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Spherical Aberration
In optics, spherical aberration (SA) is a type of aberration found in optical systems that have elements with spherical surfaces. This phenomenon commonly affects lenses and curved mirrors, as these components are often shaped in a spherical manner for ease of manufacturing. Light rays that strike a spherical surface off-centre are refracted or reflected more or less than those that strike close to the centre. This deviation reduces the quality of images produced by optical systems. The effect of spherical aberration was first identified in the 11th century by Ibn al-Haytham who discussed it in his work Kitāb al-Manāẓir. Overview A spherical lens has an aplanatic point (i.e., no spherical aberration) only at a lateral distance from the optical axis that equals the radius of the spherical surface divided by the index of refraction of the lens material. Spherical aberration makes the focus of telescopes and other instruments less than ideal. This is an important effect, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spherical Aberration 2
A sphere (from Greek , ) is a surface analogous to the circle, a curve. In solid geometry, a sphere is the set of points that are all at the same distance from a given point in three-dimensional space.. That given point is the ''center'' of the sphere, and the distance is the sphere's ''radius''. The earliest known mentions of spheres appear in the work of the ancient Greek mathematicians. The sphere is a fundamental surface in many fields of mathematics. Spheres and nearly-spherical shapes also appear in nature and industry. Bubbles such as soap bubbles take a spherical shape in equilibrium. The Earth is often approximated as a sphere in geography, and the celestial sphere is an important concept in astronomy. Manufactured items including pressure vessels and most curved mirrors and lenses are based on spheres. Spheres roll smoothly in any direction, so most balls used in sports and toys are spherical, as are ball bearings. Basic terminology As mentioned earlier is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ritchey–Chrétien Telescope
A Ritchey–Chrétien telescope (RCT or simply RC) is a specialized variant of the Cassegrain telescope that has a hyperboloid, hyperbolic primary mirror and a hyperbolic secondary mirror designed to eliminate off-axis optical errors (Coma (optics), coma). The RCT has a wider field of view free of optical errors compared to a more traditional reflecting telescope configuration. Since the mid 20th century, a majority of large professional research telescopes have been Ritchey–Chrétien configurations; some well-known examples are the Hubble Space Telescope, the Keck telescopes and the ESO Very Large Telescope. History The Ritchey–Chrétien telescope was invented in the early 1910s by American astronomer George Willis Ritchey and French astronomer Henri Chrétien. Ritchey constructed the first successful RCT, which had an aperture diameter of in 1927 (Ritchey 24-inch reflector). The second RCT was a instrument constructed by Ritchey for the United States Naval Observatory; t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parabolic Reflector
A parabolic (or paraboloid or paraboloidal) reflector (or dish or mirror) is a Mirror, reflective surface used to collect or project energy such as light, sound, or radio waves. Its shape is part of a circular paraboloid, that is, the surface generated by a parabola revolving around its axis. The parabolic reflector transforms an incoming plane wave travelling along the axis into a spherical wave converging toward the focus. Conversely, a spherical wave generated by a point source placed in the focus (optics), focus is reflected into a plane wave propagating as a collimated beam along the axis. Parabolic reflectors are used to collect energy from a distant source (for example sound waves or incoming star light). Since the principles of Specular reflection, reflection are reversible, parabolic reflectors can also be used to collimate radiation from an isotropic source into a parallel beam (optics), beam. In optics, parabolic mirrors are used to gather light in reflecting telescop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maksutov Telescope
250px, A 150mm aperture Maksutov–Cassegrain telescope The Maksutov (also called a "Mak") is a catadioptric telescope design that combines a spherical mirror with a weakly negative meniscus lens in a design that takes advantage of all the surfaces being nearly "spherically symmetrical". The negative lens is usually full diameter and placed at the entrance pupil of the telescope (commonly called a "corrector plate" or "meniscus corrector shell"). The design corrects the problems of off-axis aberrations such as coma found in reflecting telescopes while also correcting chromatic aberration. It was patented in 1941 by Soviet optician Dmitri Dmitrievich Maksutov. Maksutov based his design on the idea behind the Schmidt camera of using the spherical errors of a negative lens to correct the opposite errors in a spherical primary mirror. The design is most commonly seen in a Cassegrain variation, with an integrated secondary, that can use all-spherical elements, thereby simplifying ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hubble Space Telescope
