List of telescope types - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

There are many ways of categorizing telescopes, and within major classifications, there are usually many variations due to professional, amateur, and commercial sub-types. Telescopes can be classified by optical design, such as refracting telescope

Refracting telescope

A refracting or refractor telescope is a type of optical telescope that uses a lens as its objective to form an image . The refracting telescope design was originally used in spy glasses and astronomical telescopes but is also used for long focus camera lenses...

s. Telescopes can also be classified by where they are placed, such as space telescopes. One major determining factor is type of light, or particle being observed including devices referred to as "telescopes" that do not form an image or use optics. Some telescopes are classified by the task they perform; for example Solar telescope

Solar telescope

A solar telescope is a special purpose telescope used to observe the Sun. Solar telescopes usually detect light with wavelengths in, or not far outside, the visible spectrum.-Professional solar telescopes:...

s are all designs that look at the Sun

Sun

The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...

, Dobsonian telescope

Dobsonian telescope

A Dobsonian telescope is an alt-azimuth mounted newtonian telescope design popularized by the amateur astronomer John Dobson starting in the 1960s. Dobson's telescopes featured a simplified mechanical design that was easy to manufacture from readily available components to create a large, portable,...

s are designed to be low cost and portable, Aerial telescope

Aerial telescope

An aerial telescope is a type of very-long-focal-length refracting telescope built in the second half of the 17th century that did not use a tube. Instead, the objective was mounted on a pole, tree, tower, building or other structure on a swivel ball-joint. The observer stood on the ground and held...

s overcame the optical shortcomings of 17th century objective lenses, etc.

List of optical telescope types

Optical telescope
Optical telescope
An optical telescope is a telescope which is used to gather and focus light mainly from the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum for directly viewing a magnified image for making a photograph, or collecting data through electronic image sensors....

s can be classified by three primary optical designs (refractor, reflector, or catadioptric), by sub-designs of these types, or by the task they perform. They all have their different advantages and disadvantages and they are used in different areas of professional

Astronomer

An astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...

and amateur astronomy

Amateur astronomy

Amateur astronomy, also called backyard astronomy and stargazing, is a hobby whose participants enjoy watching the night sky , and the plethora of objects found in it, mainly with portable telescopes and binoculars...

.

Refracting telescope
Refracting telescope
A refracting or refractor telescope is a type of optical telescope that uses a lens as its objective to form an image . The refracting telescope design was originally used in spy glasses and astronomical telescopes but is also used for long focus camera lenses...

s (Dioptrics

Dioptrics

Dioptrics is the study of the refraction of light, especially by lenses. Telescopes that create their image with an objective that is a convex lens are said to be "dioptric" telescopes....

)

Achromatic telescope
Achromatic telescope
The achromatic telescope is a refracting telescope that uses an achromatic lens to correct for chromatic aberration.-How it works:When an image passes through a lens, the light is refracted at different angles for different wavelengths. This produces focal lengths that are dependent on the color of...
- dialytic refractor
Apochromat
Apochromat
An apochromat, or apochromatic lens , is a photographic or other lens that has better correction of chromatic and spherical aberration than the much more common achromat lenses.-Explanation:...

ic
Binoculars
Binoculars
Binoculars, field glasses or binocular telescopes are a pair of identical or mirror-symmetrical telescopes mounted side-by-side and aligned to point accurately in the same direction, allowing the viewer to use both eyes when viewing distant objects...
- Opera glasses
  Opera glasses
  Opera glasses, also known as theater binoculars or Galilean binoculars, are compact, low-power optical magnification devices, usually used at performance events, whose name is derived from traditional use at opera performances. Magnification power below 5x is usually desired in these circumstances...
Monocular
Monocular
A monocular is a modified refracting telescope used to magnify the images of distant objects by passing light through a series of lenses and sometimes prisms; the use of prisms results in a lightweight telescope. Volume and weight are less than half those of binoculars of similar optical...
Non-achromatic
Non-achromatic objective
A non-achromatic objective is an objective lens which is not corrected for chromatic aberration. In telescopes they can a be pre-18th century simple single element objective lenses which were used before the invention of doublet achromatic lenses...
- Galilean telescope
- Keplerian Telescope
  - Aerial telescope
    Aerial telescope
    An aerial telescope is a type of very-long-focal-length refracting telescope built in the second half of the 17th century that did not use a tube. Instead, the objective was mounted on a pole, tree, tower, building or other structure on a swivel ball-joint. The observer stood on the ground and held...
Superachromat
Superachromat
The superachromat or superachromatic lens was first conceived and developed by Max Herzberger as the ultimately well-corrected lens. The color shift curve of a superachromat is a quartic, meaning that in theory four separate colors can be brought to focus in the same plane, while simultaneously...
Varifocal gas-lens telescope

Reflecting telescope
Reflecting telescope
A reflecting telescope is an optical telescope which uses a single or combination of curved mirrors that reflect light and form an image. The reflecting telescope was invented in the 17th century as an alternative to the refracting telescope which, at that time, was a design that suffered from...

s (Catoptrics

Catoptrics

Catoptrics deals with the phenomena of reflected light and image-forming optical systems using mirrors. From the Greek κατοπτρικός ....

