LAB 02 - Telescopes

LAB 02 - Telescopes

In this lab, you will explore some of the properties of telescopes. The topic of telescopes is covered extensively in 1403 - MODULE 02 - TELESCOPES.pdf. You can reference this lecture to answer the questions in this lab.

The first few questions require you to find the magnification of a telescope.  To do this, all you need are two numbers: the focal length of the objective (lens or mirror depending on the type of telescope) and the focal length of the eyepiece.  Often the focal length of the objective is labeled on the side of the telescope tube. 

The focal length of an eyepiece is usually printed on the metal rim around the glass you look through.  The focal length of the objective for a particular telescope does not change, so to change the magnification, all you do is change the eyepiece.  That's why telescopes will come with an assortment of eyepieces. 

Here's the formula for magnification:

Let's say you have a refracting telescope with an objective focal length of 1000 millimeters (mm).  You decide to put in one of your eyepieces labeled 20 mm.  The magnification you would achieve with this combination would be:

So, with a 1000 mm objective focal length and a 20 mm eyepiece focal length, you would see objects in the sky at 50 times magnification.  Scroll to the bottom if you would like to watch this formula explained in a video:

How to calculate magnification from the fine folks at Celestron Telescopes.

Steps:

• ANSWER each question 
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