Considering the Importance of the Glass in a Telescope
http://www.educationbuzz.net/articles/6353/1/Considering-the-Importance-of-the-Glass-in-a-Telescope/Page1.html
Jack Landry
Jack R. Landry has worked since 1987 selling laboratory products and supplies to various labs and schools across the country. He has written hundreds of articles about learning and lab supplies.
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Jack R. Landry
JackRLandry@gmail.com
http://www.Avogadro-Lab-Supply.com By Jack Landry
Published on 03/18/2011
One of the inventions that has contributed the most to modern science is the telescope. The most important part of the telescope is the glass that you use.
Glass has made a major contribution to one of the greatest inventions of the past, telescopes. Telescopes are used widely for a number of different reasons today.
The main inventor of the telescope was Galileo. As an astronomer who often studied the stars, Galileo made his contribution in 1611 to aid his studies.
However, the device he created was not named the 'telescope' until later by a Greek poet. Even though Galileo used his telescope to help him see the stars, it was very different from the modern tools that we use today.
The main difference was that Galileo's invention was based on a refractor style method. This means that the light would pass through the end glass through the tube through another special piece of glass into the eye.
The glass acted somewhat like glasses in that it made the objects that were far away larger due to the way in which it was shaped. Depending on the shape, it could also make the object clearer.
Today, the telescope is much more complicated than that and the most advanced ones are mostly computerized. Many different areas of science use a form of this tool in some manner.
For example, biologists may use a microscope while astronomers still use the telescope. However, the addition of a computer to these tools allows them to be adjusted slightly according to the needs of the scientist.
Likewise, the computer can take measurements of the things that are observed so that the scientist can calculate various things. You can also take pictures of what you are viewing and save it for further review later.
Not only do they have computers added to them, but modern telescopes feature a refractor and reflector design. This means that there is more within the tube to help magnify the image and transfer the light to your eye.
The profession of astronomy has advanced significantly with the help of this tool. In addition, you can enjoy the beauty of the stars with your friends and family with a simple version.
In fact, you can build your own simple telescope. The first thing that you will need to do is get a set of lenses.
This can be fairly cheap, but if you want to be able to really see something you will want to spend some money on these. The lenses are the most important part of this tool as the glass has to be specially designed for that purpose.
You will need a large convex lens and a small concave lens. The convex lens should be thicker in the middle than it is on the edge.
Meanwhile, the concave lens should be thinner towards the center than it is on the edge. Then, you will need to find two cardboard tubes that slide easily into one another.
You will want to purchase lenses that fit into these cardboard tubes. At this point, you will want to figure out how far apart the lenses should be in order to see things clearly.
To figure this out, you will want to hold up both lenses in front of you with the smaller lens closer to your face. Move the lenses until you can easily focus on something in the distance.
Have someone measure the distance between the two lenses for you when you have them focused on something. Then, you will want to double that measurement and cut the length of the two cardboard tubes to be this long.
At this point, you will want to place the larger lens in the end of the wider tube and hot glue it in place. Make sure that you do not get any of the glue on the part of the glass that you will look through or this will hinder your vision.
Then, you will want to do the same thing with the smaller lens and the smaller tube. Put the two pieces of cardboard together and look through it.
You will want to make sure that the centers of both of the lenses line up. Otherwise, you will not be able to see through it clearly.
If you constructed a large telescope you may want to build a gasket for it so that you can easily adjust it and have other people through it as well. Some people enjoy decorating the outside of their telescope as well.
You can easily do this with appropriate wall paper, construction paper, paint, glue, and other accessories. When this is done, you will have constructed your very own telescope.
The main inventor of the telescope was Galileo. As an astronomer who often studied the stars, Galileo made his contribution in 1611 to aid his studies.
However, the device he created was not named the 'telescope' until later by a Greek poet. Even though Galileo used his telescope to help him see the stars, it was very different from the modern tools that we use today.
The main difference was that Galileo's invention was based on a refractor style method. This means that the light would pass through the end glass through the tube through another special piece of glass into the eye.
The glass acted somewhat like glasses in that it made the objects that were far away larger due to the way in which it was shaped. Depending on the shape, it could also make the object clearer.
Today, the telescope is much more complicated than that and the most advanced ones are mostly computerized. Many different areas of science use a form of this tool in some manner.
For example, biologists may use a microscope while astronomers still use the telescope. However, the addition of a computer to these tools allows them to be adjusted slightly according to the needs of the scientist.
Likewise, the computer can take measurements of the things that are observed so that the scientist can calculate various things. You can also take pictures of what you are viewing and save it for further review later.
Not only do they have computers added to them, but modern telescopes feature a refractor and reflector design. This means that there is more within the tube to help magnify the image and transfer the light to your eye.
The profession of astronomy has advanced significantly with the help of this tool. In addition, you can enjoy the beauty of the stars with your friends and family with a simple version.
In fact, you can build your own simple telescope. The first thing that you will need to do is get a set of lenses.
This can be fairly cheap, but if you want to be able to really see something you will want to spend some money on these. The lenses are the most important part of this tool as the glass has to be specially designed for that purpose.
You will need a large convex lens and a small concave lens. The convex lens should be thicker in the middle than it is on the edge.
Meanwhile, the concave lens should be thinner towards the center than it is on the edge. Then, you will need to find two cardboard tubes that slide easily into one another.
You will want to purchase lenses that fit into these cardboard tubes. At this point, you will want to figure out how far apart the lenses should be in order to see things clearly.
To figure this out, you will want to hold up both lenses in front of you with the smaller lens closer to your face. Move the lenses until you can easily focus on something in the distance.
Have someone measure the distance between the two lenses for you when you have them focused on something. Then, you will want to double that measurement and cut the length of the two cardboard tubes to be this long.
At this point, you will want to place the larger lens in the end of the wider tube and hot glue it in place. Make sure that you do not get any of the glue on the part of the glass that you will look through or this will hinder your vision.
Then, you will want to do the same thing with the smaller lens and the smaller tube. Put the two pieces of cardboard together and look through it.
You will want to make sure that the centers of both of the lenses line up. Otherwise, you will not be able to see through it clearly.
If you constructed a large telescope you may want to build a gasket for it so that you can easily adjust it and have other people through it as well. Some people enjoy decorating the outside of their telescope as well.
You can easily do this with appropriate wall paper, construction paper, paint, glue, and other accessories. When this is done, you will have constructed your very own telescope.