Building an Optical Telescope
Example of a telescope built by students.Copyright Christopher Alba, Shereen Mejia
Students learn how an optical telescope works before designing and building their own telescope to image the moon. Once they design and build their telescope, students test their telescopes by imaging the moon with and without the telescope using their smartphones. This is an excellent way for students to better understand, by doing, the engineering required to make a good telescope and observe the night sky.
An astronomical instrument engineer designs, builds, tests, and maintains instruments used in astronomical research, including telescopes, spectrometers, and detectors. Their work is crucial for gathering data from celestial objects, such as stars, planets, and galaxies. Astronomical instrument engineers play a key role in expanding our understanding of the universe, enabling scientists to make more precise observations and uncover new phenomena across cosmic distances.
After this activity, students should be able to:
- Describe how an optical telescope works.
- Discuss properties of a telescope that lead to high-quality images.
- Use the engineering design process to design, build, test, and improve a prototype telescope.