A telescope was an optical device consisting of variable combinations of lenses and mirrors that focused light, allowing for viewing of distant objects. They were widely used in the fields of astronomy and surveying. Early Human configurations of the telescope were constructed by Galileo Galilei. Later, the Nicholas U. Mayall Telescope also featured in Human history.
Zefram Cochrane used a Meade telescope to view the USS Enterprise-E in orbit around Earth in 2063. (Star Trek: First Contact)
Charles Tucker III once viewed a stellar nursery through a telescope located just outside of Anchorage. (ENT: "Fight or Flight")
A graviton telescope was a type of telescope which gathered and focused gravitons for forming images of spatial structures. (ENT: "Breaking the Ice")
In 2152, when Captain Jonathan Archer spent his shore leave on Risa, he had a date with Keyla on the balcony of his apartment. There, he had a telescope and viewed through it until he finally directed Keyla to Earth's sun, which was about ninety light years away. (ENT: "Two Days and Two Nights")
In 2154, the Syrrannites used telescopes to discover three Vulcan cruisers over the Forge, ready to attack their compound in the T'Karath Sanctuary. (ENT: "Awakening")
Captain Philippa Georgiou of the USS Shenzhou kept a telescope, which had been in her family for centuries, in her ready room. In 2256, Commander Michael Burnham used it to obtain a closer view of a mysterious object that was obscured to sensors by a scattering field. (DIS: "The Vulcan Hello") After her death, Georgiou bequeathed the telescope to Burnham as part of her last will and testament. (DIS: "The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry") Burnham later gave the telescope to Saru, who kept it in his quarters. (DIS: "Choose Your Pain", "An Obol for Charon")
The second setting of the slaver weapon was a small telescope not unlike the ones possessed by the Kzinti and the Federation. (TAS: "The Slaver Weapon")
The Federation deployed subspace telescopes in remote regions of space, such as the Argus Array. (TNG: "The Nth Degree", "Parallels")
Kamin built a telescope on Kataan that he and his daughter Meribor used often. (TNG: "The Inner Light")
Henry Starling kept a telescope in his office at the Chronowerx Industries tower. A radio telescope was a specialized telescope that detected radio waves. (VOY: "Future's End")
Rain Robinson once confessed to Tom Paris that she had become an astronomer because of her brother, who "had a telescope, a little refractor. You could barely see in the treehouse next door actually, but it was enough to see the rings of Saturn." All she had ever wanted since had been to "reach up and touch them." (VOY: "Future's End, Part II")
In 2376, the starship USS Voyager was spotted by an observatory while trapped in orbit of a planet experiencing the effects of differential space-time. (VOY: "Blink of an Eye")
When Icheb decided to leave Voyager to be with his parents, Seven of Nine gave him a crate which included PADDs containing data on a variety of subjects that will allow him to continue his studies and a high-resolution telescope as a good-bye gift. (VOY: "Child's Play")
See also[]
- Lens
- Microscope
- Scope
- Theodolite