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How are mirrors used by reflecting telescopes?

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Reflection. Reflector Telescopes. Curved mirrors can bend light and make parallel light rays converge to a focus. This focus is directly in the path of the incoming light, so there are several ways of making images from the mirror visible. read more

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. read more

Reflecting telescopes, on the other hand, don’t use lenses at all. Instead, they use mirrors to focus the light together. In this case, the type of mirror that they use is a concave mirror. Mirrors of this shape also accomplish the goal of bending light together, except that they do it by reflecting the light instead of bending it as it passes through (like lenses do). read more

Reflecting telescopes have many advantages over refracting telescopes. Mirrors don't cause chromatic aberration and they are easier and cheaper to build large. The are also easier to mount because the back of the mirror can be used to attach to the mount. Reflecting telescopes have a few disadvantages as well. read more

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Q & A: How Do Telescopes Work?
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Reflecting Telescope Facts
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