Telescope Advantages And Disadvantages

Refracting telescopes are one of the four main type of telescopes in the world. The refractor telescope allows the human eye to see more than it is capable of through a lens. The lens work by allowing more light to be gathered in the eye than a regular eye can garner on its own. The refracting telescope enables the naked eye to see objects afar close-up in a clear focus by using a lens to concentrate the light.

Refracting telescopes mainly use two lenses to focus light to gather in the eye of the beholder. Both lenses are shaped into a ‘convex’ form. Convex mirrors curve outwards and demonstrating in the diagram above, they function by bending the light inwards into the human eye. This is the reason why distant and large images appear smaller and clear

The inside of the tube is closed off from the outside so no environmental factors such as, air currents, temperature and humidity effects could affect the quality of the image projected into the eye. This is one point that puts refracting telescopes at an advantage to reflecting telescopes because the images are more steadier and clearer.

Unfortunately, as amazing as the refractor telescope seems to be, it has its disadvantages. All refractor telescopes have a problem called chromatic aberration (color deviation or distortion); when a rainbow of colour is viewed around the image. This is the result of the natural motion of waves of light. The color around the object demonstrate the wavelength of light projected off the object and passing through the lens. Longer wavelengths produce warmer colors like red and the light is bent in towards the normal less than shorter wavelengths of light. Shorter wavelengths project cool, bluer colors. Chromatic aberration can ruin an image in the distance for the