AS 101 – Lab: Telescopes
Your Name & Your Lab Partner’s Name
Due Date
Pre-Lab
1. Make a sketch showing how light is focused with a lens. Make sure to label u, the distance from the lens to the
object, and v, the distance from the lens to the image.
2. What is the orientation of the image with respect to the orientation of the object?
3. What is a refracting telescope?
4. Define dispersion and diffraction?
5. What is an aperture, and what are aberrations in the image?
AS 101 – Lab: Telescopes
Your Name & Your Lab Partner’s Name
Due Date
3 Page Limit : Please Attach Your Data Pages
Introduction:
State the goal of, and briefly describe the experiment you performed.
Equipment:
List the pieces of equipment you used.
Refracting Telescope:
Reflecting Telescope:
Optics Kit:
Procedure:
Describe the steps of your experiment.
Refracting Telescope:
Reflecting Telescope:
Optics Kit:
Results:
Refracting Telescope:
***Be sure to round your average focal lengths to properly suit your standard deviations
Objective
Diameter
Average Focal Length
Standard Deviation
Eyepiece 1
Diameter
Average Focal Length
Standard Deviation
Separation (theo)
Separation (best)
Magnification (est)
Magnification (calc)
Eyepiece 2
Diameter
Average Focal Length
Standard Deviation
Separation (theo)
Separation (best)
Magnification (est)
Magnification (calc)
Observations:
What was the orientation of the image?
Describe any aberrations that you noticed with either eyepiece.
You used different sized apertures in conjunction with your telescope. How did the resolution of your
telescope change as you did this?
What law of optics is this testing? Did your observations agree with this law?
AS 101 – Lab: Telescopes
Your Name & Your Lab Partner’s Name
Due Date
Reflecting Telescope:
What was the orientation of the image?
Describe any aberrations that you noticed.
Calculate the magnification of the reflecting telescope here:
Sketch the path of light rays through the reflecting telescope:
Optics Kit: Recreate your sketches of two optical systems here.
Sketch 1
Discussion:
Sketch 2
Compare the refracting telescope that you built with the reflecting telescope that was built for you
on the front lab bench.
From your observations, what are some of the noticeable differences between the two telescopes? Discuss
their construction, image quality, and aberrations.
Which telescope collects more light? How much more?
The diameter of the Hubble Space Telescope is 2.4 meters. The proposed diameter of the next generation
space telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope, is 6.4 meters. Compare the light collecting power of
these telescopes. Which telescope has a higher resolution, why?
If you consider the diffraction limit and the light collecting power of modern telescopes, the Keck telescope
in Hawaii, which has a diameter of 10 meters, is far superior to both of these state-of-the-art space
telescopes. Why do we bother putting telescopes in space? List as many reasons as you can.