Why Was the Telescope Invented and What Are Optical Telescopes Used For?

Most of what we know about the universe comes from the study of light from space objects.

The general purpose of a telescope is to gather light from objects in the sky, making them larger, brighter, and clearer so that we can study them in detail.

Two major types of optical telescopes are used to view space.

The refracting telescope uses lenses.

The reflecting telescope has mirrors instead of lenses.