Chapter 5

Light and Telescopes

Guidepost
In the early chapters of this book, you looked at the sky the way ancient
astronomers did, with the unaided eye. In this chapter, you will see how
modern astronomers use telescopes and other instruments to gather and
focus light and its related forms of radiation. That will lead you to answer
five essential questions about the work of astronomers:

• What is light?
• How do telescopes work, and how are they limited?
• How do astronomers record and analyze light?
• Why must some telescopes go into space?
Guidepost (continued)
Astronomy is almost entirely an observational science, so astronomers
must think carefully about the limitations of their instruments. That will
introduce you to an important question about scientific data:

• How do we know? What limits the detail you can

see in an image?
Outline
I. Radiation: Information from Space
A. Light as a Wave and a Particle
B. The Electromagnetic Spectrum

II. Optical Telescopes

A. Two Kinds of Telescopes
B. The Powers of a Telescope
C. New-Generation Telescopes
D. Interferometry

III. Astronomy from Space

A. The Ends of the Visual Spectrum
B. Telescopes in Space
I. Radiation: Information from
Space

Common Misconception:

For some people, radiation means threat.

So what is radiation?

Anything that radiates from a source.

A. Light and Other Forms of Radiation

In astronomy, we cannot perform experiments

with our objects (stars, galaxies, …).

The only way to investigate them, is by

analyzing the light (and other radiation) which
we observe from them.
What is light as a whole?
Light as a Wave (1)


c = 300,000 km/s =
3*108 m/s

• Light waves are characterized by a wavelength and a

frequency f.

• f and  are related through f = c/

Light as a Wave (2)

• Wavelengths of light are measured in units

of nanometers (nm) or Ångström (Å):

1 nm = 10-9 m
1 Å = 10-10 m = 0.1 nm

Visible light has wavelengths between

4000 Å and 7000 Å (= 400 – 700 nm).
Wavelengths and Colors

Different colors of visible light

correspond to different wavelengths.
Light as Particles
• Light can also appear as particles, called photons
(explains, e.g., photoelectric effect).
• A photon has a specific energy E, proportional to
the frequency f:

E = h*f

h = 6.626x10-34 J*s is the Planck constant.

B. The Electromagnetic Spectrum

Wavelength

Frequency

High
Need satellites flying air
to observe planes or
satellites
 Another Misconception

Radio Waves are related to sound.

No.

Radio waves are a type of light

 Scientific Argument

• What would you see if your eyes were

sensitive only to X-rays?

• Would be in the dark if your eyes were

sensitive only to radio wavelengths?
 Just to make sure…..
Most waves require a material medium in which to be
transmitted:

* water waves travel along the surface of water

* sound waves move through air
* earthquake waves propagate through the solid earth
* e.m waves may propagate through a pure vacuum at
the speed of light c.
 Summary (1)

• Light is a form of electromagnetic wave.

• Complete electromagnetic spectrum includes: gamma rays,

X-rays, ultraviolet (UV), visible light, infrared (IR),
microwaves, and radio waves.

• Earth’s atmosphere is transparent in only two atmospheric

windows: visible light and radio.
II. Optical Telescopes
 Video Trailer:

Eyes on the Sky – 400 Years of

Telescopic Discoveries
II. Optical Telescopes
Astronomers use
telescopes to gather
more light from
astronomical objects.

The larger the

telescope, the more
light it gathers.
A. Two kinds of Optical Telescopes: Refracting/Reflecting

Refracting
Telescope:
Lens focuses
light onto the
focal plane
Focal length

Reflecting
Telescope:
Concave Mirror
focuses light
onto the focal
Focal length plane

Almost all modern telescopes are reflecting telescopes.

Secondary Optics
In reflecting
telescopes:
Secondary
mirror, to re-
direct the light
path towards the
back or side of
the incoming light
path.

Eyepiece:
To view and
enlarge the
small image
produced in the
focal plane of
the primary
optics.
Disadvantages of Refracting Telescopes

• Chromatic aberration: Different wavelengths are

focused at different focal lengths (prism effect).

Can be corrected,
but not eliminated by
second lens out of
different material

• Difficult and expensive to produce:

All surfaces must be perfectly shaped;
• Glass must be flawless;
• Lens can only be supported at the edges
 Review Questions
1. ____________ has (have) wavelengths that are longer than visible
light.
a. Gamma-rays
b. Ultraviolet light
c. Infrared radiation
d. X-rays

2. Chromatic aberration occurs in a __________telescope when

a. reflecting; different colors of light do not focus at the same point.
b. refracting; different colors of light do not focus at the same point.
c. reflecting; light of different wavelengths get absorbed by the mirror.
d. refracting; light of different wavelengths get absorbed by the lens.

