General Remarks

• HISTORY OF TELESCOPE • Analysis generally involves the laws

of reflection and refraction
• Analysis uses the procedures of
geometrical optics
• To explain certain phenomena
phenomena, the
wave nature of light
g must be used

The History of the Telescope Galileo’s

Galileo s Telescope
• It is a common misconception that Galileo • He was astonished by what he saw
invented the first telescopes
p – The rings
g of Saturn
• In fact, Hans Lippershey, a Dutch – Stars in the Milky Way
spectacle make
make, is credited with designing – The moons of Jupiter
the first telescope – Spots on the sun
• Galileo is the first person known to have • He also went blind

turned a telescope to the sky

 Telescopes
(
(cont’d)
t’d) Telescopes Today
The Galilean Telescope
• Telescopes have come a long way since
then
• The biggest single telescopes have main
mirrors that are over 12 meters in
diameter!
f1 < 0 f2 > 0
• Some telescopes are actually arrays that
are made of dozens of smaller telescopes
linked together
The analysis of this telescope is a homework problem!

Three Types of Telescopes How Telescopes Work

• Optical • There are two main types of optical
– Refracting
g telescopes
p
– Reflecting – Refracting telescopes use lenses to focus
• Radio
R di light to a point
– Reflecting telescopes use mirrors to focus
• Space
p the light
– Catadioptric telescopes are a combination of
th ttwo
the
 Refracting and Reflecting
Anatomy of a Telescope
Telescopes
• Although there are many types of
p , all have some basic keyy p
telescopes, parts:
• The aperture is simply the part of the
telescope that lets light in
• The primary bends the light, bringing the
rays to a point
• The secondary aids in this process

Focusing Light The Focal Plane

• The idea of focusing light is important • If we put our eye at the focal plane, we
– Telescopes
p collect light
g from a large
g area would onlyy see a bright
g p point
– By focusing the light, we concentrate its • The eye piece straightens out the rays of
power light so our eye can see the image
• The focal plane is the plane where the • If we move the eyepiece out of the focal
li ht rays meett
light plane, the image will be distorted
• The focal length is the distance from the
primary lens (or mirror) to the focal plane
 Type of Telescopes : Refractor
Anatomy of a Telescope
• The optical tube protects the rest of the
p and blocks stray
telescope y rays
y of light
g
• The finder is a small telescope used for
honing in on objects Advantage
• The detector is the thing that actually ● glass surface inside the tube is sealed from the atmosphere

Æ rarely needs cleaning → optical alignment is stable

records the light
– Could be your eye ● no air currents and effects of temperature change
Æ images are steadier and sharper

Type of Telescopes : Refractor

Refracting Telescope
Disadvantage
● chromatic aberration

Æ lens focuses differently with wavelength

• The two lenses are arranged
so that the objective forms a
real, inverted image of a
distance object
• The image is near the focal
point of the eyepiece
• The two lenses are separated
by the distance ƒo + ƒe, which
corresponds to the length of
the tube
• The eyepiece forms an
enlarged, inverted image of the
first image
(the shorter the wavelength, the greater the amount of refraction)
● light is absorbed by the lens
Æ opaque to UV, IR region
● large lens is quite heavy
Æ the lens tends to deform under its own weight
Æ hard to make large lens
Æ the largest refractor : 1.02m
1 02m of Yerkes Observatory
difficult
d cu t to make
a eagglass
ass lens
e s with
t noo imperfections
pe ect o s inside
s de tthe
e
N t θ≈h’/fe and
d θ0 ≈h’/f0
●
Note: lens and with a perfect curvature on both sides of the lens
 Type of Telescopes : Refractor Type of Telescopes : Reflector
chromatic aberration
● Produces a rainbow of colors around the image
image.

● Because of the wave nature of light, the longer wavelength light

(redder colors) is bent less than the shorter wavelength light (bluer
colors) as it passes through the lens.

