The world's first telescope, crafted in 1608 by the Dutch eyeglass maker Hans Lippershey, led to stunning technologies that would later revolutionize our understanding of the universe. While his telescope used simple lenses to magnify objects to about three times their size, later scientists built on this concept to peer into the depths of outer space.
But some telescopes are more powerful than others, enabling us to spot distant stars and galaxies and allowing researchers to study extreme phenomena like black holes and Einstein rings. So, what's the most powerful telescope, and how far can it see into space?
