Secrets of the
Telescope History

You’ll find out why astronomers and telescopes are inseparable.

Invention of telescopes has led to
historic breakthroughs in astronomy

Invention of telescopes has led to historic breakthroughs in astronomy

The first telescope was invented by a Dutch optitian in 1608, which later enabled closer observations of celestial bodies than observations through the human eye. After hearing about this invention, Galileo Galilei from Italy made a telescope a year later, and applied it to astronomy. Invention of telescopes have led to many discoveries in astronomy.

Galileo Galilei, an Italian astronomer, made a telescope, and became the first to apply telescopes to astronomical observations about 400 years ago.

$Refracting telescope made of 2 lenses$

Galileo made a telescope by simply combining a convex lens and a concave lens, which is commonly called a Galilean telescope.

The book entitled Starry Messenger was published by Galileo in 1610 to announce the discoveries of craters on Earth’s Moon, and existence of Jupiter’s moons.

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Invention of reflecting telescopes led to larger telescopes

It is invention of reflecting telescopes, which use mirrors instead of lenses, that enabled production of large telescopes, whereas it is difficult to achieve this with refracting telescopes. Isaac Newton made the first known functional reflecting telescope in 1672. Along with advanced technology for producing mirrors, this invention became a push for a rise in large-sized telescopes.

The English scientist Isaac Newton, known for the discovery of the law of universal gravitation, developed a theory of color based on experiments with a prism to split up white light into 7 colors.

Reflecting telescope using mirrors instead of lenses

Reflecting telescope (Newtonian telescope)

Reflecting telescopes, invented by Newton with use of mirrors to gather light, enable a more compact system, and increase image sharpness in comparison with Galilean telescopes.

Large telescopes from all over the world

The reflecting telescope design is more suitable for large telescopes, because the body does not need to be long for larger mirrors, while refracting telescopes tend to be large and heavy.

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Astronomy’s advanced technology is all around us

Astronomers have been striving to solve unanswered questions about the Universe, leading to significant progress in technology for telescopes and instruments. Advanced technology developed for astronomy is used in our daily life. Astronomy is not something distant from us, but in fact very close to our life.

Before photography was invented in the 19th century, sketching was the only way to record observations through telescopes.

Significant advancement of imaging technology

The advent of a Charge Coupled Device (CCD) in the 20th century marked the introduction of digital imaging in astronomy, taking over the main use of photographic plates and films.