)

Cassegrain telescope
- Dall–Kirkham telescope
- Nasmyth telescope
  Nasmyth telescope
  The Nasmyth telescope, also called Nasmyth-Cassegrain, is a reflecting telescope developed by James Nasmyth. It is a modified form of a Cassegrain telescope, mounted on an alt-azimuth mount.-Scheme:...
- Ritchey–Chrétien telescope
Gregorian telescope
Gregorian telescope
The Gregorian telescope is a type of reflecting telescope designed by Scottish mathematician and astronomer James Gregory in the 17th century, and first built in 1673 by Robert Hooke...
Herrig telescope
Herschelian telescope
Large liquid mirror telescope
Newtonian telescope
Newtonian telescope
The Newtonian telescope is a type of reflecting telescope invented by the British scientist Sir Isaac Newton , using a concave primary mirror and a flat diagonal secondary mirror. Newton’s first reflecting telescope was completed in 1668 and is the earliest known functional reflecting telescope...
- Dobsonian telescope
  Dobsonian telescope
  A Dobsonian telescope is an alt-azimuth mounted newtonian telescope design popularized by the amateur astronomer John Dobson starting in the 1960s. Dobson's telescopes featured a simplified mechanical design that was easy to manufacture from readily available components to create a large, portable,...
Pfund telescope
Pfund telescope
The Pfund telescope, originated by A. H. Pfund, provides another method for achieving a fixed telescope focal point in space regardless of where the telescope line of sight is pointed. This configuration utilizes a two-axis feed flat mirror to reflect starlight into a fixed paraboloid of revolution...
Schiefspiegler telescope
Stevick–Paul telescope
Toroidal reflector / Yolo telescope
Toroidal reflector
A toroidal mirror is a form of parabolic reflector which has a different focal distance depending on the angle of the mirror. The curvature is actually that of an elliptic paraboloid with a \ne b. If the shape were that of a toroid, the mirror would exhibit spherical aberration.Toroidal mirrors...

Catadioptric telescopes (Catadioptrics)

Argunov–Cassegrain telescope
Catadioptric dialytes
Klevtsov–Cassegrain telescope
Lurie–Houghton telescope
Maksutov telescope
Maksutov telescope
The Maksutov is a catadioptric telescope design that combines a spherical mirror with a weakly negative meniscus lens in a design that takes advantage of all the surfaces being nearly "spherically symmetrical". The negative lens is usually full diameter and placed at the entrance pupil of the...
- Maksutov camera
- Maksutov–Cassegrain telescope
  - Gregory (Spot) Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope
  - Rutten Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope
  - Sub-aperture corrector Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope
- Maksutov Newtonian telescope
Modified Dall–Kirkham telescope
Schmidt camera
Schmidt camera
A Schmidt camera, also referred to as the Schmidt telescope, is a catadioptric astrophotographic telescope designed to provide wide fields of view with limited aberrations. Other similar designs are the Wright Camera and Lurie-Houghton telescope....
- Baker-Nunn camera
- Baker-Schmidt camera
- Lensless Schmidt telescope
- Mersenne-Schmidt camera
- Schmidt–Cassegrain telescope
  - ACF Schmidt–Cassegrain telescope (Meade Instruments)
- Schmidt–Newton telescope
- Schmidt-Väisälä camera
  Schmidt-Väisälä camera
  The Schmidt-Väisälä camera is a type of astronomical telescope intended for wide-field photographic work. It was designed by Yrjö Väisälä.-Invention and design:...

Telescopes classified by the task performed

Astrograph
Astrograph
An astrograph is a telescope designed for the sole purpose of astrophotography. Astrographs are usually used in wide field surveys of the night sky as well as detection of objects such as asteroids, meteors, and comets.-Design:...
Comet seeker
Comet seeker
A comet seeker is a type of small telescope adapted especially to searching for comets: commonly of short focal length and large aperture, in order to secure the greatest brilliancy of light....
GoTo telescopes
GoTo (telescopes)
In amateur astronomy, "GoTo" refers to a type of telescope mount and related software which can automatically point a telescope to astronomical objects that the user selects...
Graphic telescope
Graphic telescope
The graphic telescope is a type of camera lucida that has the power of a telescope. It was invented by Cornelius Varley in 1811.-External links:*...
Infrared telescope
Infrared telescope
An infrared telescope is a telescope that uses infrared light to detect celestial bodies.Infrared light is one of several types of radiation present in the electromagnetic spectrum....
Meridian circle
Meridian circle
The meridian circle, transit circle, or transit telescope is an instrument for observing the time of stars passing the meridian, at the same time measuring its angular distance from the zenith...
Robotic telescope
Robotic telescope
A robotic telescope is an astronomical telescope and detector system that makes observations without the intervention of a human. In astronomical disciplines, a telescope qualifies as robotic if it makes those observations without being operated by a human, even if a human has to initiate the...
Solar telescope
Solar telescope
A solar telescope is a special purpose telescope used to observe the Sun. Solar telescopes usually detect light with wavelengths in, or not far outside, the visible spectrum.-Professional solar telescopes:...
Space telescope
Spotting scope
Spotting scope
A spotting scope is a small portable telescope with added optics to present an erect image, optimized for the observation of terrestrial objects...
Sun Gun Telescope
Sun Gun Telescope
Sun Gun Telescope, as featured in the August 1999 issue of Scientific American Magazine, was designed so that large groups of people can view the sun safely - in particular it was created as a way to encourage children to become interested in astronomy...
Zenith telescope
Zenith telescope
A zenith telescope is a type of telescope that is designed to point straight up at or near the zenith. They are used for precision measurement of star positions, to simplify telescope construction, or both....

