Skip to content

Course home

Sign up

Telescopes (A-level only)

Medium
123456789101112131415161718
Question 3

Two telescopes, A A\,A and BBB, are designed to study different regions of the electromagnetic spectrum:

  • Telescope A A\,A is a ground-based infrared reflecting telescope with a primary mirror diameter DA=25.0 mD_A = 25.0\text{ m}DA​=25.0 m, operating at an observing wavelength of λA=1.5 μm\lambda_A = 1.5\,\mu\text{m}λA​=1.5μm.
  • Telescope B B\,B is a single-dish radio telescope with a diameter of DB=125.0 mD_B = 125.0\text{ m}DB​=125.0 m, operating at an observing wavelength of λB=7.5 mm\lambda_B = 7.5\text{ mm}λB​=7.5 mm.

Perform the following analyses:

a.

Calculate the ratio of the collecting power of Telescope B B\,B to Telescope AAA.

[2]
b.

Calculate the minimum angular resolution (using θ≈λD\displaystyle \theta \approx \frac{\lambda}{D}θ≈Dλ​) for both telescopes, and determine which telescope can resolve finer spatial details.

[4]
c.

Contrast their structural design and Earth-based positioning by stating one similarity in structure and one difference in their ideal positioning.

[2]
Markscheme

Telescopes (A-level only) Questions

  1. A Level
  2. /Physics
  3. /Telescopes (A-level only)

18 exam-style questions on AQA A Level Physics Telescopes (A-level only), covering Astronomical telescope consisting of two converging lenses (A-level only), Reflecting telescopes (A-level only), Single dish radio telescopes, I-R, U-V and X-ray telescopes (A-level only), and Advantages of large diameter telescopes (A-level only). Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.

Question bank