List of telescope parts and construction

Hardware

Accessories

Control

Mechanical construction

Mounts

Optics

Mirrors and lenses are the critical light-bending components of a telescope.

Subsequent (sometimes optional) components realign, segment, or in some way modify the light of an incoming image:

  • Field lens: A correcting lens placed just before the image plane of a telescope.
  • Telecompressor or focal reducer: Optical element to decrease the telescope's focal length and magnification (usually by a fixed percentage) and widen the field of view, providing opposite effects of a Barlow lens.
  • Star Diagonal: Used to change the angle of the light coming out of a telescope, for easier viewing.
  • Herschel Wedge: Similar to a star diagonal with a wedge-shaped unsilvered prism reflector that reduces incoming light by up to 95% for solar viewing.
  • Coma corrector a correcting lens used to reduce coma distortion in fast reflecting telescopes.
  • Field flattener a correcting lens used to reduce field curvature in refracting telescopes for astrophotography.
  • Barlow lens: Optical element to increase the telescope's focal length and magnification, narrow the field of view and reduce coma distortion, providing opposite effects of a telecompressor.
  • Astronomical filter: Used to select specific colors (or light frequencies) for astrophotography.
  • Filter wheel: One manner to easily insert filters into the optical train. Mostly used for photography.
  • Focuser: Allows the user to adjust the focus by moving the eyepiece along the optical axis.
  • Eyepiece: Performs the final focus correction before the light reaches the eye.
  • Charge-coupled device (CCD): A light-sensitive integrated circuit digital sensor (commonly used in digital cameras) that turns light into an electrical charge used to collection image data.

Generally applicable to all items:

  • Metallizing: A way of coating mirrors for high-efficiency light reflection.
  • Optical coating: Thin layers applied to mirrors, filters, and lenses to avoid reflections, as well as absorb certain colors.

Software and control interfaces

Support equipment and buildings

See also

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