The Heavens Above: A Popular Handbook of AstronomyRolfe, W. J. (William James)
Science
The Heavens Above: A Popular Handbook of Astronomy
Rolfe, W. J. (William James)
Astronomy
_The Herschelian Reflector._--In this form of telescope the mirror is
slightly tipped, so that the image, instead of being formed in the
centre of the tube, is formed near one side of it, as in Fig. 24. The
observer can then view it without putting his head inside the tube, and
therefore without cutting off any material portion of the light. In
observation, he must stand at the upper or outer end of the tube, and
look into it, his back being turned towards the object. From his looking
directly into the mirror, it is also sometimes called the _front-view_
telescope. The great disadvantage of this arrangement is, that the rays
cannot be brought to an exact focus when they are thrown so far to one
side of the axis, and the injury to the definition is so great that the
front-view plan is now entirely abandoned.
[Illustration: Fig. 24.]
_The Newtonian Reflector._--The plan proposed by Sir Isaac Newton was to
place a small plane mirror just inside the focus, inclined to the
telescope at an angle of 45°, so as to throw the rays to the side of the
tube, where they come to a focus, and form the image. An opening is made
in the side of the tube, just below where the image is formed; and in
this opening the eye-piece is inserted. The small mirror cuts off some
of the light, but not enough to be a serious defect. An improvement
which lessens this defect has been made by Professor Henry Draper. The
inclined mirror is replaced by a small rectangular prism (Fig. 25), by
reflection from which the image is formed very near the prism. A pair of
lenses are then inserted in the course of the rays, by which a second
image is formed at the opening in the side of the tube; and this second
image is viewed by an ordinary eye-piece.
[Illustration: Fig. 25.]
_The Gregorian Reflector._--This is a form proposed by James Gregory,
who probably preceded Newton as an inventor of the reflecting telescope.
Behind the focus, _F_ (Fig. 26), a small concave mirror, _R_, is placed,
by which the light is reflected back again down the tube. The larger
mirror, _M_, has an opening through its centre; and the small mirror,
_R_, is so adjusted as to form a second image of the object in this
opening. This image is then viewed by an eye-piece which is screwed into
the opening.
[Illustration: Fig. 26.]
_The Cassegrainian Reflector._--In principle this is the same with the
Gregorian; but the small mirror, _R_, is convex, and is placed inside
the focus, _F_, so that the rays are reflected from it before reaching
the focus, and no image is formed until they reach the opening in the
large mirror. This form has an advantage over the Gregorian, in that the
telescope may be made shorter, and the small mirror can be more easily
shaped to the required figure. It has, therefore, entirely superseded
the original Gregorian form.
[Illustration: Fig. 27.]
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