Cassegrain focus

E17448

Cassegrain focus is a telescope optical configuration in which light is reflected by a secondary mirror back through a hole in the primary mirror to form a compact, accessible focal point behind the primary.

All labels observed (8)

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (44)

Predicate Object
instanceOf optical configuration
telescope focus configuration
advantage accessible focal plane at back of telescope
compact telescope tube
convenient mounting of instruments at rear of telescope
long effective focal length in short physical tube
benefitFor photometric instruments at rear focus
spectrographs mounted at rear focus
commonIn catadioptric telescopes
reflecting telescopes
componentOf Dall–Kirkham telescope design
Maksutov–Cassegrain telescope design
Ritchey–Chrétien telescope design
Schmidt–Cassegrain telescope design
classical Cassegrain telescope design
contrastWith Coudé focus
Newtonian focus
prime focus
enables mounting of heavy cameras at rear cell
use of diagonal mirrors for comfortable viewing
feature folded optical path
secondary mirror located near primary focus
formsFocalPoint behind the primary mirror
hasFocalPlane behind primary mirror cell
historicalPeriod 17th century origin
lightPath light reflects from primary mirror to secondary mirror
light reflects from secondary mirror back through a central hole in the primary mirror
locatedAt back end of the telescope tube
namedAfter Laurent Cassegrain
opticalEffect increases effective focal ratio compared to primary mirror alone
requires central perforation in primary mirror
requiresAlignment primary mirror
secondary mirror
typicalUse amateur compound telescopes
medium to large professional telescopes
usedFor astrophotography
instrument mounting in professional observatories
visual astronomy
usedIn Cassegrain telescope
linked to: Cassegrain focus
usedWith Barlow lenses
field flatteners
focal reducers
usesPrimaryMirror concave primary mirror
usesSecondaryMirror convex secondary mirror

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (9)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Cassegrain focus usedIn Cassegrain telescope
linked to: Cassegrain focus
ESO 3.6 m Telescope hasFocalStations Cassegrain focus
GeMS mountedOn Cassegrain focus of Gemini South
linked to: Cassegrain focus
GSAOI mountedOn Cassegrain focus of Gemini South telescope
linked to: Cassegrain focus
NASA Infrared Telescope Facility telescopeType Cassegrain reflector
linked to: Cassegrain focus
Schmidt–Cassegrain telescope design opticalConfiguration Cassegrain configuration
linked to: Cassegrain focus
GMOS-N mountedAt Cassegrain focus of Gemini North
linked to: Cassegrain focus
Altair adaptive optics system mountedOn Gemini North Cassegrain focus
linked to: Cassegrain focus