Telescopes make distant objects look bigger. Two main types of telescopes are refracting telescopes and reflecting telescopes.
A refracting telescope gathers light from a distant object and focuses it through two lenses. It has one big lens in front and a smaller lens you look through. The lens at the front usually has a bulge on both sides. It is thick in the middle and thin around the edges. This lens collects the light from a distant planet or star and forms an image of it in the telescope tube. The other lens, called the eyepiece, is like a very powerful magnifying glass. It makes things look much bigger.
A reflecting telescope uses a large mirror to collect the light, instead of a lens. The mirror is at the bottom end of the tube. The light from a star goes straight down the tube and strikes the mirror. Then the light is reflected up the tube. A smaller mirror reflects the collected light. The light comes out through a hole in the side of the tube, where the eyepiece is.
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