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Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Italian draw-tube refracting telescope, on altazimuth wooden stand 17th-18th century.
Dated to the first quarter of the eighteenth century, this unsigned refracting telescope was made in Italy. The telescope has simple objective and eyepiece lenses mounted in wood. The tube of the telescope is made of card and leather, while the drawtubes are green paper parchment. To carry the fully extended telescope, that measuring over five feet in length, it is provided with a wooden stand. Unlike Galileo's telescopes, this one is fitted with convex eyepiece lenses as first suggested by the astronomer Johannes Kepler in 1611. This gives a much wider field of view than in Galileo's telescopes while the inverted image can be made upright by adding an extra convex lens.
Details
- Category:
- Astronomy
- Object Number:
- 1912-215
- Measurements:
-
overall (when assembled): 1520 x 530 x 1050 mm
- type:
- telescope - refracting
- taxonomy:
-
- disciplines
- disciplines
- science
- natural sciences
- physical sciences
- furnishing and equipment
- tools & equipment
- optical instrument
- telescope
- credit:
- Mr F.E. Hamilton Russell
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