●This is used in prisms to produce pretty rainbows, but can it ruin an Advantage
image! ● no chromatic aberration

● can be made very BIG!

● cheaper

● one side of the telescope's objective needs to be perfect

Type of Telescopes : Reflector

Reflecting Telescope
Telescope, Newtonian Focus
Disadvantage
● Tube is open to the outside and optics need frequent cleaning

• The incoming rays are Æ disturbing the optical alignment

reflected from the mirror and
converge toward point A
● Often a secondary mirror is used to redirect the light into a more
– At A, a photographic plate convenient viewing spot. The secondary mirror and its supports can
or other detector could be
placed
l d produce diffraction effects: bright objects have spikes (the
“christmas star effect”).
• A small flat mirror, M, reflects
the light toward an opening in
th side
the id andd passes into
i t an
eyepiece
 Type of Telescopes : Reflector Spherical Aberration
●If the mirror is not curved enough paraboloid or if the glass lens is
10 meter Keck telescope at the W.M Keck Observatory not shaped correctly.

● Not all of the light is focused to the same point

In the case of paraboloid,

paraboloid all parallel rays come to a single focus
focus, which
is not the case for a sphere.

Spherical Aberration Spherical Aberration

Example: Hubble Space Telescope
● Soon after HST put in orbit (1990), found that could not find good

focus of images (circle of least confusion very ugly).

● Too flat by 2 microns (1/50 the width of a human hair)

Æ 2.5 years after lunch, install corrective optics (COSTAR)

Before COSTAR After COSTAR

 Design of Reflector Telescope
(1) Prime Focus
● small f ratio

● inconvenient to suspend
dbbulky
lk pieces off equipment

(2) Newtonian
● for small telescope

● attaching heavy instruments → unbalance the telescope

Type of Telescopes : Reflector Type of Telescopes : Reflector

(3) Cassegrain ● Same telescope (with fixed tube) can be reconfigured to different
● convenient attaching instruments focal lengths.
Æ Different
ff focal
f lengths lead to different
ff “plate scales” (image
(4) Coude sizes) and allows different fields of view or resolution for the same
● large heavy instruments (e.g.
(e g spectrograph) focal plane area.
→ need separate room
● altitude-azimuth mounting
● Can have different instruments mounted at different “ports”.
→ Nasmyth platform
● Traditional reflectors (e.g., Palomar 200", Kitt Peak 4-m) were
often designed
g with at least FOUR configurations
g possible:
p

- Prime focus: Usually a wide field of view camera.

- Cassgrain focus: Spectrograph of higher resolution camera.
- Newtonian focus: Spectrograph of higher resolution camera.
- Coude focus: VERY high resolution spectrograph.
spectrograph
 Type of Telescopes : Reflector Type of Telescopes : Reflector
● Multiple focus port ● Note the problem of the Prime Focus: It is in the beam of the

telescope and so difficult to access.

Prime focus of the Palomar 200 inch telescope

The 3 Main Functions of Telescopes

1. GATHER LIGHT – make things appear brighter

•The
h 3 Main Functions 2.

3.
RESOLVE – allow finer detail to be seen

j
MAGNIFY – make objects seem bigger/closer
gg /
off Telescopes
T l
 Powers of a Telescope : Light-Gathering Power Powers of a Telescope : Light-Gathering Power

● The ability of a telescope to collect a lot more light than the human
● Light gathering power Æ the area of the objective
eye.
● For the circular objectives
●The telescope acts as a “light bucket‘”, collecting all of the photons.
Æ a bigger objective collects more light in a given time interval. area = π × (diameter of objective)2/4
Æ the pupils of your eyes enlarge at night so that more light
reaches the retinas . ● Example:
a 40 centimeter mirror has four times the light-gathering
40-centimeter light gathering power as
● Making faint images brighter is critical if the light is going to be a 20-centimeter mirror
dispersed to make a spectrum.