List of telescope types working outside the optical spectrum

Atmospheric Cherenkov telescope
IACT
The IACT or Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Technique is the method whereby very high energy gamma-ray photons in the 50 GeV to 50 TeV range can be detected by ground based telescopes. There are currently four major ground based telescopes including CANGAROO III, MAGIC, HESS and VERITAS...

used to detect gamma rays
Infrared telescope
Infrared telescope
An infrared telescope is a telescope that uses infrared light to detect celestial bodies.Infrared light is one of several types of radiation present in the electromagnetic spectrum....
Radio telescope
Radio telescope
A radio telescope is a form of directional radio antenna used in radio astronomy. The same types of antennas are also used in tracking and collecting data from satellites and space probes...
Submillimeter Telescope (see also Submillimeter astronomy)
Ultraviolet telescope (see also Ultraviolet astronomy)
X-ray telescope
X-ray telescope
An X-ray telescope is a telescope that is designed to observe remote objects in the X-ray spectrum. In order to get above the Earth's atmosphere, which is opaque to X-rays, X-ray telescopes must be mounted on high altitude rockets or artificial satellites.-Optical design:X-ray telescopes can use...

(see also X-ray astronomy
X-ray astronomy
X-ray astronomy is an observational branch of astronomy which deals with the study of X-ray observation and detection from astronomical objects. X-radiation is absorbed by the Earth's atmosphere, so instruments to detect X-rays must be taken to high altitude by balloons, sounding rockets, and...

)
- Wolter telescope
  Wolter telescope
  A Wolter telescope is a telescope for X-rays using only grazing incidence optics. Visible light telescopes are built with lenses or parabolic mirrors at nearly normal incidence. Neither works well for X-rays. Lenses for visible light are made of a transparent material with an index of refraction...

List of telescope mounts types

Optical and other types of telescopes are mounted on different types of mounts.

Fixed mount
Transit mount
Zenith mount
Zenith telescope
A zenith telescope is a type of telescope that is designed to point straight up at or near the zenith. They are used for precision measurement of star positions, to simplify telescope construction, or both....
Altazimuth mount
Altazimuth mount
An altazimuth or alt-azimuth mount is a simple two-axis mount for supporting and rotating an instrument about two mutually perpendicular axes; one vertical and the other horizontal. Rotation about the vertical axis varies the azimuth of the pointing direction of the instrument...
Alt-alt (altitude-altitude) mount
Equatorial mount
Equatorial mount
An equatorial mount is a mount for instruments that follows the rotation of the sky by having one rotational axis parallel to the Earth's axis of rotation. This type of mount is used for astronomical telescopes and cameras...
- Equatorial platform
  Equatorial platform
  An equatorial platform or equatorial table is an equatorial telescope mount in the form of a specially designed platform that allows any device sitting on it to track astronomical objects in the sky on an equatorial axis. They are used to give equatorial tracking to any device sitting on them, from...
  - Poncet Platform
    Poncet Platform
    A Poncet Platform or Poncet mount is a type of equatorial platform that uses a simple polar pivot and an inclined plane. The motion of the mount allows any device sitting on that platform to track the apparent motion of the stars in the night sky...
- Fork mount
- German equatorial mount
- Barn door tracker
  Barn door tracker
  A barn door tracker, also known as a Haig or Scotch mount, is a device used to cancel out the diurnal motion of the Earth for the observation or photography of astronomical objects. It is a simple alternative to attaching a camera to a motorized equatorial mount.-History:The barn door tracker was...
  
  (Scotch mount)
- Springfield mount
Hexapod mount
Hexapod-Telescope
The Hexapod-Telescope is a design of telescope mounting developed by engineers of the company Vertex in collaboration with astronomers of the Astronomy Department of the Ruhr-Universität Bochum in Germany....
Infinite-axis telescope
Infinite-axis telescope
An infinite-axis telescope is a telescope that can move freely in all directions. Such telescopes can be mechanically simple hand-guided versions with the mounting serving only to carry the weight of the telescope although there are equatorial versions....

List of optical telescope types

List of telescope types working outside the optical spectrum

List of telescope mounts types

See also