Final answer:
Early astronomers used telescopes with lenses (refracting telescopes) instead of mirrors due to technological limitations, the belief in better optical qualities of lenses, and the ease of manufacturing lenses compared to mirrors.
Step-by-step explanation:
Early astronomers used telescopes with lenses rather than mirrors for several reasons.
1. Refracting telescopes: The first telescopes used lenses to magnify and focus light. These telescopes, called refracting telescopes, utilized convex lenses to gather and bend light to form an image. It was believed that lenses could provide clearer and more accurate images compared to mirrors.
2. Technological limitations: During the time of early astronomers, the technology to manufacture precise mirrors for reflecting telescopes did not exist. Creating large mirrors with accurate surface shapes was a challenging and time-consuming process, while lenses could be ground and polished to achieve the desired shape relatively easily.
3. Optical qualities: Lenses were believed to have better optical qualities, as they only required one perfectly shaped surface to focus light. In contrast, mirrors had to be polished on both sides for optimal performance, making them more difficult and expensive to manufacture.