If astronomy is a favorite pastime of yours and you enjoy spending many hours gazing through a telescope at the sky, then the words collimation and collimator might be familiar to you. For the rest of us, while we understand that a telescope helps one look at an object or image that is a great distance away, we probably are quite unfamiliar with the collimation and why it can be a necessary step when using a telescope.
There are actually many different types of telescopes, including radio telescopes and x-ray telescopes. With an optical telescope, you are gathering or bringing light together and focusing that light to magnify an image. Perhaps it is an image of the night sky or perhaps you are using it to view an object on the horizon. Astronomers and sailors are just two types of people that might use an optical telescope.
There are several main categories of optical telescopes and these include the catadioptric telescope, the reflecting telescope and the refracting telescope. With a refracting telescope, images are made by an arrangement of lenses, while a reflecting telescope uses mirrors to form the image that you see. The catadioptric variety of telescope actually uses both mirrors and lenses to form images.
Optical telescopes, in very crude forms, were developed by the ancient Greeks although Galileo is credited with improving this optical instrument for its use in astronomy. Sir Isaac Newton developed a reflecting telescope which is known as the Newtonian telescope and this is still in use today. Often this is used by the amateur astronomer because of its low cost and ease of use.
While it has cost and ease of use on its side, Newtonian telescopes can have problems regarding collimation. This means that the alignment of the telescope can need to be adjusted from time to time. Often when you move or jostled the telescope, it will come out of alignment, and collimation is the process by which you align the telescope in order to ensure that you have a clear image. While this might not be something that an amateur needs to be concerned about, professionals who use telescopes or perhaps other types of optical instruments will use a device known as an alignment collimator to ensure accurate positioning.
The alignment collimator is one tool that can be handy for optical instruments because it will improve precision and the quality of the images produced. However, there actually are all kinds of interesting alignment instruments that make our daily lives safer and easier. Every piece of machinery must be calibrated carefully to ensure that every single product or item produced is crafted precisely. Collimation and alignment are important for all sorts of industries, as well as for astronomers.
There are actually many different types of telescopes, including radio telescopes and x-ray telescopes. With an optical telescope, you are gathering or bringing light together and focusing that light to magnify an image. Perhaps it is an image of the night sky or perhaps you are using it to view an object on the horizon. Astronomers and sailors are just two types of people that might use an optical telescope.
There are several main categories of optical telescopes and these include the catadioptric telescope, the reflecting telescope and the refracting telescope. With a refracting telescope, images are made by an arrangement of lenses, while a reflecting telescope uses mirrors to form the image that you see. The catadioptric variety of telescope actually uses both mirrors and lenses to form images.
Optical telescopes, in very crude forms, were developed by the ancient Greeks although Galileo is credited with improving this optical instrument for its use in astronomy. Sir Isaac Newton developed a reflecting telescope which is known as the Newtonian telescope and this is still in use today. Often this is used by the amateur astronomer because of its low cost and ease of use.
While it has cost and ease of use on its side, Newtonian telescopes can have problems regarding collimation. This means that the alignment of the telescope can need to be adjusted from time to time. Often when you move or jostled the telescope, it will come out of alignment, and collimation is the process by which you align the telescope in order to ensure that you have a clear image. While this might not be something that an amateur needs to be concerned about, professionals who use telescopes or perhaps other types of optical instruments will use a device known as an alignment collimator to ensure accurate positioning.
The alignment collimator is one tool that can be handy for optical instruments because it will improve precision and the quality of the images produced. However, there actually are all kinds of interesting alignment instruments that make our daily lives safer and easier. Every piece of machinery must be calibrated carefully to ensure that every single product or item produced is crafted precisely. Collimation and alignment are important for all sorts of industries, as well as for astronomers.
About the Author:
Carey Bourdier likes writing reviews on precision scientific instruments. For more info about an alignment collimeter, or to find more info about surveying instruments, check out the WarrenKnight.com website now.
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