Light Gathering Power

Resolution

• The ability of an optical

system to distinguish
between closely spaced
objects is limited due to
th wave nature
the t off light
li ht
• Consider two not
coherent light sources
(like stars)
• Because of diffraction,
the images consist of
The light-gathering power of a telescope is directly
bright central regions (a) Images are resolved and
flanked by weaker bright
proportional
ti l tto th
the area off th
the objective
bj ti llens, which
hi h iin tturn
and dark rings
(b) nott resolved
l d (sources
( too
t
is proportional to the square of the lens diameter
close)
 Rayleigh’s
Rayleigh s Criterion Just Resolved

• If the
th two
t sources are separated
t d so that
th t their
th i
central maxima do not overlap, their images are • If viewed through a slit of width
said to be resolved a, and applying Rayleigh
Rayleigh’ss
criterion, the limiting angle of
• The limiting condition for resolution is Rayleigh’s resolution is
Criterion
λ
– When the central maximum of one image falls on the θ min =
first minimum of another image, they images are said a
to be just resolved
• For the images to be resolved,
– The images are just resolved when their angular
the angle subtended by the two
separation satisfies Rayleigh’s criterion
sources at the slit must greater
than θmin

Barely Resolved (Left) and Not Resolved

Resolution with Circular Apertures
(Right)
• The diffraction pattern of a circular aperture consists of a
central, circular bright region surrounded by
progressively fainter rings
• The limiting angle of resolution depends on the diameter,
D, of the aperture

λ
θ min = 1.22
D
 Resolving Power of a Diffraction Grating,
Resolving Power of a Diffraction Grating cont
• If λ1 and λ2 are two nearly equal wavelengths between
which the grating spectrometer can just barely • A grating with a high resolving power can distinguish small
distinguish the resolving power, R, of the grating is
distinguish, differences in wavelength

λ λ • The resolving power increases with order number

R= = – R = Nm
λ2 − λ1 ∆λ • N is the number of lines illuminated
• m is the order number
n mber
– All the wavelengths are nearly the same – All wavelengths are indistinguishable for the zeroth-order
maximum
• m = 0 so R = 0

Powers of a Telescope : Resolving Power Powers of a Telescope : Resolving Power

● Ability to make us see really small details and see sharp images. ● ΘR (arcsec) = 252,000 × (λ/D)
j
Æ Objects that are so close together
g in the sky
y that they
y blur
● Th desire
The d i iis tto make
k as small
ll as possible.
ibl
together into a single blob are easily seen as separate objects
with a good telescope. ● This can be done by making the observation wavelength small
(e.g., use UV instead of visible light) or by making the objective
● The resolving power = absolute smallest angle that can be resolved
diameter large.
ΘR (arcsec) = 252,000 × (λ/D) ●Example: ΘR of the 40-cm telescope is one-half the for the 20-cm
telescope
g
where λ : observation wavelength
D : objective diameter ● Fluctuations in the
atmosphere
Æ seeing
i effect
ff
 Powers of a Telescope : Resolving Power Powers of a Telescope : Resolving Power

● Large size of radio telescope ● Example:

Æ Radio wavelengths are LARGE so the radio telescope must be
LARGE to get decent resolving power 1 Å = 0.1 nm = 10-10 m

6000 Å ~ 10-7 m = 10-5 cm for visible wavelength

● Example : Keck 10m telescope vs. 305m Arecibo Radio telescope
21 cm for radio wavelength

Æ wavelength diffrence ~ 106

Æ 1m optical telescope

Æ Need 106m (103km) radio telescope with comparable resolving

power of 1m optical telescope !

