THE PRACTICE STUDIO
Go slowly. Ask why. Make it yours.
PRACTICE / Optical resolution
Design for an angular separation before choosing magnification
Two comparable mutually incoherent point sources are 6.0 mm apart transverse to the line of sight at a range of 1.0 km. Observation uses 600 nm light and a clear circular aperture.
What minimum aperture diameter meets the ideal Rayleigh criterion?
Organize the givens & assumptions
- Source separation = 6.0 mm
- Range = 1.0 km
- λ = 600 nm
Two comparable mutually incoherent distant point sources; monochromatic light, clear uniformly illuminated circular pupil, diffraction-limited imaging, adequate sampling, and the conventional Rayleigh criterion.
- A
- B
- C
- D
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