The planets and stars are far too far away to see clearly, however good your eyesight is. The telescope was invented to help people look at faint, distant objects and see them in more detail. Telescopes collect more light than the human eye. They can also make things look bigger. Stars looked at through a telescope seem to be brighter and closer.
Telescopes use either a lens or a mirror to collect light and focus it. Another lens is used to produce a magnified image. Modern telescopes are housed in giant buildings called ‘observatories’. These are often built at the top of a mountain where there is a clear view of the sky.
The telescope
This telescope uses one convex lens to collect and focus light, and another to magnify the image. Sliding the outer tube changes the distance between the two lenses. This is important as it allows you to see objects that are near and far away.
Looking down on a telescope in the observatory at Kitt Peak, Arizona, USA