AS101 Chapter Notes - Chapter 4: Chromatic Aberration, Diffraction, Optical Telescope
Document Summary
Chapter 4 astronomical telescope and instruments: extending humanity"s vision. A=10-10m: wave length of visible light ranges between about 400 nm and 700 nm or equivalently. Images are consequently surrounded by colour fringes: optical telescope: telescope that gathers visible light, radio telescope: telescope that gathers radio radiation. The power of a telescope: light gathering power: ability of a telescope to collect light; proportional to the area of the telescopes objective lens or mirror, resolving power: ability of a telescope to reveal fine detail. Depends on the diameter of the telescope objective: diffraction fringe: blurred fringe surrounding any image, caused by the wave properties of light. Because of this, no image detail smaller than the fringe can be seen. Interferometer: separated telescopes combined to produce a virtual telescope with the resolution of a much larger diameter telescope: seeing: atmospheric conditions on a given night.
