These scopes also are known as “compound” telescopes and are hybrids that have a mix of refractor and reflector elements in their design. The first compound telescope was made by German ...

However, there are catches. While 70mm aperture refracting telescopes can be quite affordable, bigger refractor telescopes are often more expensive than comparable reflecting telescopes.

Amanda Bauer: Right. There are two large reflecting telescopes as well in the building. It was designed with three domes, the big dome for the great refractor and two smaller domes. Currently, we ...

Mirrors, on the other hand, have just one side that needs shaping. Therefore, it's much cheaper to manufacture a reflecting telescope than a refracting telescope of the same size.

The first telescopes -- like those used by Galileo Galilei in 1609 -- were known as refracting, where a convex lens at either end of a long tube magnifies the images in the night sky. Reflecting ...

Although the James Webb telescope doesn’t look like traditional tube-shaped models, it is still considered a reflecting telescope.

Besides refraction and reflection, light can have its path changed through diffraction, which means there is a third way to focus an image.

Amazon Celestron NexStar 5SE Telescope: 2. Orion SpaceProbe 130ST Equatorial Reflector Telescope Refractor telescopes are good place to start, but this Orion reflector unit is a great way to upgrade.