-
Where it all begun
The first ideas and concepts of the telescope were made by Hans Lippershey in 1608. He wanted a device that could magnify things up to three times their actual size. In this device he had concave eyepiece aligned with a convex objective lens. In 1609 Galileo had heard of Lippershey's idea and stole it and modified the telescope so that he could see as far as Jupiter. Galileo's new telescope was now much more powerful. Exact date unknown
http://www.space.com/21950-who-invented-the-telescope.html -
Huygens steps in
Astronomer Christian Huygens builds the most powerful telescope ever, at this time, after seeing that Galileo's telescope can see to Jupiter. Huygens' new telescope is so powerful at that time, that it could see as far as our solar system could go. Huygens used his invention to study mostly Saturn and found out the true shape of it's rings. Exact date unknown
http://www.kidsastronomy.com/telescopesD.htm -
Newton finds a problem
Sir Isaac Newton studies the new telescopes being made and discovers a problem. He sees that the reflection of the eight going through the prisms ins't allowing the full image to be seen correctly and can't be fixed. He decides to make a new and more effective version of the telescope. Exact date unknown
http://www.kidsastronomy.com/telescopesD.htm -
Bigger and better
Laurent Cassegrain was a catholic priest from France and he wanted to improve the telescope. He came up with the idea to add mirrors to the telescope and that was a big hit. He made this new telescope and named it after him- the Cassegrain telescope. Exact date unknown
http://www.kidsastronomy.com/telescopesD.htm -
Biggest telescope yet
The largest telescope, at this time, was built at Birr Castle and was called “Leviathan of Parsonstown”. This monstrous telescope was built by William Parsons and with his new telescope he was the first person to see the spiral arms of another galaxy. Exact date unknown
http://www.kidsastronomy.com/telescopesD.htm -
A whole new generation
Grote Reber, an american engineer, created ideas for a whole new generation of telescopes called radio telescopes. Reber designed and built a telescope that could see radio waves. Radio waves are invisible to human eyes, but with this new and improved telescope we can see them. Exact date unknown
http://www.kidsastronomy.com/telescopesD.htm -
NASA gets creative
NASA created a new telescope, one that could be sent into space to get better information than the telescopes located here on Earth. The Hubble Space Telescope was the first telescope to be launched into space. Hubble, to this day, still gives us a very clear view of the stars and planets. http://www.kidsastronomy.com/telescopesD.htm -
Even bigger
The first telescope was a little stick with a couple lenses in it, and not the telescopes are as big as buildings and can see light years away. One of these telescopes are the W. M. Keck Observatory. It was built in Hawaii at 13,600 feet above sea level so that the scientists that operate the telescopes have a clear view of the sky to observe space. They are the second largest optical telescopes in the world. Exact date unknown
http://www.kidsastronomy.com/telescopesD.htm
