Talk:3182: Telescope Types

2026-02-27T15:31:54Z

2600:4040:52F8:B00:5117:B704:654E:6887:

no vampire jokes 🥀 ([[1791]]) [[User:TheTrainsKid|TheTrainsKid]] ([[User talk:TheTrainsKid|talk]]) 00:08, 18 December 2025 (UTC)

Got down some preliminary descriptions of each telescope type used [[Special:Contributions/185.132.133.218|185.132.133.218]] 01:44, 18 December 2025 (UTC)

insert that one mickey mouse meme with the caption "what a fucking narcissist"
[[User:Yaokuan ITB|Yaokuan ITB]] ([[User talk:Yaokuan ITB|talk]]) 02:33, 18 December 2025 (UTC)

abnormally low joke-to-real ratio for this format of comic! [[Special:Contributions/2601:241:8002:3E0:C0A2:9DA:ED39:D13F|2601:241:8002:3E0:C0A2:9DA:ED39:D13F]] 03:21, 18 December 2025 (UTC)
:I noticed that... I think this might've originally been 'look at all these cool telescope types', but then he realized he had to put some sort of joke somewhere. --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|DollarStoreBa'al]][[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|Converse]] 03:27, 18 December 2025 (UTC)

Can someone make a category for The Core (2003)? It's been mentioned often enough. [[Special:Contributions/83.245.251.49|83.245.251.49]] 09:22, 18 December 2025 (UTC)
:Can you list 4 more comics then I will make the category. I think that is about the limit for when to make a new category. I know there are a few more but is it only 2-3more? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:00, 18 December 2025 (UTC)
::All I can think of is [[673: The Sun]]. --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|DollarStoreBa'al]][[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|Converse]] 15:09, 18 December 2025 (UTC)
:::Also mentioned in the title text of [[2858: Thanksgiving Arguments]]. --[[Special:Contributions/208.59.176.206|208.59.176.206]] 15:24, 18 December 2025 (UTC)
:: The [[:Category: The Core|The Core]] category was already created, nearly two years ago. This comic is the 7th reference --[[User:Deebster|Deebster]] ([[User talk:Deebster|talk]]) 23:54, 18 December 2025 (UTC)

> This would not […] end well for the drinker.

Would it though? ''Drinking'' elemental mercury, while not great on nutritional value, should be mostly safe (and I'm using that word quite loosely). The most danger would be while drinking and expelling it, when there's a danger of inhaling mercury vapors, right? --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 10:29, 18 December 2025 (UTC)
: ... Agreed. Elemental mercury is dangerous when inhaled, not when drinked. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_poisoning [[Special:Contributions/109.81.171.81|109.81.171.81]] 21:12, 18 December 2025 (UTC)
:: (it's ''..when drunk.'') ;) [[Special:Contributions/88.65.244.212|88.65.244.212]] 00:42, 26 December 2025 (UTC)
It wouldn't take much work to make the "Real?" column all contain only "yes" [[Special:Contributions/136.32.133.124|136.32.133.124]] 12:05, 18 December 2025 (UTC)

As all others are refractors or reflectors, can cardboard tube be considered a diffractor? As it is the only thing that it does.--[[User:Trimutius|Trimutius]] ([[User talk:Trimutius|talk]]) 15:43, 18 December 2025 (UTC)
:Well, all the others do it as well. Even more so, as they have more objects in the light path. --[[Special:Contributions/88.65.244.212|88.65.244.212]] 00:42, 26 December 2025 (UTC)
> Children may sometimes use tubes [...]

It's not just children. I've seen "viewing tubes" in at least a couple of places, hard-mounted metal tubes that point at particular points of interest. I'm not finding any good references, but here's a photo showing some at the top of a nearby mountain: https://maps.app.goo.gl/wwnYJ1zEQEXzjyJS8 [[User:Jordan Brown|Jordan Brown]] ([[User talk:Jordan Brown|talk]]) 18:07, 18 December 2025 (UTC)

Is the joke with "Geological" that it's looking at something 'far away' from actual Geology? {{unsigned ip|64.203.66.182|17:14, 19 December 2025}}

I flunked out of freshman physics, so apologies in advance if this is very stupid, but looking at the designs, and the “reflector” and “refractor” columns, I was wondering if it might make sense to combine the two, have a telescope with a refracting lens at one end and a concave mirror at the other (and presumably a secondary mirror) that would allow for a shorter overall length tube for the telescope. [[User:John|John]] ([[User talk:John|talk]]) 04:42, 27 December 2025 (UTC)
:Various designs mix lenses and mirrors (if only at the eyepiece end, as a final adjustable focusing element). But very large lenses have their own issues, e.g.:
:* they tend to produce spectral abberations that require careful relensing to mitigate;
:* the lens-material will absorb some small amounts of light during passage, especially for rays passing through the considerably thicker bits (whether concave, convex or meniscus) ...any absorption by a chosen material of mirror surface is constant;
:*shaping/polishing has to be done equally well on both sides, and can't easily be re-additive of material (only continually grinding it down, as needed);
:* it can't be physically supported (or even flexed, to adjust) all across one side, like a mirror;
:* necessarily huge chunks of optically-refractive material are ''heavy'', compared to many kinds of similarly proportioned mirrors;
:...and a few other issues that you might imagine. You can mitigate/mix these in all kinds of ways, but "a huge primary mirror" at the back end often has various advantages over "a huge (pre-?)primary lens" at the front end, varying a bit depending upon actual intended configuration and use. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.239.191|82.132.239.191]] 15:30, 27 December 2025 (UTC)
:One important bit about huge lenses: convex lenses (which you would need for a really big primary reflector) would be *very* thick which causes all kinds of problems when you cast them and then cool them down. The resulting stress makes it impossible to manufacture good lenses above a certain size. There are really big lenses, e.g. for lighthouses but those don't need good image quality so Fresnel lenses can be used to make them much thinner. Good quality composite lenses are at the very least much harder (not confident enough to say "impossible") to produce than composite mirrors. [[User:627235|627235]] ([[User talk:627235|talk]]) 12:12, 13 January 2026 (UTC)

Adding link for Fresnel lenses: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fresnel_lens This article shows an example of a lighthouse lens which weighs more than 3000 lbs, so imagine how heavy an equivalent lens that is not "thinner" would be!

i do not have any idea what the title text means.--[[User:Utdtutyabthsc|Utdtutyabthsc]] ([[User talk:Utdtutyabthsc|talk]]) 03:11, 19 January 2026 (UTC)
:What about its explanation most confuses you? Someone can always add more to it/more links, or reword what's there, if we knew where to start. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.244.8|82.132.244.8]] 12:42, 19 January 2026 (UTC)

explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:3182: Telescope Types