3. List two main reasons why a reflecting telescope is better than a

refracting telescope.
 Chapter Summary (2)
• There are two types of optical telescopes: refracting
and reflecting telescopes.

• Refracting telescopes use a primary lens, and a

reflecting telescope use a primary mirror.

• Refracting telescopes suffer from chromatic

aberration and expensive to make.

• Reflecting telescopes are easier to build and less

expensive than refracting telescopes of the same
diameter.
 B. The Powers of a Telescope
1. Light-gathering power
2. Resolving power
3. Magnifying power
 The Powers of a Telescope (1) : Size Does Matter
Video 2: Bigger is Better

1. Light-gathering
power:
Depends on the surface
area A of the primary lens /
mirror, proportional to
radius squared: D = 2R

A =  R2
Small Telescope

Large Telescope
The Powers of a Telescope (2)

2. Resolving power:
Wave nature of light => The telescope
aperture produces fringe rings that set
a limit to the resolution of the
telescope.

Resolving power = minimum

angular distance min between two
objects that can be separated.

min = 1.22 (/D)

For optical wavelengths, this gives
min

min = 11.6 arcsec / D[cm]

 Andromeda galaxy using telescopes of different resolutions

10' 1'

5" 1"

The smaller the resolution,

the better is the image.
 Seeing
Weather
conditions
and
turbulence in
the
atmosphere
set further
limits to the
quality of
astronomical
images.

Bad seeing Good seeing

Cause of Bad Seeing – Jupiter Comparison
The Powers of a Telescope (3)

3. Magnifying Power = ability of the

telescope to make the image appear
bigger.

The magnification depends on the ratio of focal

lengths of the primary mirror/lens (Fo) and the
eyepiece (Fe):
M = Fo/Fe

A larger magnification does not improve the

resolving power of the telescope!
 Another Misconception

• The purpose of a telescope is to magnify

images.

• Magnifying power is the least important of

the three powers.
The Best Location for a Telescope

Far away from civilization – to avoid light pollution

The Best Location for a Telescope (2)

Paranal Observatory (ESO), Chile

On high mountain-tops – to avoid atmospheric turbulence (  seeing)

and other weather effects
C. New-Generation Telescopes
Traditional Telescopes (1)

Secondary mirror

Traditional primary mirror: sturdy,

heavy to avoid distortions
Traditional Telescopes (2)

The 4-m
Mayall
Telescope
at Kitt Peak
National
Observatory
(Arizona)
Advances in Modern Telescope Design (1)
Modern computer technology has made significant
advances in telescope design possible:
Active Optics: Video 3
Segmented mirror

1. Lighter mirrors with

lighter support
structures, to be
controlled dynamically
by computers Floppy mirror
Adaptive Optics
Computer-controlled mirror support adjusts the mirror surface
(many times per second) to compensate for distortions by
atmospheric turbulence
Adaptive optics
using laser technology.
to correct for
atmospheric smearing
Advances in Modern Telescope Design (2)

2. Simpler, stronger mountings (“Alt-azimuth mountings”)

to be controlled by computers
Examples of Modern Telescope Design (1)

Design of the
Large Binocular
Telescope (LBT)
Examples of Modern Telescope Design (2)

The Very Large Telescope (VLT)

8.1-m mirror of the Gemini Telescopes

 Chapter Summary (3)

•Light-gathering power
Light-Gathering-Power refers
(LGP) to the ability
is proportional of aof the
to the area
lens or the
telescope tomirror,
producei.e., LGP  D2images.
bright

•Resolving power(RP)
Resolving-Power refers to theproportional
is inversely ability oftoathe
telescope tothe
linear size of
lens orfine
resolve the mirror,
detail.i.e., RP  1/D -- Resolving power:

•Magnifying power,
Magnifying-Power the
(MP ability
or M) is justto
themake
ratio of an
the object look
focal length of
bigger, is a less
the objective overimportant telescope
the focal length of the lenspower.
or the mirror, i.e.,
M=fo/fe

•Adaptive optics techniques involve measuring seeing

distortions caused by Earth’s atmosphere and
corrected by using laser technologies.
 Let us compare…..
A student named “Antar” has a reflecting telescope with a
diameter of 20 cm having a focal length of 100 cm equipped
with an eyepiece of focal length of 0.4 cm. Another student
named “Kais” has a refracting telescope with a diameter of
10 cm having a focal length of 100 cm and equipped with an
eyepiece of focal length of 0.2 cm.