The Hubble Space Telescope (HST or Hubble) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the Orbiting Solar Observatory, first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most versatile, renowned as a vital research tool and as a public relations boon for astronomy. The Hubble Space Telescope is named after astronomer Edwin Hubble and is one of NASA's Great Observatories program, Great Observatories. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) selects Hubble's targets and processes the resulting data, while the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) controls the spacecraft. Hubble features a mirror, and its five main instruments observe in the ultraviolet, visible spectrum, visible, and near-infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Hubble's orbit outside the distortion of atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere allows it to capture extremely high-resolution images with substantially lower background lig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Achromatic Lens
An achromatic lens or achromat is a lens (optics), lens that is designed to limit the effects of chromatic aberration, chromatic and spherical aberration. Achromatic lenses are corrected to bring two wavelengths (typically red and blue) into focus on the same plane. Wavelengths in between these two then have better focus error than could be obtained with a simple lens. The most common type of achromat is the achromatic doublet, which is composed of two individual lenses made from glasses with different amounts of Dispersion (optics), dispersion. Typically, one element is a negative (Lens (optics)#Types of simple lenses, concave) element made out of flint glass such as F2, which has relatively high dispersion, and the other is a positive (Lens (optics)#Types of simple lenses, convex) element made of Crown glass (optics), crown glass such as BK7, which has lower dispersion. The lens elements are mounted next to each other, often cemented together, and shaped so that the chromati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gizmodo
''Gizmodo'' () is a design, technology, science, and science fiction website. It was originally launched as part of the Gawker Media network run by Nick Denton. ''Gizmodo'' also includes the sub-blogs ''io9'' and ''Earther'', which focus on pop-culture and environmentalism, respectively. Following the Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code, Chapter 11 bankruptcy and Liquidation of Gawker Media, Univision Communications, Univision purchased ''Gizmodo'' along with other Gawker websites in August 2016. In 2019, Univision sold the Gizmodo Media Group, which included ''Gizmodo'', to the private equity firm Great Hill Partners. From April 2019 to June 2024, ''Gizmodo'' was part of G/O Media. In June 2024, the website was purchased by Swiss digital media company Keleops Media. History Origins and Gawker Media The blog, launched in 2002, was originally edited by Peter Rojas, who was later recruited by Weblogs, Inc. to launch its similar technology blog, ''Engadget''. By mid-2004 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Closed-form Expression
In mathematics, an expression or equation is in closed form if it is formed with constants, variables, and a set of functions considered as ''basic'' and connected by arithmetic operations (, and integer powers) and function composition. Commonly, the basic functions that are allowed in closed forms are ''n''th root, exponential function, logarithm, and trigonometric functions. However, the set of basic functions depends on the context. For example, if one adds polynomial roots to the basic functions, the functions that have a closed form are called elementary functions. The ''closed-form problem'' arises when new ways are introduced for specifying mathematical objects, such as limits, series, and integrals: given an object specified with such tools, a natural problem is to find, if possible, a ''closed-form expression'' of this object; that is, an expression of this object in terms of previous ways of specifying it. Example: roots of polynomials The quadratic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cartesian Oval
In geometry, a Cartesian oval is a plane curve consisting of points that have the same linear combination of distances from two fixed points (foci). These curves are named after French mathematician René Descartes, who used them in optics. Definition Let and be fixed points in the plane, and let and denote the Euclidean distances from these points to a third variable point . Let and be arbitrary real numbers. Then the Cartesian oval is the locus of points ''S'' satisfying . The two ovals formed by the four equations and are closely related; together they form a quartic plane curve called the ovals of Descartes. Special cases In the equation , when and the resulting shape is an ellipse. In the limiting case in which ''P'' and ''Q'' coincide, the ellipse becomes a circle. When m = a/\!\operatorname(P, Q) it is a limaçon of Pascal. If m = -1 and 0 < a < \operatorname(P, Q) the equation gives a branch of a |
Star
A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by Self-gravitation, self-gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night sky, night; their immense distances from Earth make them appear as fixed stars, fixed points of light. The most prominent stars have been categorised into constellations and asterism (astronomy), asterisms, and many of the brightest stars have proper names. Astronomers have assembled star catalogues that identify the known stars and provide standardized stellar designations. The observable universe contains an estimated to stars. Only about 4,000 of these stars are visible to the naked eye—all within the Milky Way galaxy. A star's life star formation, begins with the gravitational collapse of a gaseous nebula of material largely comprising hydrogen, helium, and traces of heavier elements. Its stellar mass, total mass mainly determines it ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
