Module P7 L5

Chromatic Aberration
One problem with very powerful
telescopes that rely on refraction is
chromatic aberration.

This is when the lens focuses different

colours in different positions.

This leads to a blurred image.

The effect is worse with more powerful

lenses.
 Experiment
How do convex and concave mirrors affect light?
 Mirror, Mirror
A curved mirror can be used to focus light rays instead of a lens.
It will not suffer from chromatic aberration because it relies on reflection and
not refraction. (All colours are reflected [but not refracted] equally.)
Newton’s Telescope

In 1670, Sir Isaac Newton

designed a telescope that
used a curved mirror to
replace the objective lens.
Ray Paths in Reflecting Telescopes

You would expect that

this mirror would block
out part of the image: but
surprisingly it does not.
Reflecting Telescopes
Now all powerful telescopes
rely on large mirrors to focus
light.

This is the mirror of the Hubble

Space Telescope. It is quite
small because it had to fit inside
a satellite.

The largest telescope in the

world has computer-controlled
segmented mirrors which are
10 m across.
 What is Diffraction?
WIDE GAP NARROW GAP

wavelength

Diffraction is the spreading out of waves as they pass through a gap.

The spreading out is much more noticeable when the gap is small compared to
the wavelength.
Large gap = little diffraction; Small gap = large amount of diffraction
 Diffraction and Telescopes
Picture two stars next to each
other in the night sky.

Their light will be diffracted

(spread out) as it passes through a
narrow aperture.
It will be harder to tell them apart
or resolve them.

A telescope should have a wide aperture

for it to have the best resolving power.
 Diffraction and Telescopes
Visible light has a typical wavelength of 10-7 m.
−7 1 1
10 m= 7 m= m
10 10 000 000

Question 1: Is diffraction going to be a problem with

the optical telescope shown below?
0.10 m
Answer: Diffraction is not going
to be a problem with this
telescope. The aperture is much
larger than the wavelength it is
meant to capture so there will be
no observable diffraction.
Microwaves have wavelengths of a few cm. Radio
waves have wavelengths of 10s or 100s of metres.
Question: Which of the radio telescopes shown below should be used to
observe
a) 15 m radio waves; b) 15 cm Microwaves
Give a reason to support each answer.

76 m
2m

Answer b: This is suitable for observing 15 Answer a: This is suitable for

cm micro waves as its aperture is large observing 15 m radio waves as
enough to prevent noticeable diffraction. its aperture is large enough to
However, it would diffract 15 m micro prevent noticeable diffraction
waves.
 Observing Long Wavelength Radio Waves

305 m

Two or more radio telescopes can work

The Arecibo radio telescope has an
aperture of 305 m.
as one larger telescope. The VLBA
(Very Long Baseline Array) can act as a
radio telescope with an aperture of 36
km (the telescopes can be moved along
railway tracks).