Pleasures of the telescope: An Illustrated Guide for Amateur Astronomers and a Popular Description of the Chief Wonders of the Heavens for General ReadersServiss, Garrett Putman
Science
Pleasures of the telescope: An Illustrated Guide for Amateur Astronomers and a Popular Description of the Chief Wonders of the Heavens for General Readers
By studying the appearance of the star disk when in focus and of the
rings when out of focus on either side, an experienced eye can readily
detect any fault that a telescope may have. The amateur, of course, can
only learn to do this by considerable practice. Any glaring and serious
fault, however, will easily make itself manifest. Suppose, for example,
we observe that the image of a star instead of being perfectly round is
oblong, and that a similar defect appears in the form of the rings when
the eyepiece is put out of focus. We know at once that something is
wrong; but the trouble may lie either in the object glass, in the
eyepiece, in the eye of the observer himself, or in the adjustment of
the lenses in the tube. A careful examination of the image and the
out-of-focus circles will enable us to determine with which of these
sources of error we have to deal. If the star image when in focus has a
sort of wing on one side, and if the rings out of focus expand
eccentrically, appearing wider and larger on one side than on the other,
being at the same time brightest on the least expanded side, then the
object glass is probably not at right angles to the axis of the tube and
requires readjustment. That part of the object glass on the side where
the rings appear most expanded and faintest needs to be pushed slightly
inward. This can be effected by means of counterscrews placed for that
purpose in or around the cell. But it, after we have got the object
glass properly squared to the axis of the tube or the line of sight, the
image and the ring system in and out of focus still appear oblong, the
fault of astigmatism must exist either in the objective, the eyepiece,
or the eye. The chances are very great that it is the eye itself that is
at fault. We may be certain of this if we find, on turning the head so
as to look into the telescope with the eye in different positions, that
the oblong image turns with the head of the observer, keeping its major
axis continually in the same relative position with respect to the eye.
The remedy then is to consult an oculist and get a pair of cylindrical
eyeglasses. If the oblong image does not turn round with the eye, but
does turn when the eyepiece is twisted round, then the astigmatism is in
the latter. If, finally, it does not follow either the eye or the
eyepiece, it is the objective that is at fault.
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