Powers of a Telescope : Resolving Power Powers of a Telescope : Resolving Power

● Another way to increase the resolution is to connect telescopes EXAMPLES of Interferometer

together
g to make an interferometer. ● Veryy Large
g Arrayy ((VLA))
Æ large single telescope ! - This telescope is made of 27 radio dishes, each 25 meters in
diameter, on a Y-shaped track.
- Fully
F ll extended,
t d d th the VVery L Array iis 36 kilometers
Large A kil t across and
d
has a resolution of around one arc second (depending on the radio
wavelength).
 Powers of a Telescope : Resolving Power Powers of a Telescope : Resolving Power

EXAMPLES of Interferometer ●The Orbiting Very Long Baseline Interferometer (OVLBI)

● Veryy Long
g Baseline Array
y ((VLBA)) - Astronomers are constructing g radio telescopes
p out in space
p that
- a huge interferometer that uses ten telescopes placed in sites will work in conjunction with ground-based radio telescopes to make
from Hawaii to the Virgin Islands interferometers much larger than the Earth.
- 8,600
8 600 kilometers
kil t across anddh has a resolution
l ti as good
d as 0.0002
0 0002
arc second!
- With a resolution about 50 times better than the Hubble Space
p
Telescope

Powers of a Telescope : Resolving Power Powers of a Telescope : Resolving Power

Another EXAMPLES of interferometer in optical telescope

● the Keck Interferometer on Mauna Kea, Hawaii

All have the same brightness

●the Very Large Telescope of Paranal Observatory on Cerro Paranal in - The light in the bottom
the Atacama Desert, northern Chile. images from the large
telescopes is just much more
Concentrated than for the
small telescopes.

- Exposure time with large

telescope is short !
 Poor and Great Resolution Powers of a Telescope : Magnifying Power
(i
(improved
d by
b using
i adaptive
d i optics)
i )
● The ability of a telescope to enlarge images

●The least
Th l t iimportant
t t power off a telescope
t l because
b it enlarges
l any
distortions due to the telescope and atmosphere.
Æ A small,
small fuzzy faint blob becomes only a bigbig, fuzzy blob
blob.
Æ the light becomes more spread out under higher magnification so
the image appears fainter!

● Magnifying power
= ((focal length
g of objective)
j ) / ((focal length
g of eyepiece)
y p )

fT
M=
fE
Telescope images are degraded by the blurring effects
of the atmosphere and by light pollution

Electromagnetic Spectrum for Telescope Electromagnetic (EM) Spectrum for Telescope

The Earth's atmosphere is opaque to most wavelengths in the

electromagnetic spectrum.
This is good for lifeforms on Earth's surface, because the more
●

energetic types of EM radiation are harmful.

●B obviously,
But b i l this
hi iis not convenient
i ffor astronomers who
h want to
monitor the universe across the full EM spectrum. (This is the main
motivation for space astronomy.)

●The chart above shows the ability of different wavelengths to

penetrate the atmosphere.
 Electromagnetic (EM) Spectrum for Telescope
Atmospheric Transparency Some places on the surface of the Earth are not high and dry
enough so airborne observatories are often used for infrared
astronomy.
astronomy

NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) is a 2.5-m

25 m
telescope in a modified Boeing 747 and should begin flying in a few years.

Electromagnetic (EM) Spectrum for Telescope

THOUGHT PROBLEM TIME OUT:
1.What parts of the EM spectrum can astronomers explore from sea
level ?

2. What parts of the EM spectrum can astronomers explore from

high mountain tops?

3. What
3 Wh types off astronomy were only l possible
ibl with
i h the
h invention
i i off
high altitude balloons and rockets?

4. Why is there concern about “ozone holes” for people living near
the poles of the Earth? (Note: UV radiation is blocked primarily by
absorption of ozone molecules in the Earth's
Earth s atmosphere.)
atmosphere )
 A radio telescope uses a large concave dish
to reflect radio waves to a focus
• Radio telescopes use
large reflecting
antennas or dishes to
focus radio waves
• Very large dishes
provide reasonably
sharp radio images

Radio Telescopes Hubble Space Telescope

• Large antenna that • Launched from the
receive parts of the Space Shuttle
spectrum other than • Had problems that
visible light. were later fixed while
in space.
• Able to see much
further than earth
bound telescopes
 Detectors
• So, we collected all our light…now what?
• It doesn can t see
doesn’tt do us any good if we can’t
the light
• Of course, we always
l have
h our eyes,
but…

