How does refracting telescope and reflecting telescope differ?

Isaac Newton developed this telescope to combat chromatic aberration (a rainbow seen around some objects viewed with a refractor telescope). A mirror used to gather light doesn't suffer from this effect. Light from an object enters the telescope tube and is reflected off a curved mirror at the end of the tube. read more

The biggest difference is that a reflecting telescope uses a mirror to collect and focus the light and a refracting telescope uses lenses for the same purpose. A reflecting telescope has a concave mirror at the bottom end that reflects the image up to the eyepiece. read more

Refractors use a lens to concentrate the light into an eyepiece. Reflectors use a mirror to concentrate the light into an eyepiece. It’s much easier to make a giant mirror than a giant lens, so all large telescopes these days are reflectors. read more

Reflecting vs Refracting Telescopes When it comes to telescopes, there are two types; the reflecting and refracting telescopes. The distinction between the two is in how they manipulate the incoming light in order to magnify the image. read more