability to observe in a variety of
wavelengths—infrared, ultraviolet, X-rays, etc.—
allowing for more comprehensive studies of
celestial objects and phenomena.
Exoplanet Detection: Future telescopes will be
more advanced in detecting and studying
exoplanets, especially Earth-like planets in
habitable zones around distant stars.
Quantum Optics and Telescope Interferometry:
Using quantum technology and int
 WORKING PRINCIPLE ON

ASTRONOMICAL

TELESCOPE

The telescope uses a lens as an objective, and is called a refracting

telescope or refractor. The objective lens forms a real, reduced
image I of the object. This image serves as the object for the
eyepiece lens, which forms an enlarged, virtual image of I. Objects
that are viewed with a telescope are usually far away from the
instrument that the first image I is formed very nearly at the
second focal point of the objective lens. If the final image I' formed
by the eyepiece is at infinity (for most comfortable viewing by a
normal eye), the first image must also be at the first focal point of
the eyepiece. The distance between the objective and eyepiece,
which is the length of the telescope, is therefore the sum of the
focal lengths of the objective and eyepiece, f1+f2.

The angular magnification M of a telescope is defined as the ratio

of the angle subtended at the eye by the final image I' to the angle
subtended at the eye by the object. We can express this ratio in
terms of the focal lengths of the objective and eyepiece. The
object (not shown) subtends an angle θ at the objective and would
subtend essentially the same angle at the eye. Also, since the
observer's eye is placed just to the right of the focal point F2', the
angle subtended at the eye by the final image is very nearly equal
to the angle θ'. As bd is parallel to the optic axis, the distances ab
and cd are equal to each other and also to the height y' of the real
image I. Because the angles θ and θ' are small, they may be
approximated by their tangents. From the right triangles F1ab

and F2cd,

θ = -y'/f1

θ' = y'/f2

And the angular magnification M is

M = θ' / θ = (y'/f2)/(-y'/f1) = - f1/f2

The angular magnification M of a telescope is equal to the ratio of

the focal length of the objective to that of the eyepiece. The
negative sign shows that the final image is inverted. This equation
shows that to achieve good angular magnification, a telescope
should have a long objective focal length f1.
 Bibliography
1. N.C.E.R.T CLASS 12 PHYSICS (PART 2)
2. CHATGPT - ChatGPT
3. GOOGLE - Google
4. CHROME - Google Chrome Web Browser