![]() ![]() Varying temperatures will change the behavior of the materials used to make lenses and mirrors. Mirrors do not inherently cause chromatic aberration, but spherical mirrors and lenses both cause spherical aberration.Įven a well-designed telescope made with the finest mirrors and lenses will face distortion due to environmental conditions. Spherical aberration occurs because light passing through (or reflecting off) the edge of a spherical lens (or mirror) crosses the optical axis at a slightly different location, compared to light passing though (or reflecting off) the center. Most real-world materials exhibit optical dispersion: Their refractive indices depend on the wavelength or frequency of light passing through them. Optical distortion can be minimized through refinements to the optical elements themselves, and it can be mitigated through careful selection and arrangement of these elements inside a telescope.ĭistortions introduced by optical elements include spherical (left) and chromatic (right) aberrations.Ĭhromatic aberration occurs because different wavelengths of light are refracted in different directions when passing through a lens. Minimizing and mitigating distortion within technical and cost constraints is a perpetual challenge for optical engineers. In practice, the actual devices that enable us to gather and direct visible light rays also tend to distort them. Minimizing and Mitigating Optical DistortionĬonceptually, the use of lenses (in refracting, or dioptric telescopes) or mirrors (for reflecting, or catoptric devices) to see distant objects is well understood. One way optical engineers can adapt and refine classic telescope designs is with ray tracing simulation. Optical telescopes may seem like a mature technology, but demand for improved imagery from both astronomers and the earth observation (EO) sector is growing. When launched into orbit, telescopes also enable us to study our home planet from a heavenly perspective. Telescopes extend our vision into celestial places that we could once only imagine. For as long as people have looked up to the stars, we’ve yearned to see them better.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |