reflector telescopes

What Are Reflecting and Refracting Telescopes

Telescopes are essential tools for exploring objects in the night sky and the primary part of any telescope is the objective lens. The objective lens is what gives access to the light into the telescope enabling you to see the projected images from the sky. Telescopes with larger objectives let more light in and this means a sharper image for the observing astronomer.

The two main kinds of telescopes are reflecting telescopes and refracting telescopes. These are essentially similar in design except for the fashion in which they collect light.

The Key Differences in Refracting and Reflecting Telescopes

The objective lens in refracting telescopes is a glass lens that is placed close to the front end of the telescope. The objective guides the light that it gathers and refracts, or deflects, it to send it to the eyepiece, which amplifies the image. Refracting telescope engineering is also usedin other equipment like binoculars, rifle scopes and spyglasses.

On the other hand, reflecting telescopes are different because the objective lens is a mirror at the distal end of the telescope rather than a glass lens at the front end. The mirror in a reflecting telescope has a dished shape, or a bowl-like shape, which allows it to capture the light in the central section of the mirror and send it as one stream of light towards the eyepiece so the image can be easily viewed.

Benefits of Using a Reflecting Telescope

Reflecting telescopes are preferred by many for a range of reasons. One reason is less distortion with a reflecting telescope than with a refracting telescope since the mirror is able to gather and reflect all wavelengths of color consistently. The utilizing of the mirrors instead of glass lenses makes reflecting telescopes more affordable than refracting telescopes.

When mirrors are utilized rather than glass lenses, the telescope can be designed much larger to allow for the supports for the mirror to be located on the bottom end of the telescope. The larger the mirror that is used, the more light can be reflected and the better and clearer the image will be.

Specific Issues with the Reflecting Telescope

Reflecting telescopes have their own unique potential problems as well. One problem can simply be the size of reflecting telescopes. As designers use larger and larger mirrors, the telescopes have to grow in size to fit the mirrors inside. Whilst the results are generally superior with the larger reflecting telescopes, they are not very portable and it can prove problematic finding a a convenient place to locate them when you are not using them.

An additional consideration or problem is that reflecting telescopes may require to have the mirrors from time to time to keep them working perfectly and to maximize the light that is captured.

Many of the better known telescope brands provide both refracting and reflecting style telescopes for the unprofessional stargazer.

Almost all of the major telescopes used in research are reflectors. Reflecting telescopes come in numerous design variations and may apply complementary optic elements to enhance image quality or position the image in a mechanically advantageous position. As reflecting telescopes employ mirrors, the design is sometimes referred to as a catatropic telescope.

refracting vs reflecting telescopes

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!