Download - Light, Optics and Telescopes
Light, Optics and Telescopes
The Electromagnetic Spectrum
Photons of different energies radiate at different wavelengths or frequencies
wavelength x frequency = velocity of light ( c)
= c
c = 5 x 105 km/s
c = 186,000 miles/s
Atmospheric Windows
Visible and radio
Physical Properties of Light
Refraction
Reflection
Refraction is wavelength dependent
Formation of an image
Telescopes -- Refractors
Yerkes Observatory – Lake Geneva, Williams Bay Wisconsin
20th Century Large Reflectors
Mt Wilson 100-inch – 100 yrs old
Cerro Tololo 4 -meter
Palomar 200-inch
Modern Observatories
Cerro Tololo Interamerican Obs.
Kitt Peak National Obs.
Tucson Arizona
Very Large Telescopes Mauna Kea
ESO – VLT
MMT on Mt. Hopkins, AZ
Minnesota’s $5M (private) investment in a very large telescope (> $100M)
Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) Mt. Graham Arizona
Design
Other partners -- University of Arizona, Germany, Italy, Ohio State University, University of Virginia, Notre Dame
Radio Telescopes
Arecibo
Very Large Array – VLA
Telescopes in Space -- other wavelengths – UV, X ray, gamma ray and far-IR