![]() X-ray mirrors use the slightly angled side of the paraboloid. ![]() The Webb mirror, for example, is coated with a thin layer of gold so that it can reflect infrared light. Telescope mirrors are coated with different materials depending on the color of the light they need to reflect. (Backyard telescopes can also have mirrors, too.)Īn X-ray Mirror Assembly built for the X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission consists of a primary and secondary mirror, each containing 812 nested foil mirror segments. Large mirrors can be made thinner and lighter than lenses of the same size, which makes reflecting scopes ideal for sending to space. Reflecting telescopesĪ telescope that uses a mirror as its primary optical element is called a reflecting telescope. The first telescopes, developed in the 1600s, were refractors, as are many backyard telescopes today.īut very large lenses make refracting telescopes large and heavy, which makes them difficult to use in space. Like eyeglasses, the lenses bend, or refract, light passing through them. Refracting telescopesĪ telescope using a lens for its main optical element is called a refracting telescope. ![]() The larger a mirror or lens, the more light it collects, and the better its ability to detect fainter objects. The size of the main mirror or lens determines how well a telescope can collect light. Astronomers observe distant cosmic objects using telescopes that employ mirrors and lenses to gather and focus light.
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