From the Greek:tele = 'far' and skopein = 'to look or see'; teleskopos = 'far-seeing'

Hans Lippershey (1570 – 1619)

Hi There, I’m German telescope inventor Hans Lippershey! In 1608 after some

considerable messing about with optical lenses in my spectacle shop I submitted a

patent application for the ‘Dutch Perspective Glass’. It could magnify

objects by a factor of three. I never did receive that patent but was amply

compensated with a ton of cash! Auf Wiedersehen!

Galileo Galilei (1564 – 1642)

Buon Giorno! In 1609 I had heard about Hans Lippershey’s telescope

design and decided to build my own. It was great! (a magnification of

x33!). It was so great in fact that in 1610 I used it to discover three

moons orbiting the planet Jupiter! This supported Nicolaus Copernicus’

idea that the Earth was not the centre of the universe. Unfortunately

this got me into trouble with the Catholic Church (who eventually had

me put under house arrest for Heresy!). Still, never mind! Ciao!

Refracting Telescope

A refracting telescope (or spyglass) uses the principle of an objective lens to gather light and an eyepiece lens to focus it. The lenses refract (bend) the light. The greater the quality of the lens, the better the image.

Sir Isaac Newton (1643 – 1727)Somewhat typically, I, Sir

Isaac Newton have improved upon the original refracting telescope design

with my new reflecting telescope (built by me in 1670). This uses a big

mirror instead of a lens and is much less likely to suffer

distortion effects.

William Herschel (1738 – 1822)Hi! I’m William Herschel. In 1781 I discovered The

Planet Uranus and in 1789 I used this massive 12m telescope to discover a new moon of the planet

Saturn!

William Parsons (1800 – 1867)

Hi There! William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse here. In 1845 I

built the world’s biggest telescope (it had a 72” mirror!).

I used this telescope to show the spiral nature of galaxies, in fact I discovered the Whirlpool

Galaxy!

Reflecting Telescope

A reflecting telescope uses a system of curved mirrors to collect light. An eyepiece is used to focus the light for viewing. Nearly all large telescopes are reflectors. They are less likely to distort the images and are easier to make on a large scale.

Grote Reber (1911 – 2002)Gee Whiz! Hi there everyone! It’s

me! Grote Reber, the father of Radio Astronomy! Following on from Karl

Jansky’s 1933 discovery of radio waves emanating from the centre of the galaxy I built a radio telescope in

my back garden in 1937! This enabled me to complete a radio

frequency sky map in 1941! This in turn lead to an explosion in radio

astronomy at the end of the Second World War.

Jodrell Bank (1966 - ) Hi there! I’m the Lovell telescope at Jodrell Bank

in the North West of England. I’m the

biggest steerable radio telescope in the world

and am personally responsible for the

discovery of Pulsars in deep space!

Very Large Array (1980 - )Hello! I’m part of the Very Large

Array radio telescope in New Mexico. We started scanning the

skies in 1980. Each dish is 25 meters across and weighs 209 tonnes! These were used to

receive radio signals from the Voyager 2 spacecraft as it flew past

the planet Neptune! Impressive!

Chandra X-Ray Telescope

Hi there, I’m the Chadra X-ray telescope. This image is of me just

before I was carried into orbit by the space shuttle. I need to be up

there because the Earth’s atmosphere absorbs x-rays. One of my most famous discoveries was a

jet of x-rays emanating from a Supermassive Black Hole in the

constellation of Sagittarius.

Hubble Space Telescope (1990 - )

Hello, I’m the Hubble Space Telescope! I was launched in 1990 as an orbiting optical

telescope. I have a 4m mirror which has allowed me to capture some stunning images of deep space (like these ones on the right). I

still need periodic maintenance as I was originally only designed to work for five years!

Telescopes:Observing SpaceA Telescope is a device which makes things visible to the naked eye which we would not normally be able to see. The Earth’s atmosphere absorbs almost all electromagnetic radiation (except light, ultraviolet and radio waves). This limits the amount of information we can collect from space. We need to use satellites to collect data on the wavelengths of the spectrum that are absorbed high in the atmosphere. We can also use orbiting optical telescopes to get clearer views of deep space. These orbiting observatories have been used to discover gamma ray bursts, pulsars, black holes and extra solar planets.