Abstract
The first element of any astronomical imaging system is the telescope. Telescopes are of course the means by which the light from distant objects is collected and focused, but telescopes must do more than gather light. Providing excellent telescope optics, good tracking, and minimum air turbulence in the telescope dome are important steps in obtaining good images. Following a brief historical review of telescope development, we consider some basic optical properties and their applications to telescope design.
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Web sites
Gemini Observatory: http://www.gemini.edu/
optics/english/download/abbe_vdnd_e.pdf
KAIT: http://astro.berkeley.edu/~bait/kait.html
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Liverpool Telescope: http://telescope.livjm.ac.uk/
Mauna Kea Observatory: http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/mko/
Pan-STARRS: http://pan-starrs.ifa.hawaii.edu/public/home.html
Steward Observatory Mirror Lab: http://mirrorlab.as.arizona.edu/index.php
Sabaru telescope: http://www.naoj.org/Introduction/telescope.html
VLT/ESO: http://www.eso.org/public/
WIYN telescope: http://www.noao.edu/wiyn/
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© 2008 Praxis Publishing Ltd, Chichester, UK
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(2008). Telescopes. In: Electronic Imaging in Astronomy. Springer Praxis Books. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-76583-7_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-76583-7_3
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