Telescopes

Glossary

Magnification

  1. Thought that the only (or most important) function of telescopes is magnification
  2. Thought objects could be magnified indefinitely by any telescope with correct lenses
  3. Thought the only way to change magnification is to use another telescope
  4. Thought telescopes can have unlimited magnification
  5. Thought longer telescopes provide more magnification than shorter ones
  6. Thought telescopes make objects appear their “real” size
  7. Thought telescopes magnified stars
  8. Thought mirrors could not be used to magnify

Resolving Power

  1. Thought telescopes couldn’t resolve planets
  2. Thought smaller telescopes enable astronomers to see smaller details
  3. Thought telescopes can resolve stellar surfaces
  4. Thought optical telescopes could, in principle, see all objects in space
  5. Thought telescopes can only see stars
  6. Thought optical telescopes could, in principle, see more matter than other types
  7. Thought the Dawes’ limit was on magnification

Types/Optics

  1. Thought radio telescopes transmit signals to stars, rather than receive signals
  2. Thought reflecting telescopes are inferior to refracting telescopes
  3. Thought all telescopes use mirrors
  4. Thought telescope mirrors were coated on their bottom sides
  5. Thought all lenses are made of glass
  6. Thought only optical telescopes exist
  7. Thought non-optical telescopes don’t reveal much, compared to optical telescopes
  8. Thought all telescopes are refractors
  9. Thought telescopes never have more than two mirrors
  10. Thought telescopes require only 1 lens
  11. Thought telescope lenses/mirrors are flat, circular disks
  12. Thought secondary mirrors block all the light from certain objects in the telescope’s field of view
  13. Thought only way to use a telescope is to look in it
  14. Thought spectroscopes are only used to measure radio waves
  15. Thought gamma ray telescopes have not been invented yet
  16. Thought all telescopes are still small
  17. Thought telescopes primary research guide for astronomers
  18. Thought lenses are spherical
  19. Thought Newtonian telescopes are useful for research
  20. Thought telescope images are right side up
  21. Thought telescopes were invented by Galileo
  22. Thought a spectrograph is a type of telescope
  23. Thought infrared telescopes could be used anywhere
  24. Thought all telescopes are the same except for size
  25. Thought telescopes do not change image except for magnification
  26. Thought refractors use mirrors
  27. Thought lenses could not sag (due to gravity)
  28. Thought there is only one type
  29. Thought all telescopes are reflecting
  30. Thought a camera instead of a CCD is still the preferred way of producing image in astronomy
  31. Thought telescopes cannot see beyond the solar system
  32. Thought light would not bend as it went through glass
  33. Thought defects such as bubbles do not occur in lenses
  34. Thought defects with inverted (upside down and backward) images are defective

Hubble/Observatories

  1. Thought Hubble space telescope is unusable
  2. Thought warping of Hubble space telescope is inches or feet
  3. Thought all telescopes are on Earth, that there are none in space
  4. Thought that observatories are built on mountains or in space is to get them closer to the stars
  5. Thought telescopes were only used to look at stars
  6. Thought the Hubble could take sharper images because it was closer
  7. Thought that Hubble made the Hubble Space Telescope