Talk:Optical telescope

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Optical telescope is included in the 2007 Wikipedia for Schools, or is a candidate for inclusion in future versions. Please maintain high quality standards, and make an extra effort to include free images, because non-free images cannot be used on the CDs.

[edit] two primary types?

I have been cleaning up some of the telescope related articles (Reflecting telescopes, Catadioptric, Cassegrain reflector) (and seeking clarification via the web) and most references I am coming across state that there are "three basic types of telescopes: refractors, reflectors and catadioptrics". Is there a preferred nomenclature? i.e. are there three types (the third being catadioptric?) or are there only two types and a combination of the two (compound telescopes?) I am going to edit this article to fit what seems to be more prevalent but would appreciate any input.Halfblue 13:26, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Eye_relief - correction for the diagram "Keplerian telescope, schematic"

Look at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eyepiece http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_relief

The distance between the eye (3) and the eyepiece (2) doesn't have to be equal to the eyepiece focal length "f2" so the diagram: "Keplerian telescope, schematic" Should be corrected. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.179.253.187 (talk) 21:00, 2 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] More history?

The following was added to the intro at Telescope. I am moving it here because it seems to deal with specifically Optical telescopes. I am putting it in talk because some of it does not have much to do with telescopes (camera obscura, pinhole lenses, ect.), and it is full of un-cited claims. Fountains of Bryn Mawr (talk) 00:47, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Crystal Balls were used in China and India as lenses (possibly in the form of a camera obscura) to see at a distance as early as 400 BCE. Around 1000 CE, the Arabian astronomer and mathematician, Ibn al-Haytham, expanding and scientifically testing theories of Euclid, Ptolomey, and Aristotle, wrote about both pinhole lenses and concave lenses in his mathematical book on vision. Roger Bacon wrote about combining lenses to see at a distance in the 13th century, as did the 16th Century Italian spectacle maker, Giambattista della Porta (1538-1615), and a host of others.