1.Antar’s telescope has better light gathering power, but less

magnifying power than Kais’s telescope
2.Antar’s telescope has less light gathering power, but better
magnifying power than Kais’s telescope
3.Kais’s telescope has better light gathering power, but less
magnifying power than Antar’s telescope
4.Kais’s telescope has less light gathering power, and less
magnifying power than Antar’s telescope
D. Interferometry
Recall: Resolving power of a telescope depends on
diameter D:
min = 1.22 /D.

This holds true even

if not the entire
surface is filled out.

• Combine the signals

from several smaller
telescopes to simulate
one big mirror 

Interferometry
 Examples….

Very Large Array Keck Observatory

27 Radio Telescopes Hawaii (USA)
NM (USA) 10m mirror

ESO Paranal
Observatory
8.2m mirror
CCD Imaging: Video 4
CCD = Charge-coupled device
• More sensitive than photographic
plates
• Data can be read directly into
computer memory, allowing easy
electronic manipulations

Negative image to
enhance contrasts

False-color image to visualize

brightness contours
CCD Chip: Charge-coupled device
 Scientific Argument

• Why do astronomers build optical observatories

at the tops of mountains?

• What considerations do astronomers make in

choosing the location of a new radio telescope?
 Chapter Summary (4)

•Interferometry refers to the technique of connecting

two or more separate telescopes to act as a single
large telescope.

•Modern electronic systems such as charge-coupled

devices (CCDs) have replaced both photographic
plates and photometers.
III. Astronomy from Space
 III. Astronomy from Space
• Radiation that cannot reach Earth’s surface:
– Infrared
– Ultraviolet
– X-rays
– Gamma ray

Need Space Telescopes

Video 5
Radio Infrared Visible Ultraviolet X-rays Gamma
 Infrared Astronomy
• Most infrared radiation is absorbed in the lower atmosphere.

NASA infrared
telescope on Mauna
Kea, Hawaii

Infrared cameras need However, from high

mountain tops or
to be cooled to very low
high-flying air planes,
temperatures, usually some infrared
using liquid nitrogen. radiation can still be
observed.
NASA’s Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF)

Infrared light with wavelengths much longer

than visible light (“Far Infrared”) can only be
observed from space.
Ultraviolet Astronomy
• Ultraviolet radiation with  < 290 nm is completely
absorbed in the ozone layer of the atmosphere.

• Ultraviolet astronomy has to be done from satellites.

• Several successful ultraviolet astronomy satellites:

IUE, EUVE, FUSE

• Ultraviolet radiation traces hot (tens of thousands of

degrees), moderately ionized gas in the Universe.
 The Hubble Space Telescope
• Launched in 1990; maintained and
upgraded by several space shuttle
service missions throughout the
1990s and early 2000’s

• Avoids turbulence in the Earth’s atmosphere

• Extends imaging and spectroscopy to (invisible)
infrared and ultraviolet
Gamma-Ray Astronomy
Gamma-rays: most energetic electromagnetic radiation;
traces the most violent processes in the Universe

The Compton
Gamma-Ray
Observatory
X-Ray Astronomy
• X-rays are completely absorbed in the atmosphere.
• X-ray astronomy has to be done from satellites.

X-rays trace hot

(million degrees),
highly ionized gas
in the Universe.

NASA’s
Chandra X-ray
Observatory
False Color Images
 Chapter Summary (1)
• Light is a form of electromagnetic wave.

• Complete electromagnetic spectrum includes: gamma rays,

X-rays, ultraviolet (UV), visible light, infrared (IR),
microwaves, and radio waves.

• Earth’s atmosphere is transparent in only two atmospheric

windows: visible light and radio.

• There are two types of optical telescopes: refracting and

reflecting telescopes.

• Refracting telescopes use a primary lens, and a reflecting

telescope use a primary mirror.
 Chapter Summary (2)
• Refracting telescopes suffer from chromatic aberration and
expensive to make.

• Reflecting telescopes are easier to build and less expensive

than refracting telescopes of the same diameter.

• Light-gathering power refers to the ability of a telescope to

produce bright images.

• Resolving power refers to the ability of a telescope to resolve

fine detail.

• Magnifying power, the ability to make an object look bigger,

is a less important telescope power.
 Chapter Summary (3)
• Modern electronic systems such as charge-coupled devices
(CCDs) have replaced both photographic plates and
photometers.

• Adaptive optics techniques involve measuring seeing

distortions caused by Earth’s atmosphere and corrected by
using laser technologies.

• Interferometry refers to the technique of connecting two or

more separate telescopes to act as a single large telescope.
Rap Astronomy