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Telescope Instrumentation

Instruments

When people first used telescopes, they looked through them and made drawings or notes of what they saw. Then cameras were invented, and we could save this information as a picture instead.

A 2.6-metre telescope, pointing upwards, inside its enclosure.
This work by ESO is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
The VLT Survey Telescope inside of its enclosure

Semiconductors

Semiconductors are an important part of CCD cameras (Charge-coupled Devices). They help to convert light into a current in the technology.

A dotted cube with a grey sphere at each corner. There is a smaller outline of a grey cube inside, tilted at an angle. Again, there are grey spheres at each corner, and some of these spheres connect to each other with grey lines. The result is a crystal structure.
This work by The Schools' Observatory is licensed under All rights reserved
3D silicon crystal; each atom is bound to 4 others.

Telescopes Quiz

Telescopes are used to magnify distant objects. They are a vital tool for astronomy. Over the last few hundred years, scientists and engineers have built bigger and better telescopes, revealing the mysteries of the Universe. But how much do you know about telescopes on Earth and beyond?