Question

What is the difference between a optical telescope and radio telescope?

Answer 1

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$\boxed {Radio\: telescope}$

• The telescope concentrates radio frequency (RF) waves which fall on the dish part of it.
• It reflects the RF waves from dish to a RF receiver.
• It can be used as single antenna or multiple antennas are linked together electronically stacked as an array.
• They are used in the daytime as well as in the night time.

$\boxed {Optical\: telescope}$

• It uses lens to gather light to a point.
• It provides sharpest view of planets and moon.
• It is most expensive for any given aperture.
• Usually tube is quite long. The shorter length tube based telescopes are now available.
• Generally there is no chromatic aberration.

Answer 2

Answer:

Optical telescopes use polished mirrors or glass lenses to focus visible light as it comes in through the aperture. There are two main types of optical telescopes, reflectors and refractors. Radio telescopes are used to study much longer wavelengths than visible light.