When parallel rays are refracted/reflected to a point in ray diagrams, we say an image is formed. However practically the real image of a star/celestial body will not be an infinitesimally small point. Is this a breakdown of the model we use as the rays won't be perfectly parallel?
Hanna Webster
Answered question
2022-11-10
Answer & Explanation
cismadmec
Beginner2022-11-11Added 22 answers
which relates the focal length f of the lens to distance between the lens and the image, , and the distance between the lens and the object, . (Any optics text will explain how to also use this equation for mirrors, too.) The limit of "perfectly parallel" incoming light rays is the limit where the object distance is very large, , which is solved with an image at the focus,
However, lenses are perfectly capable of forming images from converging light rays; in the lens equation these are associated with "virtual objects" that have . From the perspective of geometrical optics, the transition from diverging light rays to parallel light rays to converging light rays is continuous and well-behaved, even though there's not a way to produce such light rays from a single physical object.
As indicated in a comment, the resolution of a physical optical system is limited by the wave nature of light. For astrophotography, one typically purchases CCDs with pixels smaller than a diffraction-limited image of a point source, so that one can observe the diffraction patterns and confirm that the optical system is functioning as designed.
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