Telescopes

Question 1

Describe the three basic components of a modern system for acquiring spectra from astronomical light sources

Answer 1

1) Telescope
2) Telescopic instrument (sorts radiation by wavelength)
3) Detector (senses radiation in wavelengths and permanently records observations)

Question 2

Describe the main functions of a telescope

Answer 2

1) collect faint light from an astronomical source

2) focus all the light into a point or an image

Question 3

Describe the two basic types of visible-light telescopes and how they form images

Answer 3

Refracting telescope: uses a lens as its main optical element to form an image (AKA a refractor) ← Galileo’s, today’s binoculars, and field glasses

Reflecting telescope: telescope using a mirror to form an image; the first one successfully built by Isaac Newton in 1668

Question 4

Describe how radio waves from space are detected

Answer 4

Can tell the chemistry and physical conditions of the sources of the waves

Can produce a current in conductors of electricity (ex: metals) → data-processing simultaneously detect separate frequency bands = tells how much radiation we receive at each wavelength or frequency → recorded on magnetic disks

Question 5

Explain the importance of the Hubble Space Telescope

Answer 5

The largest telescope put into space so far and produced some of the most detailed images of the astronomical objects from the solar system

Question 6

Explain why astronomers would want to have a telescope in space (two reasons)

Answer 6

1) Detect fainter objects and produce clearer images

2) Better record observations