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Q.Draw a ray diagram of reflecting telescope. Explain its working.

Uttar Pradesh UpmspUP Board (UPMSP) Intermediate 2025Subjective· 3mImportance★★★★★
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Figure — Fig 9.26 is the schematic ray diagram of a Cassegrain reflecting telescope (large concave primary mirror, smal
Figure — Fig 9.26 is the schematic ray diagram of a Cassegrain reflecting telescope (large concave primary mirror, smal

In a reflecting telescope a large concave mirror gathers light and focuses it (via a small secondary mirror) into an eyepiece; magnification M=fo/feM=f_o/f_e. Mirrors avoid chromatic aberration and can be made very large.

Principle. A reflecting telescope uses a large concave parabolic mirror as its objective (instead of a lens) to collect light from a distant object and bring it to a focus. A lens near this focus (the eyepiece) magnifies the image.

Working (Cassegrain form).

  1. Parallel rays from a distant star fall on the large concave primary mirror and converge toward its focus.
  2. Before converging, they strike a small convex secondary mirror placed on the axis, which reflects them back through a hole at the centre of the primary.
  3. The eyepiece behind the hole forms a magnified virtual image for the observer.

Magnifying power.

M=fofe,M=\frac{f_o}{f_e},

where fof_o is the focal length of the objective mirror and fef_e that of the eyepiece.

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