Photographic Plates Magnification

• When the photograph was invented, it
revolutionized astronomyy
• You could expose of long periods of time
and have a permanent record
• Astronomer’s do like magnification, too
– But note that it does not matter how much you
y
magnify something…if you cannot resolve it,
magnification
g does yyou no g
good
– Think of a pixelated image
 Pixelation Photographic Plates
• But photographic plates have lots of
g
shortcomings
• They over expose easily
• They
Th h have a non-linear
li response
ou cannot
• You ca ot actua
actuallyy cou
countt p
photons
oto s
• They are not very efficient

How CCDs work

CCDs
• CCDs revolutionized astronomy again
• CCD stands for charged coupled device
• This is the same technology at use in
di it l cameras
digital
Most digital cameras interleave different-
color filters CCDs

CCDs CCDs
• CCDs are great because
– Theyy are very
y efficient
– They allow you to take digital data…analyze
on computer
– They have a linear response
– They
Th h have a wide
id d dynamic
i range
 CCDs Spectrographs
• CCDs are by far the most common • We don’t always want to make an image
detector in astronomyy • Sometimes,
Sometimes we want to split the light into
• Although some others exist, it is not worth its spectrum
talking about them here • We
W use spectrographs
t h for
f this
thi

Spectrographs Prisms
• There are two basic types of
spectrographs
p g p
– Prisms
– Gratings
• Combining the two, we get Grisms
 Spectrographs record the spectra of
Prisms astronomical objects.
• Prisms work because light of different
g
wavelengths takes a slightly
g y different ppath
• Comes out at a different place, and is thus
spread out

Spectrographs record the spectra of Observations at other wavelengths are

astronomical objects. revealing previously invisible sights.

UV infrared

Mapp of
Ordinary
O di Orion
visible region
 Gratings Gratings
• Gratings are made up of hundreds or
thousands of tiny yg grooves
• They use a phenomenon of light known as
diffraction to split the light

Grisms Spectrographs
• Grisms use both • Once we split the light by wavelength, we
effects usually
y use a specially
p y designed
g CCD to
• Gratings and grisms actually measure the photons
are the most
commonly used
• Since we splitting the light up and
spectrographs in smearing it, spectroscopy needs lots of
astronomy photons, i.e. a bright source
 Telescope images are degraded by the blurring
effects of the atmosphere and by light pollution
• Angular
A l R Resolution:
l ti A telescope’s
t l ’ angularl resolution,
l ti which
hi h
indicates ability to see fine details, is limited by two key factors
• Diffraction is an intrinsic property of light waves
• Its effects can be minimized by using a larger objective lens or
mirror
• The blurringg effects of atmospheric
p turbulence can be minimized byy
placing the telescope a top a tall mountain with very smooth air.
• They can be dramatically reduced by the use of adaptive optics and
can be eliminated entirely by placing the telescope in orbit

Telescopes Image
plane #1
Image
plane #2

Keplerian M1 M2
telescope
A telescope should image an object, but, because the object will
have a veryy small solid angle,
g , it should also increase its solid angle
g
significantly, so it looks bigger. So we’d like D to be large. And use
two lenses to square the effect.

⎡ M 0 ⎤
Oimaging = ⎢ where M = - di / do
⎣ −1/ f 1/ M ⎥⎦
Note that this is
⎡ M2 0 ⎤ ⎡ M1 0 ⎤ easy for the first
Otelescope =⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥ lens, as the object
⎣ −1/ f 2 1/ M 2 ⎦ ⎣ −1/ f1 1/ M 1 ⎦ is really far away!

⎡ M 1M 2 0 ⎤ So use di << do
=⎢ ⎥
⎣ − M 1 / f 2 − M 2 / f1 1/ M 1M 2 ⎦ for both lenses.