Stargazer Presentation Slides Giant Glass Eyes
An Introduction to Telescopes
What is a Telescope?
Big Zoom
Telescopes make far-away things look much bigger and closer.
Light Catchers
They collect light. The bigger the telescope, the more light it catches, making dim stars look bright!
Two Main Types
Refractor
Uses lenses (like glasses) to bend light. This is the classic long, skinny tube!
Reflector
Uses mirrors to bounce light. Most big telescopes today use mirrors because they are easier to make huge.
Eyes in Space
Earth's air (the atmosphere) is blurry and wiggly. It makes stars twinkle, but it's hard for telescopes to see through!
The Solution:
Put the telescope in space! Above the air, everything is crystal clear.
Hubble
Orbits Earth and sees visible light like our eyes do.
James Webb
Uses giant gold mirrors to see "heat" light from very far away.
Famous Firsts
Galileo Galilei
The first person to point a telescope at the night sky. He found moons around Jupiter!
Isaac Newton
He invented the first telescope that used a mirror instead of a lens.
"I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night."
Quest Time!
You are now a Telescope Explorer. Your job is to research 60 questions about these amazing tools!
Check your quest worksheets to begin!
Telescope Quest Worksheet 1 Telescope Quest: Part 1
Research & Discovery Worksheet
NAME:
DATE:
Mission: Use books or the internet to find the answers. Write clearly in the spaces below!
Research Round: Basics & Types
1. What does the word "telescope" mean in Greek?
2. Who is credited with inventing the first telescope in 1608?
3. What was the first telescope mainly used for before looking at stars?
4. What is the name of a telescope that uses only lenses?
5. What is the name of a telescope that uses mirrors to see?
6. What is the big lens at the front of a telescope called?
7. What is the small lens you look through called?
8. Why do stars look like they "twinkle" when we look through air?
9. What do we call a telescope that uses both mirrors and lenses?
10. Where is the best place on Earth to put a big telescope?
Multiple Choice Bank
11. Which of these is NOT a type of light a telescope can see?
A) Radio Waves
B) X-Rays
C) Sound Waves
D) Infrared Light
12. How does a mirror telescope (reflector) change the image?
A) Makes it upside down
B) Makes it disappear
C) Makes it black and white
D) Makes it blurry
13. Which part of a telescope "collects" the light?
A) The Tripod
B) The Aperture
C) The Cap
D) The Case
14. What shape are most telescope mirrors?
A) Flat like a wall
B) Square like a box
C) Curved like a bowl
D) Spiky like a star
15. Why are telescope mirrors often coated in thin metal?
A) To make them heavy
B) To make them reflective
C) To keep them warm
D) To change their color
16. What is the name for the distance light travels through a telescope?
A) Focal Length
B) Light Speed
C) Tube Width
D) Glass Power
17. Which famous scientist invented the reflector telescope?
A) Albert Einstein
B) Isaac Newton
C) Thomas Edison
D) Marie Curie
18. What does "magnification" mean?
A) Changing colors
B) Making things look bigger
C) Making things smaller
D) Turning things around
19. Which of these is a name for a giant telescope building?
A) Library
B) Laboratory
C) Observatory
D) Factory
20. What is the most important job of a telescope?
A) Taking pretty photos
B) Looking cool
C) Gathering light
D) Weighing stars
Telescope Quest Worksheet 2 Telescope Quest: Part 2
Famous Eyes in the Sky
NAME:
DATE:
Famous Names & Space Eyes
21. In what year was the Hubble Space Telescope launched?
22. What was the first big problem scientists found with Hubble after it launched?
23. How did astronauts fix the Hubble Space Telescope?
24. What color is the mirror on the James Webb Space Telescope?
25. Why does the James Webb telescope need a giant sunshield?
26. Where is the James Webb Space Telescope located right now?
27. What is the name of the big radio telescope that was in Puerto Rico (it recently collapsed)?
28. Which telescope is known as "The Great Eye in the Sky"?
29. What is a "Radio Telescope" shaped like?
30. What was the name of the telescope that looked for planets like Earth (Exoplanets)?
Space & Radio Quiz
31. What is the main difference between Hubble and James Webb?
A) Hubble is bigger
B) Webb sees infrared light
C) Hubble is in a museum
D) Webb uses only glass lenses
32. Which telescope took the first picture of a Black Hole?
A) Hubble
B) Event Horizon Telescope
C) Galileo's Telescope
D) A spy telescope
33. Where is the "Very Large Array" (VLA) located?
A) Under the ocean
B) On the Moon
C) In New Mexico, USA
D) In a shopping mall
34. How do Radio Telescopes "see"?
A) They take videos
B) They listen to radio signals
C) They use giant flashlights
D) They smell the space air
35. Which of these is a reason to put a telescope on a high mountain?
A) To be closer to the stars
B) To get away from clouds
C) To keep it cold
D) All of the above
36. What is the name of the NASA telescope that studied the Sun?
A) Solar Eye
B) SOHO
C) Sunny Boy
D) Star Finder
37. How many mirrors are on the James Webb telescope's main "eye"?
A) 1 giant mirror
B) 18 small hexagons
C) 100 tiny mirrors
D) No mirrors, just glass
38. Which telescope was named after a man who proved the universe is expanding?
A) Hubble
B) Kepler
C) Spitzer
D) Chandra
Telescope Quest Worksheet 3 Telescope Quest: Part 3
History & Cool Secrets
NAME:
DATE:
Time Travelers & Tiny Details
41. What did Galileo see on the Moon that surprised everyone?
42. What is the "Yerkes Observatory" famous for?
43. What is the biggest telescope mirror ever made? (Search for "ELT")
44. Can a telescope see things that happened in the past? Why?
45. What is the name of the "telescope plane" that NASA used to fly?
46. What was the name of the first telescope launched into space (Hint: 1968)?
47. What is an "Eyepiece"?
48. Why do some telescopes use gold on their mirrors?
49. What is the "Mount Wilson Observatory" famous for finding?
50. Name one telescope that is located at the South Pole.
Final Challenge
51. Which planet did Galileo find four moons around?
A) Mars
B) Saturn
C) Jupiter
D) Venus
52. What do we call the "wiggly" air that ruins telescope pictures?
A) The Wind
B) Atmospheric Turbulence
C) Space Dust
D) Cloud Power
53. Which color mirror is best for seeing "heat" (Infrared) light?
A) Blue
B) Silver
C) Gold
D) Green
54. What is the name of the big telescope in Hawaii on a volcano?
A) Keck Observatory
B) Island Eye
C) Lava Scope
D) Aloha Lens
55. Which part of the telescope holds the mirrors or lenses steady?
A) The Tube
B) The Cap
C) The Box
D) The Mount
56. What did the Spitzer Space Telescope use to stay cold?
A) Ice Cubes
B) Liquid Helium
C) A Fan
D) Cold Water
57. Which telescope was the first to see "first light" from the universe?
A) Hubble
B) Webb
C) Kepler
D) COBE
58. What is the "Finder Scope" used for?
A) Taking photos
B) Finding stars easily
C) Cleaning the lens
D) Measuring heat
59. What kind of telescope does NOT have a tube?
A) Radio Telescope
B) Refractor
C) Reflector
D) Space Telescope
60. What is the best way to clean a telescope lens?
Telescope Quest Teacher Key Master Explorer Key
Answer Key for Quest Worksheets 1, 2, & 3
Part 1
Far-seeing (Tele = far, scope = see)
Hans Lippershey
Watching ships/enemies
Refractor
Reflector
Objective Lens
Eyepiece
Atmosphere moves light
Catadioptric
High mountains / Deserts
C (Sound Waves)A (Upside down)B (The Aperture)C (Curved bowl)B (Reflective)A (Focal Length)B (Isaac Newton)B (Look bigger)C (Observatory)C (Gathering light)
Part 2
1990
Mirror was wrong shape
Fixed with "glasses"
Gold
To stay cold
L2 point
Arecibo
Hubble
A giant dish
Kepler
B (Infrared light)B (Event Horizon)C (New Mexico)B (Radio signals)D (All of the above)B (SOHO)B (18 hexagons)A (Edwin Hubble)B (X-Rays)B (Radio waves)
Part 3
Craters/Mountains
Largest refractor lens
ELT (39m)
Yes (light speed)
SOFIA
OAO-2
Lens you look through
Reflects infrared
Expanding Universe
South Pole Telescope
C (Jupiter)B (Turbulence)C (Gold)A (Keck Observatory)D (The Mount)B (Liquid Helium)
